How Budderfly Deploys Heat Pump RTUs Across Diverse Climates

And How We’re Contributing to the DOE’s Better Buildings Commercial Building HVAC Campaign  

By: Vishal Patwari  

Small and medium sized businesses represent a great opportunity in the U.S. to lower carbon emissions while enhancing profitability. Updating facility infrastructure with new, more efficient technologies can make a big impact on both the small and large scale.  

That’s why Budderfly is working with national restaurant and retail chains to modernize their locations with one of our most effective solutions: HVAC systems using high efficiency heat pump rooftop units (RTUs). Budderfly’s work directly supports the goals of the Better Buildings Commercial Building HVAC Campaign, an initiative launched in 2024 by the Department of Energy (DOE) to accelerate the electrification of heating and cooling systems in commercial buildings. 

The aim is to lower energy use, cut operating costs, and keep customer comfort steady in buildings that run long hours and face wide temperature swings. Typically, undertaking such infrastructural upgrade projects is prohibitively expensive for SMBs, but Budderfly’s managed energy model removes the financial barrier. Budderfly updates facilities by installing, monitoring, and maintaining new equipment systems with no upfront capital required from the customer. *  

However, we have customers in all 50 states across the U.S., and there's a wide variance in local climates. These diverse locations demand unique strategies, and Budderfly has two approaches that ensure we get maximum energy savings benefits no matter where we’re working.  

In warm climates, Budderfly installs heat pump RTUs with high seasonal coefficients of performance (COPs) that deliver strong cooling efficiency and steady heating during mild winters. In cold climates, Budderfly uses heat pump RTUs paired with controlled gas backup to maintain comfort during freezing weather without sacrificing the energy savings heat pumps provide the rest of the year. These small differences in installations yield big differences in the results.  

For example, our Arizona sites (which include coffee shops and pizza restaurants) show how heat pumps excel in warm environments. These buildings face high cooling hours, long run times, and constant occupancy. Budderfly has replaced aging gas rooftop units with variable speed heat pump RTUs equipped with smart controls. The result is smoother temperature control, lower kWh use, reduced compressor cycling, and a drop in maintenance calls. One multi-store coffee chain we’ve partnered with has cut HVAC energy use by more than 35-50% since the upgrade.  

On the flip side, our Massachusetts sites (which include McDonald’s and KFC locations) demonstrate how hybrid heat pumps and gas systems work in colder climates. Winters in the region often dip below the point where standard heat pumps can meet full heating load. Budderfly installs heat pumps as the primary heating source and brings gas heat online only when outdoor temperatures drop to the level where the heat pump’s coefficient of performance (COP) declines significantly such as during extreme cold events or polar vortex conditions. This COP-based switchover ensures that the system relies on efficient electric heating whenever possible, while engaging gas only when the heat pump’s output and efficiency diminish. The result is reduced gas use, stable indoor temperatures even during heavy kitchen loads, and maintained comfort in deep-winter conditions. A restaurant outside Boston we work with reduced winter gas consumption for HVAC by nearly half in the first season after installation.  

Across all deployments, there’s a clear pattern. Heat pumps handle the bulk of heating and cooling needs while reducing operating costs. Gas backup allows full comfort without overworking the heat pump during the coldest hours. Indoor conditions become more consistent. Energy use becomes more predictable. Equipment stress drops, and so do service calls.   

 Budderfly is contributing to the DOE’s Better Building HVAC campaign and proving that high efficiency heat pump RTUs can deliver real savings in both warm and cold climates. These projects also show how hybrid systems help buildings move toward electrification without risking reliability.  

By removing financial barriers and deploying systems at scale, Budderfly is helping restaurants and retailers adopt advanced HVAC technologies faster and more confidently.  

*For standard installations