NGIF INDUSTRY GRANTS PROVIDES $600,000 IN FUNDING FOR THERMALLY-DRIVEN HEAT PUMPS FOR RESIDENTAL USE

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NGIF INDUSTRY GRANTS PROVIDES $600,000 IN FUNDING FOR THERMALLY-DRIVEN HEAT PUMPS FOR RESIDENTAL USE


November 19, 2021

OTTAWA, ON (November 18, 2021) NGIF Industry Grants, a division of NGIF Capital Corporation, is supporting the demonstration of Stone Mountain Technologies Inc.’s (SMTI) high-efficiency residential space and water heating system – the “furnace-combi”- designed to replace forced air furnaces and gas water heaters with a new high-efficiency heat pump serving both loads. Through $600,000 in approved funding, SMTI’s Thermally-Driven Heat Pump (TDHP) project will help reduce heating costs for homes and businesses, while retaining expected comfort and reducing the environmental impact.

SMTI, a Johnson City, Tennessee company, is a leading developer of cost effective, next generation heating technologies using sorption heat pump cycles. The company’s TDHP enables a major leap forward in fuel efficiency for heating homes and businesses, immediately reducing energy, cost, and carbon emissions by 30 to 50%. SMTI’s absorption heat pump also ushers in the future with a refrigerant that does not threaten the environment and has no risk of being phased out. TDHPs by SMTI also help pave the way to a future hydrogen-enabled gas pipeline system, enabling the fastest pathway to zero-carbon emissions for building heat, with no disruption to existing energy grids and pipelines.

“This is NGIF’s second industry grant to SMTI. We continue our interest to see the technology development of TDHPs using natural gas. These heat pumps can serve many different heating applications, including furnaces, boilers, and gas water heaters,” said John Adams, President and CEO of NGIF Capital Corporation and Managing Partner of NGIF Cleantech Ventures. “NGIF Industry Grants and its focus on de-risking startups and their clean technologies through field trials and pilots, is part of NGIF’s integrated model of industry validation, customer creation, and market commercialization.”

Over the course of the project, SMTI and its partner Napoleon will collaborate to modify Napoleon’s air-handler and indoor control systems, paired with the TDHP, to allow optimum system performance in terms of energy savings and occupant comfort. They will build and lab-test the resulting system design, followed by field testing of five systems in Alberta homes this coming winter. The testing will verify performance, evaluate home-owner satisfaction, and identify any final design or control changes required. SMTI’s TDHPs are rated to operate in extreme cold temperatures (as low as –40°C), unlike their electrically-powered counterparts.

“We are very excited about the potential of our family of heating products to offer immediate CO2 emission reductions while decreasing costs for our customers. We believe this will provide a credible path to net-zero emissions in heating as the gas grid decarbonizes over the next decade,” says SMTI’s CEO, Michael Garrabrant.

“This is the type of technology we envisioned advancing when we created NGIF several years ago. It is exciting to see Stone Mountain’s natural gas heat pump technology advance with NGIF’s support,” noted Timothy M. Egan, President and CEO, Canadian Gas Association and Chair, NGIF Capital Corporation, which operates NGIF Industry Grants. “This innovation will allow the natural gas industry to continue to support its customers with cost-effective energy solutions that reduce emissions and enhance reliability.”


Pacific Northern Gas


About NGIF Industry Grants

NGIF Industry Grants is a first-of-kind, industry-led grant organization to fund early-stage startups developing solutions to environmental and other challenges facing Canada’s natural gas sector. NGIF Industry Grants develops, demonstrates and de-risks these technology solutions through field trials and pilot projects to drive innovation and support environmental goals in Canada. NGIF Industry Grants’ investment focus is on existing natural gas production, transmission, distribution, storage, and end-use applications, as well as projects that will lead to the expanded production of emerging gaseous fuels like renewable natural gas and hydrogen. The organization has built a portfolio of startups, trusted partnerships with government for co-funding opportunities, and a robust technical evaluation investment model. NGIF Industry Grants is operated by NGIF Capital Corporation.

About NGIF Capital Corporation
NGIF Capital Corporation is a Canadian venture capital (VC) firm offering grant and equity financing for startups that deliver solutions to the environmental and other challenges facing the natural gas sector. NGIF Capital Corporation is unique in how it brings Canada’s energy industry leadership to every investment. Like other VCs, it takes new companies and their ideas from concept to commercialization. Unlike other VCs, NGIF Capital Corporation has strong connections to every part of the gas value chain, from production through to end-use, offering it a means to test, develop, and accelerate the commercial implementation of innovative gas technology wherever it fits in the sector. The model benefits consumers, investors, and Canadian society as a whole. NGIF Capital Corporation operates NGIF Industry Grants (the original Natural Gas Innovation Fund), the NGIF Emissions Testing Centre, and NGIF Cleantech Ventures. NGIF Capital Corporation is wholly owned by CGA Enterprises, a venture of the Canadian Gas Association.

About CGA

The Canadian Gas Association (CGA) is the voice of Canada’s gaseous energy delivery industry, including natural gas, renewable natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen. CGA membership includes energy distribution and transmission companies, equipment manufacturers, and suppliers of goods and services to the industry. CGA’s utility members are Canadian-owned and active in eight provinces and one territory. CGA members meet 38 per cent of Canada’s energy needs through a network of over 573,000 kilometres of underground infrastructure. The versatility and resiliency of this infrastructure allows it to deliver an ever-changing gas supply mix to over 7.3 million customer locations representing approximately two-thirds of Canadians. CGA members ensure Canadians get the affordable, reliable, clean gaseous energy they want and need. CGA is also working to constantly improve that gaseous energy offering, by driving forward innovation through the Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF).

About SMTI

Stone Mountain Technologies, Inc. (SMTI) is a Tennessee corporation, headquartered in Johnson City since 2008. Founded by Michael Garrabrant, its mission is to provide our global customers with high-comfort, cost-effective, low-carbon heating & cooling by developing and manufacturing the world’s best Thermally-Driven Heat Pumps and Thermal Compressors. The approach replaces furnaces, boilers, water-heaters with an average fuel efficiency of 140%, immediately saving between 30-50% of energy/cost/emissions inherent to conventional heating technologies. The approach ushers in a new generation of building heat technology.


Media Information:

Sarah Robinson
Manager, Communications
NGIF Capital Corporation
613-282-1126
s[email protected]

Scott Reed
Vice President, Strategy & Development
Stone Mountain Technologies Inc.
818-421-4229
[email protected]


Fund Information:

John Adams
President and CEO, NGIF Capital Corporation
Managing Partner, NGIF Cleantech Ventures
613-748-0057
[email protected]


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At NGIF, we invest in companies who are leading in the development of clean technologies for energy and who have the potential to demonstrate significant and quantifiable environmental and economic returns.

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