Commercial Geothermal
The Process – How to Go Geo
Whether you are a builder, property developer, engineering firm, architectural firm, property manager or commercial property owner, From Initial contact with our customer we at Geothermal Heating and Cooling Australia will be happy to discuss the technology of ground source heat pumps with you. We will explain to you all the benefits of Geoexchange and why you should take up Geothermal in your commercial premises
The next step will be Design Process discussion, Geothermal Heating and Cooling Australia will want to understand the client’s needs and wants, we will explain the design process, make sure the client understands the design process. Geothermal Heating and Cooling Australia will sit down with the client to discuss and design a scope of works for the design process
The Design Process
Geothermal Design
There are 2 parts to the geothermal design process
Designing what’s inside the building being the heat pumps themselves and designing what is outside which is the Geothermal Ground connection. The Geothermal design process can be quite an involved process, it is so important to get this design done right so to optimise the system so it maximises your best return on investment and also so that it is designed properly so that it works properly
Geothermal design inside building- Heat load Calculations
The Design process involves our certified Geothermal Design Engineers calculating the heating and cooling loads of the Building, this design takes into consideration the insulation properties of the house, for example wall, cavity and ceiling insulation, glazing, ceiling fans, natural draughts and any existing or future space conditioning factors. We take into consideration what type of distribution systems will be installed, Hydronics for in-slab heating/ cooling or ducted or both, we also take into consideration the zoning requirements, this can mean halving the size of the heat pumps required and in turn making the ground loop requirement smaller, this information that is required can be found on our checklist
Please take into consideration when designing your buildings to make it as insulated as possible with a High R-Value, the more insulated your buildings are the higher the R-Value. The higher the R- value the smaller the heat load, the smaller the heat load the smaller the pumps and the smaller the ground loop required,
The smaller the ground loop and smaller heat pumps = smaller installation costs, lower ongoing energy use and running costs = cost and energy savings
Geothermal design outside the building- The Ground connection, ground loop design
It is very important to have your ground connection designed and optimised by a certified geothermal design engineer. There are a number of different ground loop types the 2 main types are open loop and closed loop, with closed loop systems there are a number of variations
Design and optimization of ground loop
GHCA are experts at designing and optimization of geothermal ground loop installations, when designing the ground we take into consideration these factors from our checklist
See the links below to the different geothermal loop types explained
Open Loop
Open loop geothermal is where water is pumped from an aquifer
Closed Loop
- Closed Loop Horizontal
- Closed Loop Vertical
- Closed Loop Pond, Lake, Ocean, River
Geothermal Heating and Cooling Australia would love to work with you to have a system designed and installed in your commercial premises
Due to the intensive nature of the design work, there are fees involved in the design of commercial geothermal systems
How do we start?
An initial meeting with GHCA and the client to discuss the technology and the client’s wants and needs, we will discuss the following to produce a scope of work for the design
- Benefits of Geo
- Heat load calculations
- Sizing and optimization of equipment, choosing the best equipment to suit your project, we are not held to one supplier and have a number of different products to choose from
- Design and optimization of ground loop
- thermal conductivity testing
- Payback, ROI, energy and CO2 saving analysis
- Budget estimate and or quotation for the commercial project
The First step is to download the design application form, we then create a scope of works for the design, depending on our work load and the complexities and size of the project the geothermal design process will be varied. For commercial projects we will require purchase orders our purchasing policies and terms and conditions can be found here
Please download the application form here
or download our commercial geothermal brochure here
Our in house design engineers can do detailed design and drawings of all mechanical services and HVAC design, ducting and Hydronic underfloor heating, Heat Pumps Pool Heating and electrical
If you are interested in a geothermal system design for your home
Click here to go to our geothermal residential Design information page