he Acadia, a patented residential heating and cooling system manufactured by Hallowell International in Bangor Maine, was recently named one of Sustainable Industries Magazine’s Top 10 Green Building Products in 2009.

It was also the recipient of the 2008 heating innovation award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The military is even using this technology – McGuire/Ft. Dix AFB in New Jersey is installing 2,000 of these systems into all of their base housing.

Why? The Acadia replaces oil and natural gas furnaces with traditional heat pump technology supplemented with patented ‘Boosted Compression’ technology, providing heating and cooling for the whole house, year round, at a fraction of the cost. It’s the first heat pump to work in cold climates – even below zero temperatures – and outperforms conventional heating systems by almost 300 percent, says Hallowell. Plus, it replaces the chlorofluorocarbons found in traditional heat pumps – which cause ozone depletion.

Hallowell International President Duane Hallowell says the idea was something he had thought about for some time. “I’ve had it in my mind vision for many years, that there could be an alternative to how we are heating and cooling our homes. Could there be a technology that was both affordable and that could replace the oil furnace that I’d always known?”

Manufacturers claim that the Acadia can decrease home energy bills by up to 70 percent – even when outside temperatures reach well below zero. It’s almost as efficient as geothermal, but 1/3 of the installation cost, though it costs about 30% more than a traditional system. Not bad considering that the Acadia is Hallowell’s first proof of concept.

Sustainable Industries’ judges praised the system’s ability to work in low temperatures, saying it’s a great solution for colder climates, such as the Pacific Northwest. One judge noted the Acadia comes close to the efficiency of a geothermal heat pump, but at a lower cost. In sustained below-freezing temperatures, most pump systems rely on a back-up heating source, either electric or fossil-fuel based. The Acadia, which runs on electricity, has a patented booster compressor that allows it to continue to keep buildings warm, even in sub-zero temperatures, without relying on a secondary heat source.

Hallowell says that environmental and HVAC industry experts have known since the 1950’s that air source heat pump technology offered a viable alternative to fossil fuel systems and a long-term, sustainable source of indoor climate control. But they couldn’t figure out how to make them work in cold climates. However, when David Shaw, a retired compressor designer and refrigeration engineer received a $400 electric bill in 1995 he began to seriously consider designing a heat pump that could work where temperatures drop well below freezing. As a result, Shaw engineered the Boosted Compression technology that enables the Acadia to operate efficiently at below freezing temperatures.

“The beauty of the Acadia is how it takes advantage of components that the HVAC industry already knows and understands,” says Duane Hallowell. “By building a high performance machine from standard HVAC components you can keep costs in check and have any qualified HVAC technician service or install the equipment. There are no special tools or devices required as there are no devices that have yet to be introduced to the industry. The simpler a system is designed, the more reliable it will be in the long term with fewer components to have problems. Reliability and sustainability is an important point with consumers making an investment and the contractors who commit to servicing the equipment.”

All units are assembled in Bangor Maine and are distributed throughout the United States and Canada.

I spoke to architect and Acadia client Ed Nilsson about his system. Nilsson read about the Acadia in 2004. When it was time to upgrade the solar system at his house in Massachusetts to photovoltaics in place of the solar space heating system he had, he decided to turn to the Acadia for both a heating and cooling system. “There’s nothing comparable that could heat a house in this climate and not use resistance heating,” says Nilsson. “We would have used it even if we didn’t use it in conjunction with the photovoltaics. As it turns out, the 50% reduction in our electricity costs is shared equally between the photovoltaics and the Acadia unit.”

Nilsson was so jazzed about his Acadia, used in conjunction with his solar energy system, he not only recommends it for his clients, but he made a little movie about it: