Geothermal Heat Pump Case Studies

CADDET Analyses Series No.
27
Learning from experiences with
Commercial/Institutional
Heat Pump Systems in
Cold Climates
By
Doug Cane and Jeremy Garnet
Caneta Research Inc.
CENTRE FOR THE ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION OF

DEMONSTRATED ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES
2000
Published in the Netherlands
by CADDET, Sittard
© CADDET Energy Efficiency 2000

All rights reserved. No part of this publication/information may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without
the prior written permission of CADDET Energy Efficiency (Novem B.V.), Sittard,
the Netherlands.
Disclaimer CADDET Energy Efficiency

Neither CADDET Energy Efficiency, nor any person acting on its behalf:
• makes any warranty or representation, express or implied, with respect to
the accuracy of the information, opinion or statement contained herein;
• assumes any responsibility or liability with respect to the use of, or damages
resulting from, the use of this information;
All information produced by CADDET Energy Efficiency falls under the
jurisdiction of Dutch law.
ISBN 90-72647-46-7
Layout by de Vormgeverij, Meerssen

Printed in the Netherlands
FOREWORD
Those involved in the field of energy conservation have long recognised

the theoretical advantages of heat pumps for providing heating and
cooling in buildings. By drawing heat from their surroundings, heat
pumps can provide heat to buildings much more efficiently than
conventional combustion-based equipment, resulting in lower operating
costs. Unfortunately, heat pumps that absorb and reject heat to the
ambient air are least efficient – and have the lowest capacity – at those
outdoor air temperatures that result in the highest space conditioning
loads. Supplemental heating is often required, which increases both
equipment costs and operating costs. For this reason, air source heat
pumps are usually not an economical option in colder climatic regions.
This limitation is overcome in a geothermal heat pump, which exchanges

heat with surface water, groundwater, or with the earth directly. The
temperature of ambient air in northern climates may vary by more than
100°F (56°C) throughout the year, but the temperature of the geothermal
resource remains fairly constant in any given location. This results in
efficient year-round operation of the heat pumps, and reduces or eliminates
the need for supplemental heating. Geothermal technology thus makes
heat pumps a viable and increasingly popular option for applications in
cold climates.
As more heat pump systems are installed, other benefits in addition to

lower operating costs become apparent. In particular, the cost of
maintaining geothermal heat pumps is often found to be lower than the
cost of maintaining conventional equipment. Although they may have
higher first costs, the savings from reduced maintenance and reduced
energy costs combine to make geothermal heat pumps the most
economical technology option in a wide variety of applications.
This report covers a small sample of the heat pump systems that have
been installed in cold climate areas. Nevertheless, the operating
experience presented appears to be representative of the larger population.
In a number of applications, schools for example, geothermal heat pumps
have a very positive reputation and are increasingly seen as the
technology of choice. In making this information available to a wider
audience, it is hoped that this report will result in increased awareness of
geothermal heat pumps, and in wider application of the technology.
Patrick Hughes and John Shonder

Energy Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the following people in
obtaining information about the demonstration projects:
Steve Carlson, CDH Energy Corp. (Geneva Lakefront Hotel)

George Dashner, New Brunswick Power (Tracadie District Office)
Charles Erhardt, Salem Community College (Salem Community College)
Christian Grorud, KanEnergi AS (Statoil Research Centre, Stavanger Military Camp)
Rolf Ingdahl, Statoil (Statoil Research Centre)
Per Joergensen, KanEnergi AS (Statoil Research Centre, Stavanger Military Camp)
Julia Kelley, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Wal-Mart Supercenter)
Jacques Lagacé, Bouthillette Parizeau and Associates (Biosphere)
Laurier Nichols, Dessau-Soprin (Hydro-Quebec Administrative Office)
Koki Nishigaki, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO District Heating Plant)
Ove Njaa, Partner Consult AS (Stavanger Military Camp)
Carl Orio, Water and Energy Systems Corp. (Haverhill Public Library)
Reinhard Schneider, Colibri (Maastricht Government Building)
John Schonder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Maxey School)
Guy Thibault, Commission Scolaire Saint-Hyacinthe (St. Hyacinthe School)
The authors are also grateful for the contributions made by Michel Lamanque and
Marius Lavoie of Natural Resources Canada, and by members of the CADDET
Energy Efficiency National Teams. Finally, they would like to thank the CADDET
Energy Efficiency Centre staff for their helpful assistance in producing this report.
iv
CADDET
The Centres for Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy

