About

Welcome to Cold Climate HVAC & Energy

Welcome to Cold Climate HVAC & Energy 2027 The 13th International SCANVAC Cold Climate Conference. We are pleased to announce that Cold Climate HVAC & Energy 2027, the 13th International SCANVAC Cold Climate Conference, will be held in Espoo, Finland, from 16-18 June 2027.

Founded by SCANVAC in 1994, the Cold Climate conference series provides an international platform for academic exchange on HVAC and energy systems in cold and severe climate regions. The conference has been successfully held across Europe, Asia, and North America, fostering long-term collaboration between researchers, industry, and policymakers.

Cold Climate HVAC & Energy 2027 is organized by Aalto University, FISIAQ and SCANVAC. Building on SCANVAC’s traditional focus on HVAC system performance and healthy indoor environments, the 2027 conference continues to address emerging challenges related to sustainability, digitalization, and low-carbon energy transitions in cold climates.

The conference will feature keynote lectures, invited presentations, and technical sessions. We invite high-quality, original academic papers in English from researchers worldwide.

The main themes include sustainability and resiliency, sustainable heating and cooling, smart energy systems, and zero emission buildings, covering topics such as energy efficiency and decarbonization, heat pumps and district energy systems, digitalization and energy flexibility, and thermal comfort and indoor air quality.

Important dates

Abstract submission DL

30.9.2026

Notification of abstract acceptance

1.12.2026

Full paper submission

1.2.2027

Final papers

15.3.2027

Paper acceptance

15.4.2027

Conference starts

16.6.2027

Background

This international SCANVAC conference is organized by Aalto University and FISIAQ.

Buildings and energy systems in cold and severe climate regions face unique and increasing challenges. Long heating seasons, high energy demand, and growing requirements for carbon neutrality place significant pressure on the design and operation of HVAC and energy systems. At the same time, climate change has intensified extreme weather events, overheating risks, and the need for resilient and adaptive building solutions in traditionally cold regions.

Against this background, research on cold climate HVAC and energy systems plays a critical role in achieving sustainable and low-carbon built environments. Advances in heat pumps, district heating and cooling, waste heat recovery, energy storage, digitalization, and smart control offer new opportunities, but also require interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. The Cold Climate HVAC & Energy conference series, initiated by SCANVAC, provides a long-standing international platform for researchers and practitioners to share scientific progress, practical experience, and future visions specifically tailored to cold climate conditions.

The previous twelve Cold Climate HVAC events were successfully held at following locations:

Rovaniemi, Finland (1994)
Reykjavik, Iceland (1997)
Sapporo, Japan (2000)
Trondheim, Norway (2003),
Moscow, Russia (2006),
Greenland, Denmark (2009)
Calgary, Canada (2012)
Dalian, China (2015)
Kiruna, Sweden (2018)
Tallinn, Estonia (2021, online)
Anchorage, America (2023)
Harbin, China (2025)

Organizing committee members

Risto Kosonen, Conference President

Full-professor Risto Kosonen (D.Sc.) at Aalto University, Finland. He is the head of a 25-person HVAC research group. He is working on indoor climate, ventilation & air distribution, and energy efficiency of buildings and communities. Over 35 years of experience, both in university and industry. Vice- President of REHVA, President of SCANVAC, President of FINVAC, and Chair of Indoor Climate Association. Several committee memberships of REHVA organizations, e.g., the chair of the Education and Teaching Committee. He has organized several conferences and international events, e.g., ROOMVENT 2018. Author of over 320 international publications and 17 scientific books or book chapters. Supervised over 90 master’s theses and 16 doctoral theses. He has 10 European patents (EPO) for indoor climate products and systems. Awards: Rydberg Gold Medal and REHVA Fellow. The top 2 % scientist list of Career Long by Elsevier and Stanford (published August 2025)

Xiaolei Yuan, Vice-President / Scientific Committee Chair

Dr. Xiaolei Yuan is an Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) at LUT University, Finland. He received his Doctor of Science (Technology) degree from Aalto University and previously worked there as a Postdoctoral Researcher. His research focuses on building energy systems, district energy networks, data center cooling, thermal energy storage, and intelligent energy management. He has authored over 85 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications, attracting more than 2,100 citations. He serves as Vice Chair and Scientific Committee Chair of the SCANVAC Cold Climate Conference 2027 and the REHVA HVAC World Congress CLIMA 2028, and is a Corresponding Member of the REHVA Research and Technical Committee. He also serves as editor, guest editor, and reviewer for numerous international journals in the fields of building energy systems and the sustainable built environment. His work contributes to the development of low-carbon and energy-flexible solutions for sustainable buildings and communities.

Magda Posani, Vice-President / Scientific Committee Chair

Magda Posani is Assistant Professor of Building Physics at Aalto University, Department of Civil Engineering. She leads research at the intersection of building physics, the hygrothermal behaviour of building materials, and climate-neutral construction practices. Her research focuses on new-vernacular solutions to passively regulate indoor temperature and humidity levels year-round, improving occupant comfort and well-being.

Beyond research, she has been actively bridging sustainable building physics and the wider public. This includes public talks such as a TEDx on low-carbon construction and a keynote at Net-Zero Future 2025, international exhibitions such as Warmer Houses for a Cooler Planet (in Designs for a Cooler Planet 2026), and innovative teaching (e.g., Bio-LCArch, a course on hygrothermal building physics for nature-based constructions).

Mervi Ahola, Organizing Committee Chair

Executive Director, Finnish Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate

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Damon – kopio
Posani_HD_muokattu

Scientific committee members

  • Arsen Krikor Melikov, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
  • Anatolijs Borodinecs, Riga Technical University, Latvia
  • Catalin Lungu, Technical University of Bucharest, Romania
  • Cristiana Croitoru, Technical University of Bucharest, Romania
  • Da Yan, Tsinghua University, China
  • Dennis Johansson, Lund University,  Sweden
  • Guangyu Cao, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
  • Hicham Johra, SINTEF Community, Norway
  • Jakub Kolarik, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
  • James O’Donnell, University College Dublin, Ireland
  • Jarek Kurnitski, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
  • Juha Jokisalo, Aalto University, Finland
  • John Z. Lin, City University of Hong Kong, China
  • Jørn Toftum, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
  • Karel Kabele, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czechia
  • Kai Zhang, Nanjing Tech University, China
  • Marcel Loomans, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
  • Mariya Petrova Bivolarova, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
  • Martin Thalfeldt, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
  • Mohamed Hamdy, Norwegian University of Science and Technolog, Norway
  • Natasa Nord, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
  • Pawel Wargocki, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
  • Pär David Anders Johansson, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
  • Per Kvols Heiselberg, Aalborg University, Denmark
  • Peter V. Nielsen, Aalborg University, Denmark
  • Piia Sormunen, University of Tampere, Finland
  • Panu Mustakallio, Aalto University & Halton Oy, Finland
  • Pertti Pasanen; University of Eastern Finland, Finland
  • Simo Kilpeläinen, Aalto University, Finland
  • Targo Kalamees, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
  • Thomas Olofsson, Umeå University, Sweden
  • Tomasz Cholewa, Lublin University of Technology, Poland
  • Umberto Berardi, Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy
  • Xianting Li, Tsinghua University, China
  • Yiqun Pan, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Organizers

  • SCANVAC
  • Aalto University
  • LUT University
  • Finnish Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate

Endorsing Organizations

  • REHVA
  • FINVAC
  • ASHRAE
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