Virtual reality as an aid to heat pump training
8th June 2025
BELGIUM: Students at schools in Belgium without the resources to purchase expensive equipment are learning about the installation of heat pumps using virtual reality.
Frixis, the Belgian refrigeration and air conditioning association, has contributed to an initiative of GO!, an autonomous body of the Flemish government which organises official education in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium.
The Green Goggles project offers students the opportunity to practice complex installation techniques in a virtual environment. With VR, students can safely and effectively develop skills that are essential in the modern HVAC sector.
Working with other specialist partners, Frixis provided the expertise to ensure the technical accuracy of the Green Goggles VR simulations.
The GO! Atheneum Courtsmanlaan Maldegem school developed the VR applications for the installation of solar panels, heat pumps and underfloor heating. By using virtual reality in a targeted manner, the school can quickly and easily practice specific skills without having an installation available at all times.
Learning is only possible on a working installation at school or during an internship or dual learning. Adding a VR application can therefore facilitate the organisation of the learning process. It can bring the practice into a lesson without moving and bridges the gap between theory and practice.
GO! insists that this approach is by no means a replacement for theory or practice, but an intermediate step in the learning process to train very specific, complex or dangerous actions.
The education authority recently invested in its own VR device management system for schools that have their own VR glasses. Through this didactic support platform, teachers can plan lessons, assign VR glasses, prepare VR exercises, watch multiple students at the same time and provide live feedback.