Technologies
CADDET Energy Efficiency operates as the International Energy

Agency Centre for the analysis and dissemination of information on
demonstrated end-use energy-saving technologies. It operates on behalf
of all IEA member countries which are members of CADDET.
CADDET’s objective is to broaden and improve the collection and

exchange of information on energy-efficient technologies in the end-use
sector. By this means it aims to provide governments, utilities, industrial
concerns and other end-users with a better understanding of such
technologies, thereby encouraging both more informed decision-making
and improved replication of successful demonstrations.
Demonstrations afford a vital link between Research and Development

work and the end-use market. Their role is to prove that particular
technologies are both appropriate and economically viable, and thereby to
encourage their widespread adoption by end users.
CADDET’s work therefore includes the collection of information and

data on current and completed demonstration projects, together with the
provision of appropriate technical and economic analysis. The results are
then disseminated. Information is supplied to CADDET by National
Teams operating in each member country.
This publication is the twenty-seventh in a series of Analysis Reports.

These reports are specifically designed to increase awareness of a
particular energy-saving technology or technique, applicable in the
end-use sector, thereby facilitating its market introduction. The reports
are designed to inform end-users of the characteristics of successful
applications, and also to indicate those aspects requiring detailed
assessment prior to implementation.
v
Table of Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
CADDET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Glossary and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Part One Executive Summary
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. Case studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Part Two Technical Report

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.2 Scope of the report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.3 Intended readership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.4 Report structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2. Motivation for Heat Pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.1 Operating cost reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Year-round comfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3 Fuel availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.4 Architectural considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.5 Maintenance costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.6 Environmental benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3. Selection of Heat Pump Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.1 Heat pump system selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.2 Selection of heat pump type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.3 Reasons for selection of the Demonstration Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
vii
4. Review of Heat Pump Systems Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.1 Building descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2 HVAC systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.1 Distributed systems: water-loop heat pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.2 Central system with two-pipe fan-coil units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2.3 Central system with four-pipe fan-coil units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of system types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2.5 Ventilation systems and heat pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.3 Heat pump system choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.3.1 Closed-loop water source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.3.2 Groundwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.3.3 Ground heat exchanger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.3.4 Surface water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.3.5 Air-source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.4 Special features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5. Analysis of Heat Pump Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

5.1 Energy use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.2 Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.3 Technology trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.3.1 Alternative refrigerants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.3.2 Energy efficiency standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.3.3 Popular current configurations/types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.3.4 Upcoming technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.3.5 Integration of systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Part Three Demonstration Projects
Demonstration Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
1. Trustcan Realty Office, Toronto, Ontario, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2. St. Patrick’s High School, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3. Tracadie District Office, Tracadie, New Brunswick,
Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4. Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre, Laval, Quebec,
Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5. St. Hyacinthe Vocational School, St. Hyacinthe,
Quebec, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6. The Biosphere, Montreal, Quebec, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
7. Statoil Research Centre, Trondheim, Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
8. Stavanger Military Camp, Stavanger, Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
9. Maastricht Government Building, Maastricht,
The Netherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
viii
10. Salem Community College, Carneys Point,
New Jersey, USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
11. Wal-Mart Supercenter, Moore, Oklahoma, USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
12. Maxey School, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
13. Geneva Lakefront Hotel, Geneva, New York, USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
14. Haverhill Public Library, Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA . . . . 105
15. TEPCO District Heating Plant, Takasaki, Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
List of Figures ....................................................................... 113
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
ix
Glossary and Acronyms
Aquifer
An underground layer of porous rock, sand, etc., capable of yielding
groundwater.
ASHP: Air-source heat pump

A heat pump that extracts or rejects heat to or from the air.
ASHRAE: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and

Air-Conditioning Engineers
Borefield
Collection of boreholes forming a vertical ground heat exchanger.
Desuperheater
A heat-exchanging device located ahead of the condenser which
cools the vaporised and superheated refrigerant to just above its
temperature of condensation, by rejecting its heat to another fluid,
usually service hot water.
Electrical generation mix

The proportioning of electricity generation at a given location
between fossil fuel, nuclear, hydro etc.
ERV: energy recovery ventilator (also known as heat recovery ventilator

(HRV))
Heat exchanger between building exhaust air and building outdoor air
supply. This brings the temperature of the supply air closer to that of
the building air temperature, reducing the need for further heating or
cooling.
GAX: generator-absorber heat exchanger

