Left to right: Comedian and host Miles Jupp with Dave Pearson and Bitzer UK managing director, Kevin Glass, at the ACR News Awards.
The award is presented every year in recognition of a significant contribution to the heating, air conditioning and refrigeration industry, in memory of the late managing director of Bitzer UK Alan Moor. The ACR News Awards 2018 took place at 155 Bishopsgate, London.
The 2018 Alan Moor award has been awarded to Mr Pearson, as decided by a panel of independent judges. The judges unanimously decided that the 2018 award should be given to Mr Pearson for his dedication and advocacy on behalf of the industry.
Over the last decade, Mr Pearson has worked alongside industry, government and non-governmental organisations to highlight the essential role of heat pumps in tackling social injustice and climate change whilst bringing economic benefit to UK businesses. The esteemed award recognises his achievements over a 22 year career in the vapour compression industry, in which he still continues to progress.
Mr Pearson is currently working on the implementation of a 2.5MW Water Source Heatpump system to harvest heat from the River Clyde in Glasgow to heat a range of residential blocks, offices and leisure centres via district heating. The project aims to reduce the area’s carbon footprint by over 50 percent and pave the way for a greener, gas-free future.
The Glasgow-based project will be the largest such system in the UK, and the largest since Star Renewable Energy (SRE) completed its flagship project in Drammen, Norway in 2010.
Mr Pearson said: “I am thrilled to receive the Alan Moor Award at the ACR News Awards 2018. It is a great honour to be recognised by industry peers. It is particular poignant for me as in 1991 I was warmly welcomed into the Bitzer factory in Sindlefingen Germany as a young student during the summer holidays.”
With a background in compressor manufacturing, gas compression, industrial refrigeration design, automated freezer manufacturing and refrigeration innovation, Mr Pearson has worked in the vapour compression industry for over two decades in various capacities, initially as a student.
Mr Pearson joined Star Refrigeration in 1999, after three years at compressor manufacturer Howden, and was director of innovation from 2008. Since 2013, he has led the SRE business unit to fully commercialise the most viable innovation identified, using the refrigeration cycle for cleaner, more efficient heating.
With a strong interest in promoting a wider understanding of the practical applications of heat pumps beyond the refrigeration industry, and also beyond other more familiar applications such as district and industrial process heating, Mr Pearson has spoken on many occasions about the applications of heat pumps to provide combined district heating, cooling and desalination.
Mr Pearson added: “I’ve listened to world leaders unequivocally express the need for cleaner, cheaper heat and strained to show how this can best be achieved with heat pumps. The penny seems to be dropping but we have to phase down the use of gas as well as support clean technologies.”