Lennox Rooftop Heat Pump Takes Commercial Product of the Year Honors

Lennox has won Commercial Product of the Year in the 2026 HVAC All-Star Awards, an industry vote by ACHR News readers, for its Strategos rooftop heat pump. The unit, sized from 3 to 20 tons, is built for commercial buildings, not houses, but it points to a broader trend worth knowing about: manufacturers are working to make heat pumps easier to drop into buildings that have long relied on gas heating and standard air conditioning, without requiring costly electrical upgrades or specialized training to install and service.

Lennox designed Strategos to look, install, and get serviced much like the gas and electric rooftop units contractors already know, while running on variable-speed compressor technology for higher efficiency. The company says it built the unit specifically to fit into existing equipment footprints and electrical setups, lowering the cost and complexity that often come with swapping in a heat pump during a retrofit.

Two other products earned honorable mentions: the Daikin VRV EMERION, a heat recovery heat pump system using a lower-impact refrigerant, and the Bosch Home Comfort SkyQ, a controls platform for smaller commercial buildings. None of this is equipment homeowners buy directly. But it reflects the same push toward heat pumps and lower-emission refrigerants showing up in home HVAC systems, and it suggests contractors are gaining more retrofit-friendly options that keep installation costs down, a trend homeowners have been benefiting from as well.