Technology whereby the generator and absorber in an absorption heat
pump are designed to have a temperature overlap. A heat exchanger
is placed between these regions, increasing the cycle efficiency.
GSHP: ground-source heat pump

A heat pump (see separate entry) that extracts or rejects heat to or
from the ground, either by use of groundwater or through a ground
heat exchanger.
xi
Heat exchanger
A device, typically employing tubes or fins, for transferring heat from
a hot source to a region of lower temperature.
Heat pump
A machine that uses a refrigerant to transfer heat energy from a cold
temperature source, such as the ground, air or water, to another
source, such as a building. After absorbing energy from the cold
source, the refrigerant is mechanically compressed to increase its
temperature. The heat is then transferred using a heat exchanger.
Horizontal ground heat exchanger

A system of pipes running horizontally under the ground, forming a
large heat exchanger with the ground.
HVAC: Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
HX: heat exchanger
Kyoto Protocol
International agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
Life-cycle cost
The total cost of equipment, including capital cost, maintenance,
service and energy consumption, over the life of the equipment.
Montreal Protocol
International agreement to reduce and eventually eliminate the
production and release of ozone-depleting substances.
ODP: ozone depletion potential

Measure of the potential of a substance to deplete the ozone layer.
Reverse-return
A pipe supply and return loop in which all parallel paths have the
same length, and thus equal pressure drops and flow rates.
SHW: service hot water
Simple payback period

Period of time required for an increase in capital expenditure to be
recovered from the resulting operating costs savings, assuming no
interest payments.
xii
Standing column well
A deep well in which groundwater is extracted from the bottom and
returned to the top. The depth of the well ensures sufficient contact
with the ground, and reduces any direct thermal exchange between
the return and supply water within the well.
TEWI: total equivalent warming impact

Total release of greenhouse gases by a piece of equipment over its
full life-cycle, expressed as the quantity of carbon dioxide that would
have the same impact. This includes any gases directly emitted by the
equipment, as well as those released to produce the energy to drive
the equipment.
VAV: variable-air-volume
HVAC distribution systems that control the heating or cooling for a
building zone by varying the air quantity delivered to that zone.
Vertical ground heat exchanger

A matrix of vertical boreholes into which U-tubes are placed. The
tubes are interconnected in a reverse-return fashion, to form a large
heat exchanger with the ground.
Water-loop
A two-pipe distribution system in which the heat pumps in the
building are connected to a central pumping station and energy
source and sink.
xiii
Part One
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
This Analysis Report evaluates and compares operating experience

with heat pump systems in a number of commercial buildings situated
in areas of cold climate. The objective is to present the reader with
clear information on their performance, economics, and environmental
benefits.
Instead of directly converting electricity into thermal energy (as a

conventional heating system does), heat pumps use energy to raise
the temperature of an existing renewable heat source (such as air,
water or the ground) to a level useful for space heating. Typically,
heat pumps can deliver three or four times the heat energy that they
consume (usually as electricity), so in commercial and institutional
buildings they can yield significant operating cost savings. For
executives unfamiliar with their working, a brief, non-technical
summary is given in the accompanying panel. In the rest of this
Executive Summary, and throughout the body of the report, broad
familiarity with heat pump concepts is presumed.
Immediately after this Executive Summary, Part Two: Technical

Report, presents the main analysis of the work. The introductory
chapter examines the background, scope, intended readership and
structure of the report.
As background it is pointed out that, in cold climates, where the

heating load is significant and where the cooling load in smaller
buildings is small or non-existent, heat pumps have been least
competitive. Nevertheless, ground-source heat pumps of different
types have found significant use in commercial/institutional buildings
there. Unlike their air-source counterparts, ground-source heat pumps
do not require supplementary heat in cold regions, as the source
temperature is moderate and relatively constant.
Commercial/Institutional Heat Pump Systems in Cold Climates 3

Heat pump operation
The method of operation of a heat pump is identical to that of a

refrigerator, except that it is the waste heat rejected by the
refrigerator that is usually supplied to the heat pump’s conditioned
space. Not always, however; one major advantage of the heat pump
is that the cycle can be reversed, allowing the space to be cooled
when conditions change. A simplified diagram of a heat pump is
shown in Figure 1.
Delivered heat
Condenser
Expansion valve Motor
Evaporator Compressor
Circulating refrigerant
Heat from heat source
Figure 1 Basic flow diagram of heat pump with motor-driven compressor.

