U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Federal Energy Management Program

New and Underutilized Technology: Commercial Ground Source Heat Pumps

The following information outlines key deployment considerations for commercial ground source heat pumps within the Federal sector. This information spans:

• Benefits
• Application
• Key Factors for Deployment
• Ranking Criteria
• Resources

Benefits

Commercial ground source heat pumps are ground source heat pump with loops that feed multiple packaged heat pumps and a single ground source water loop. Unit capacity is typically 1-10 tons and may be utilized in an array of multiple units to serve a large load.

Application

Condensing boilers are appropriate for housing, service, office, and research and development applications.

Key Factors for Deployment

FEMP has made great progress with commercial ground source heat pump technology deployment within the Federal sector. Primary barriers deal with design criteria and installation infrastructure to reduce installation costs and increase effectiveness.

Ranking Criteria

Federal energy savings, cost-effectiveness, and probability of success are ranked 0-5 with 0 representing the lowest ranking and 5 representing the highest ranking. The weighted score is ranked 0-100 with 0 representing the lowest ranking and 100 representing the highest ranking.

Resources

The following resources are available:

• DOE Geothermal Technologies Program: Overview of geothermal heat pumps provided by the U.S. Department of Energy.

• FEMP Geothermal Heat Pump Program: Overview fact sheet on geothermal heat pump technical assistance activities performed by FEMP.

• Ground Source Heat Pumps: FEMP designated product category purchasing requirements for ground source heat pumps.

• Ground Source Heat Pumps Applied to Federal Facilities: Second edition technology alert for reducing heating and air condition costs with ground source heat pumps.

• Preliminary Screening for Geothermal Heat Pump Retrofit Project Feasibility and Applications: FEMP overview of why ground source heat pumps should always be considered for Federal sites.

• Emerging Energy-Saving HVAC Technologies and Practices for the Buildings Sector (2009): American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) report on energy-efficient HVAC technologies applicable for the buildings sector.

• Emissions and Economic Analysis of Geothermal Heat Pumps in Wisconsin: Ten-year update of geothermal analysis prepared by the Energy Center of Wisconsin.

• GeoExchange: Directory of member contractors, manufacturers, drilling contractors, ground loop installers, engineers, designers, distributors, architects, builders, utilities, training, financing, software, and supplied.

• International Ground Source Heat Pump Association: Series of geothermal case studies offered by the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.