Fabio Polo

What is your area of expertise?

I work with cooling and heating products in Cantarana, Italy, where we produce our heat pumps for Swegon globally. I primarily work with chillers and reversible heat pumps, and how they are applied in real projects. My role connects our sales companies around the world with the technical organisation: we support customers and sales teams in selecting the right solution for each application, and we feed market needs and upcoming legislation back into our product strategy. 

If I am a property owner planning a large development, what do I need to know regarding heat pumps?

First, it helps to remember what the alternative to a heat pump often is: a fossil-fuel boiler. In general terms, even a basic heat pump is several times more efficient than the best fossil-fuel boiler, and our ambition is to be at the high end of technology, in quality and efficiency. Second, we focus on sustainability across the full life cycle, including refrigerants with a very low environmental impact. Third, we do not want to be just a catalogue supplier. We sit down with customers, understand the challenges in their building, and then fine-tune the unit so it performs at its best in that specific environment—because a solution that works well in Italy may need a different configuration in Germany or Sweden. 

What are the three most important parts of your work—from a customer perspective?

One is making sure the customer’s voice is heard throughout our organisation, because customer needs are always the starting point. The second is future-proofing: we aim to be ahead of what is mandatory, so customers can feel confident their investment will remain relevant and compliant for years—not become outdated after installation. The third is going beyond the unit itself to help optimise the overall building. Ideally, that is easiest when the full solution comes from Swegon, because we can make components communicate and optimise together. But even when it is a mixed system, we try to go as far as we can—for example, by providing clear guidelines on design choices such as system inertia—so the building works well for the 15–20 years the customer will live with it. 

The world needs more cooling—but cooling also requires a lot of energy. What is your perspective?

Heat pumps and chillers can create value on several levels. On the heating side, the alternative in many markets is still to use fossil fuel, so electrification through heat pumps can reduce emissions significantly. And when I say, “heat pump”, I typically mean a reversible unit that provides cooling in summer and heating in winter—one system for both needs. There is also an energy-security aspect: if Europe replaces fossil boilers with heat pumps, we reduce dependence on fuels from regions that may be unstable. Finally, because we are moving towards electricity, grid stability matters. With smart control and the right system in use, units can shift loads—for example, producing cooling when solar production is high and then using that stored cooling later when demand rises. Our products are ready for these kinds of interactions; the next step is ensuring the wider ecosystem (signals, incentives and integration) is in place. 

How does cooling and heating fit into a full indoor climate system solution—especially alongside ventilation and room solutions?

Many room solutions need hot or cold water, and the value of the heat pump/chiller side is delivering the right amount of water at the right temperature. That is how you achieve the best indoor climate with the minimum energy use. When the cooling and heating solution can “talk” to the rest of the system—for example, via WISE, Swegon’s system for demand-controlled indoor climate and building-level optimisation, and room-demand signals—it can optimise operation: if the building does not need very cold water at that moment, the unit can raise the temperature slightly and save substantial energy. The same applies in winter, in the opposite direction; producing unnecessarily hot water costs energy. 

How is Swegon different from competitors in cooling and heating?

In our segment, you often see very large multinationals on one side, and smaller local players on the other. Our ambition is to combine the strengths of both: high technology and high sustainability standards—at the level you expect from a multinational—with the local capability to sit down with customers, listen, and customise solutions to their needs. This approach is a clear advantage for customers looking for ambitious, high-performing solutions. 

If you had unlimited resources, where would you push innovation?

There are emerging ideas around improving individual components—for example, making them more efficient or quieter—but many of these technologies are still at an early stage. With more resources, we could test and validate more concepts, faster, and bring the most promising ones into our products before they become widely adopted. I also see developments such as improved heat-exchanger coatings or additives that enhance heat transfer. These are unlikely to revolutionise the industry on their own, but they can deliver step changes in efficiency over time. 

How do you see AI supporting cooling and heating?

We already use AI in a digital service for predictive maintenance: the model learns how a unit behaves in real operation and can detect patterns that indicate a potential issue before it becomes a breakdown. That saves time and money and helps ensure continuous performance. Looking ahead, AI can help move from fixing to optimising—for example, preparing the system for upcoming cold or hot periods, or adjusting operation when electricity production is high and prices are lower. In the long term, it is about making the system more autonomous and more efficient, while protecting comfort and reliability. 

If you could picture a Swegon cooling and heating “concept car” in 10 years from now—what would it look like?

It would use a refrigerant with very low global warming potential and minimal chemical impact—and ideally in a much smaller quantity. It would also be smarter: able to identify how to reduce the customer’s energy costs through optimised operation. From a sustainability perspective, I would like to see more recycled materials, and a design that is easier to dismantle and upgrade—so you do not need to replace everything to improve performance. 

Any fun facts that capture what you do?

One is a bit counter-intuitive: in some applications we use CO2 as a refrigerant to help reduce climate impact. CO2 has a global warming potential of 1, whereas many conventional refrigerants have values in the hundreds or thousands. Another is more personal. My daughter once told me she preferred one supermarket over another because it made her feel well when she went inside, since the store had good light, low noise and good air. I had not been teaching her about indoor environments; it was completely spontaneous. It reminded me how noticeable indoor climate is, even when people do not have the technical words for it.