For heating, condenser is indoors and evaporator outdoors.
For cooling, condenser is outdoors and evaporator indoors.
In large heat pump systems such as those discussed in this report,

some zones of a building may need heating at the same time as
other zones need cooling. As a result, the addition of a suitable heat
exchanger allows the heat of cooling rejected by one zone or zones
to be used to help heat other zones. This minimises the net energy
input needed by the system.
Unfortunately, in practice, the heating and cooling loads rarely

balance, so it is necessary to add electrical heating or cooling
energy. In addition, heat pump systems in cold climates,
particularly air-source systems, often need to incorporate a back-up
fossil-fuel or electric-resistance heating system, to provide extra
heat to the building when the efficiency of the heat pump system
decreases during extreme winter weather.
4 CADDET Analyses Series No. 27

Heat pumps are now highly standardised items of equipment, whose
efficiency in commercial water-source, ground-source and air-source
systems is covered by the minimum energy efficiency requirements
of ASHRAE 90.1R, Energy Standards in Buildings, Except Low-Rise
Residential Buildings. The standard was recently approved by the
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE), and will become effective in 2002.
While heat pumps generally have higher efficiency in warm climates,
primary energy savings are greater in buildings in areas of cold
climate, where the heating requirements are greater. This implies that
the economics of heat pump ownership should be more attractive in
cold climates than in warm climates, but this depends on local energy
rates and other factors.
2. Motivation
In Chapter 2, the motivation for using heat pumps is considered, with

particular reference to the experience of owners and operators of
commercial and institutional buildings fitted with heat pump systems
in cold climates. In this sector, there is strong emphasis on first cost
rather than life-cycle costs, so the operating cost reductions attainable
by using heat pumps can be overlooked. This is unfortunate, as the
payback periods for heat pump systems in commercial applications in
cold climates are often quite attractive.
Heat pump systems also have other advantages for commercial

buildings than their low operating costs. They offer improved comfort
due to on-demand, year-round heating or cooling. Greater flexibility
in the interior layout of the building is also possible, particularly
where a distributed, water-loop configuration is adopted. In addition,
more exterior architectural freedom is possible with the adoption of
ground-source heat pump systems, due to the absence of any need for
external equipment such as cooling towers. Because of their use of
electric power, heat pumps can also provide a convenient way to heat
a building in a remote location to which fossil fuel is not economically
transportable.

3. Selection
The selection of the type of heat pump system for a commercial

building in a cold climate (Chapter 3) is largely dependent on the type
of heat source or sink that is to be used. Several factors, such as the
variation in ambient air temperature, the condition of the soil and the
availability of groundwater or surface water, determine the choice
of source/sink for the system. These factors are largely site- and
location-dependent, so proper evaluation of the site is the first step in
deciding the most suitable type of system.
Once the heat pump source has been selected, the type of internal
distribution system must be chosen. This can be a collection of single
packaged units, a water-loop system, or a central system with fan-
coils (two-pipe or four-pipe). As the name implies, a single packaged
unit is a heat pump integrated into a single unit that can be rooftop-
mounted or installed at ground level. An alternative is the packaged
terminal unit commonly used in apartments, hotels, and other single-
room applications.
4. Characteristics
In a water-loop system, the heat pumps are all connected to a single

water loop, allowing energy recovery between the units and
increasing the overall efficiency of the system. A central system with
two-pipe fan-coil units is composed of one or more larger heat pumps
combined to cool or heat water, which is then directed to a two-pipe
distribution system. Simultaneous heating and cooling is not possible,
and a seasonal changeover is required. A four-pipe fan-coil system
will allow cooling and heating to take place at the same time, however,
and requires no seasonal changeover.
Central systems normally have the advantage of a smaller installed

capacity, but occupy more space in the building and are more
disruptive to building occupants during maintenance or repair.
The most popular commercial heat pump configuration in the

United States and Japan is the single packaged air-source unit. This is
followed by the packaged terminal heat pump, and the water-source
heat pump.
Once the type of system is determined, the heat pumps themselves

must be selected. As discussed in the accompanying panel, they are
nowadays highly standardised items, whose efficiency in commercial
water-source, ground-source and air-source systems is covered by the
minimum energy efficiency requirements of ASHRAE 90.1R. When
this becomes effective in 2002, it is likely to define the minimum
standard with which all heat pumps will comply.
These soon-to-be-standardised heat pumps are essentially available in

four different types: air-to-air, air-to-water, water-to-air, and water-
to-water. Table 1.1 presents these four heat pump types, and the main
characteristics of each.
For any of these configurations there can be different drive types, for
example the pump can be engine-driven (usually natural-gas-fuelled)
or electric. Absorption cycle heat pumps are also available. They are
usually gas-fired.
5. Analysis
Chapter 5 considers the analysis of heat pump systems, with particular

regard to energy use and economics. For broad comparison of
systems which may be installed in different countries, the simple
payback period method is favoured because it is independent of
currency. More sophisticated analysis includes complete life-cycle
costing, including maintenance costs, and the cost of borrowing any
capital necessary, to allow comparison with alternative investments.
Simple payback periods for the heat pump systems reported by the
sites reviewed in Part Three ranged from immediate to 12 years, with
an average value of 5.2 years. Maintenance costs of most types of
heat pump are similar to those for HVAC systems, but ground-source

heat pumps appear to have significantly lower maintenance costs.
However, these ground-source heat pumps are newer systems, and
some of their maintenance advantage can be attributed to this.
Table 1.1 Types of heat pumps considered.
System type Source Installed Applicability/ Notes

characteristics cost requirements
Air-source Large Low Universally Auxiliary heat

temperature applicable and defrosting
variation. required in cold
climates.
Water-source Moderate Low Universally Allows heat

(water-loop) temperature applicable recovery. Well
variation. suited to large
buildings.
Surface water Low temperature Varies Proximity to Fouling or

variation. with water of clogging
proximity adequate depth possible.
to water and surface area Loop must be
required. Anti- separated from
freeze solution building loop.
needed. Highly regulated.
Groundwater Very low High Sufficient Existing well can

temperature groundwater of reduce costs.
variation. adequate quality Loop must be
Coordination of required. Local separated from
additional authorities can building loop.
contractors restrict water
required. extraction and
re-injection.
Ground-source Low temperature Medium Space for Vertical or

variation, but to high ground heat horizontal
higher for exchanger borefield. Space
horizontal loop. needed. Anti- and/or soil
Coordination of freeze solution conditions
additional required. dictate design.
contractors
required.
Knowledge of soil
thermal properties
needed.

In life-cycle cost calculations, heat pumps generally emerge as the
most favoured type of heating and air-conditioning system. There are,
however, segments of the commercial building industry that want
lowest first cost, because they can pass on operating costs to their
tenants. In that situation, it is unlikely that heat pump systems will be
favoured.
Heat pumps contain refrigerants, so are subject to the Montreal

Protocol for the phasing out of ozone-depleting substances.
HCFCs are currently scheduled to be phased-out by the year 2020.
North American industry favours the use of HFCs as replacement
refrigerant, while in western and northern Europe natural working
fluids are favoured, such as hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon blends.
Hydrocarbons are non-ozone-depleting, and have little global
warming impact, but are flammable. HFCs are non-ozone-depleting
and non-flammable, but they increase global warming. This has
become a legal concern due to the Kyoto Protocol, which limits a
country’s permitted greenhouse gas emissions. However, except
where the electrical generation mix is almost entirely non-fossil-fuel-
based, the global warming impact of leaked refrigerant is offset by
the reduction in utility power plant greenhouse gas emissions
associated with the lower energy use of a heat pump.
Ammonia (NH3) is used extensively as an industrial refrigerant.

It is non-ozone-depleting, and has no direct global warming potential.
Concerns about its toxicity and flammability limit its commercial use,
however, though work is ongoing to address these concerns.
With more attention directed to indoor air quality, building ventilation

is of increasing concern. For heat pump systems in commercial
applications, fresh air can be either ducted directly to each heat pump
from a central location, supplied to the ceiling return air plenum, or,
as is common in hotels and multi-residential buildings, supplied to
the building corridors. Rooftop heat pump configurations allow fresh
air to be directly introduced to the heat pump unit.

The chapter concludes with a review of technology trends, including
the use of alternative refrigerants, the need to comply with energy
efficiency standards, GAX (Generator-Absorber heat eXchanger)
systems, and the integration of systems. It is suggested that the future
will see increased use of natural refrigerants which do not contribute
to global warming. Upcoming heat pump technology will involve
natural gas engine-driven vapour compressors, and natural gas-
fuelled absorption cycles, driven by a need to reduce global warming
through more efficient use of primary energy. Increasingly, systems
will be integrated, combining multiple functions in one machine to
reduce mechanical system duplication, lowering both system first cost
and operating costs.
6. Case studies
Chapter 6 summarises what has gone before, while Part Three:

Demonstration Projects, reviews and analyses the characteristics of
15 heat pump systems installed in commercial/institutional buildings
in cold climatic regions in five CADDET member countries. The
types of building examined include offices (5), schools (4), a retail
building, a museum, a military base, a library, a hotel and a district
heating plant. The projects were chosen from the CADDET Energy
Efficiency Register and from other sources available to the authors.
They represent a broad range of heat pump types located at six sites
in Canada, five in the United States, two in Norway, one in the
Netherlands, and one in Japan. The majority of the sites surveyed
have between 3,000 and 4,000 heating degree days (18°C base), and
are located in North America. The floor areas of the buildings varies
from 2,600 m2 to 32,000 m2, apart from the Japanese district heating
plant, which serves a total area of 68,569 m2. Buildings surveyed are
typically low-rise (of three storeys or less) with a maximum of six
storeys.
The projects include three popular arrangements for the conditioning

of the zones throughout the building. These can be categorised as
distributed (water-loop) or central (two-pipe or four-pipe). The

demonstration projects also highlight some innovative features in heat
pump system design. A special design of outdoor coil, for example,
with increased fin spacing and a higher air flow rate, was implemented
at one site to reduce the accumulation of frost on the coils. Other
examples are a vertical ground-source borefield integral with the
building pilings, the use of heat recovery ventilators to reduce fresh
air load on the heat pumps, and the application of standing column
wells in groundwater systems.
7. Conclusion
While this report attempts to group heat pump applications from

regions around the world with similarly cold climatic conditions, it is
emphasised that there are also non-climatic, regional factors which
must be considered, such as the availability and price of energy,
attitudes towards comfort, and tax regimes. These non-climatic
factors can make an attractive application in one country unattractive
in another. By-laws and local building codes can also influence the
decision to adopt a heat pump system or not.
While there are continuing efforts to improve the reliability and

efficiency of electrically-driven heat pumps, significant development
efforts during the last 10 years have also been devoted to natural-gas-
driven heat pumps. Direct use of natural gas can reduce greenhouse
gas emissions where the fossil fuel fraction is high in the electrical
generation mix. This is due to the lack of electrical transmission
losses, and the potential for higher natural gas thermal efficiency.
Absorption heat pumps also eliminate the use of ozone-depleting

CFCs and HCFCs, and avoid the need for greenhouse gases such as
alternative HFCs. One advance in absorption heat pump technology is
the generator-absorber heat exchanger (GAX) technology, which
raises the efficiency of the absorption cycle by recovering heat energy
released by the absorber. Tests on prototypes indicate heating
coefficients of performance (COP) between 1.6 and 1.8, indicating
lower carbon dioxide emission than from high-efficiency furnaces.

In the past, heat pumps have often been a tool of government policy.
For example, during the oil crises of the mid-1970s and early 1980s,
governments in some cold climate countries encouraged the use of
heat pumps through financial incentives to reduce their dependence
on oil and as part of their energy conservation programmes. This may
happen again, as countries sign up to the Kyoto Protocol, and
governments implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
Sharing information on commercial/institutional heat pump

applications in cold climates will accelerate their adoption, and
generally expand existing markets for this energy-efficient, partially
renewable energy technology.

Part Two
Technical Report
1. Introduction
1.1 BACKGROUND
In cold climates, where the heating load is significant and where the
cooling load in smaller buildings is small or non-existent (e.g. in Canada,
the northern parts of the United States, Japan and north and west
Europe), the heat pump has been least competitive.
Nevertheless, ground-source heat pumps of different types have seen

significant use in commercial/institutional buildings in these regions.
Unlike their air-source counterparts, these heat pumps do not require
supplementary heat in cold regions, as the source temperature is
moderate and relatively constant.
While heat pumps generally have higher efficiency in warm climates,

primary energy savings are greater in buildings in areas of colder
climate, where the heating energy requirements are greater. This implies
that the economics of heat pump ownership should be more attractive in
colder climates than in warm climates - but this also depends on local
energy rates and other factors.
In the commercial building sector, rigorous financial criteria are often

used to decide what type of heating and air conditioning system to
install. More sophisticated purchasing criteria include life-cycle costing,
allowing for interest or discount rates, present and future energy prices,
and operating and maintenance costs over the design life of the buiding,
in addition to installed costs.
In such a calculation, heat pumps will generally emerge as the most

favoured type of heating and air-conditioning system. There are,
however, segments of the commercial building industry that want lowest
first cost, because they can pass on operating costs to their tenants. In
that situation, it is unlikely that heat pump systems will be favoured.
While this report attempts to group heat pump applications from regions
around the world with similarly cold climatic conditions, it is important
that the reader understand that there are other important, non-climatic,
regional factors which must be considered, such as the availability and
price of energy, attitudes towards comfort, and tax regimes. These
non-climatic factors can make an attractive application in one country

unattractive in another. By-laws and local building codes can also
influence the decision to adopt a heat pump or not.
In the past, heat pumps have often been a measure or tool of government
policy. For example, during the oil crises of the mid-1970s and early
1980s, governments in some of these cold climate countries encouraged
the use of heat pumps through financial incentives to reduce dependence
on oil and as part of their energy conservation programmes. This may
happen again, as countries sign up to the Kyoto Protocol, and
governments implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Sharing information on commercial/institutional heat pump applications

in cold climates will accelerate their adoption, and generally expand
existing markets for this energy-efficient, partially renewable energy
technology.
1.2 SCOPE OF THE REPORT
This report reviews and analyses the characteristics of 15 heat pump

systems installed in commercial/institutional buildings in five CADDET
member countries.
The objective of the analysis is to increase awareness of the energy-

saving potential of heat pump systems, and their suitability for
application in commercial/institutional buildings in cold climates.
The types of building examined include offices (5), schools (4), a retail
building, a museum, a military base, a library, a hotel and a district
heating plant.
Their heat pump systems are generally not formal demonstration projects
except for the purpose of this report, but rather a collection of systems
considered by the authors to be fairly representative of the installations
in each country. The heat pumps used are commercially available in all
but two cases. Essentially the report is a state-of-the-art assessment of
heat pump systems for commercial/institutional buildings in cold
climates.
1.3 INTENDED READERSHIP
The report is intended for end-users (building owners and managers)

and design professionals (architects and engineers) who require
information on the features, benefits, design and economics of
commercial/institutional large building heat pump systems.

1.4 REPORT STRUCTURE
Chapter 2 of this Part Two discusses the reasons for considering heat
pumps in commercial/ institutional buildings – including operation and
maintenance cost savings, comfort, fuel availability, architectural
considerations and environmental benefits.
Chapter 3 describes the heat pump system selection process, both in

general terms and as regards the methodology used to select the heat
pump systems used in the demonstration projects of Part Three.
Chapter 4 reviews heat pump system characteristics, to better acquaint

the reader with the technology. The buildings, the HVAC system types,
the heat pump system choices and their special features are separately
considered.
Chapter 5 analyses the heat pump systems’ energy use, economics and
trends, and likely technical developments in the future.
Chapter 6, Conclusions, summarises the findings from the analysis of the

heat pump systems.
Part Three, Demonstration Projects, presents details of the individual

heat pump projects studied. The demonstration projects are presented in
a standardised format including a picture, brief technical summary, a
system description with a schematic, project costs, performance and
operating experience.
The report concludes with lists of diagrams, tables and references.

2. Motivation for Heat Pumps
This study examines the experience of owners and operators of

commercial and institutional buildings fitted with heat pump systems
in cold climates. In this commercial/institutional sector, there is strong
emphasis on the first cost of the building systems, rather than life-cycle
costs, so the operating cost reductions attainable by using heat pumps
can be overlooked. This is unfortunate, as the payback periods for heat
pump systems in commercial applications in cold climates are often quite
attractive.
Heat pump systems have more advantages for commercial buildings than
their low operating costs. They offer improved comfort due to on-demand
year-round heating or cooling. Greater flexibility in the interior layout
of the building is also possible with heat pumps, particularly where a
distributed, water-loop configuration is adopted. In addition, more
exterior architectural diversity is possible with the adoption of ground-
source heat pump systems, due to the absence of external equipment
such as cooling towers. Because of their use of electric power, heat
pumps can also provide a convenient way to heat a building when fossil
fuel is not readily available.
These advantages are discussed in detail in the sections below.
2.1 OPERATING COST REDUCTION
A study of operating experiences with commercial ground-source heat

pumps [1] indicates that the total building energy use for ground-source
systems is 36% lower than for other types of HVAC system. A similar
study [2] indicates a return on investment of 19% for ground-source
heat pumps over conventional systems. Substantial savings can also be
attributed to heat pump systems other than ground-source. The air-source
system installed at the Stavanger Military Camp in Norway
(Demonstration Project No 8), for example, achieved a payback period
of six years compared to an alternative system. Note that the service life
for heat pump systems ranges from 15 to 19 years [3]. These operating
cost reductions come from the inherently high energy efficiency of the
heat pump, as discussed in more detail in Section 2.6.
Generally, a building with a heat pump system will have a higher peak
electrical demand in winter than the same building with a fossil-fuel-

based heating system. In summer, the peak electrical demand may be
lower with a ground-source heat pump system than a conventional
commercial cooling system. Compared to a building with electrical
resistance heating, however, the heat-pump-equipped building will have
considerably lower peak electrical demand.
In addition to savings from a reduction in energy consumption, heat

pumps can offer maintenance cost savings. This is discussed in greater
detail in Section 2.5.
2.2 YEAR-ROUND COMFORT
Heat pumps have the advantage of offering both heating and cooling.
This is particularly relevant to commercial and institutional buildings
where the size of the building and the high internal heat gains from
lights, computers and equipment make cooling desirable even in
northern climates, often year-round. There is also now a greater public
expectation that commercial buildings will be cooled in summer.
Heat pump supply air is at a lower temperature and the system runs more
continuously than conventional furnaces. Thus the building occupants
experience less local temperature variation as the heating system cycles
on and off. Air flow rates are often higher with heat pumps, however, so
care should be taken to locate supply outlets to avoid discomfort from
draughts.
2.3 FUEL AVAILABILITY
Where natural gas is available, and only heating is required for the
building, the economic advantage of a heat pump may be uncertain, and
a detailed energy-use analysis advisable. For the same situation where
only fuel oil is available, a heat pump is more likely to be economical
due to the (usually) higher cost of fuel oil. In both cases, however, the
choices will depend on the local fuel price, and the type of heat pump
system being contemplated.
If some cooling of the building is required, as it is in most commercial

applications (even in northern climates), a heat pump system is a sensible
option regardless of the availability of other fuels. This is because a heat
pump uses renewable energy by extracting heat from a renewable or
solar energy source: the air, water or ground. The energy used to raise
that heat to a useful level may have a non-sustainable basis (electricity
from a fossil fuel plant, for example), but this is only a fraction (typically
1/4 to 1/3) of the total energy supplied to the building.

Heat pump systems, however, often incorporate a back-up fossil-fuel or
electric-resistance heating system of some kind. The type of back-up
system and the reason for its adoption vary, but some practical examples
are outlined below:
• Due to the decreasing efficiency of a heat pump system as the

source temperature decreases, an air-source heat pump system may
require a back-up boiler or furnace to provide extra heat in
extremely cold weather.
• A water-source system may require extra heat to the water-loop if
the internal building heat gains are not sufficient to supply the
building’s heating requirement.
• An auxiliary heat source is sometimes added to a ground-source
heat pump system to reduce the cost and size of the borefield.
• A fossil-fuel-based boiler or furnace can be added to reduce the
peak electrical load of the building.
• An auxiliary boiler may be added to a ground-source system to
reduce the risk of damage to the building foundations due to frost
generated by a borefield sited below the building.
Where back-up fossil-fuel heat is not needed, heat pumps have the
advantage of requiring only a single infrastructural power source
(electricity) for both the heating and cooling. In one country (The
Netherlands), this single infrastructure is considered a social benefit,
as it reduces the cost and environmental impact of commercial
development.
2.4 ARCHITECTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
Ground-source heat pump systems are particularly good from an

architectural perspective as there is no boiler or cooling tower. The lack
of a boiler allows better use of interior space, and the absence of a
cooling tower means that sloping roofs can be used to a greater extent.
Flat roof designs also benefit from a cleaner appearance and lower costs,
due to the absence of roof penetrations, maintenance decks or
architectural blinds [4]. Exterior noise levels are also much lower,
allowing more flexibility in the design of outdoor spaces.
Both ground-source and water-source heat pump systems provide

architectural benefits when a water-loop heat distribution system is
used. The resultant reduction in the size of ductwork permits the use of
pre-engineered, low-pressure ducts, and allows a shallower ceiling space
and lower floor-to-floor height. This gives more architectural flexibility,
and can reduce building costs.

2.5 MAINTENANCE COSTS
A recent study of the cost of maintaining ground-source heat pumps in

commercial buildings [5] indicates a median cost of 0.965 USD/m2. The
commercial buildings surveyed in the study were mainly schools and
offices. Maintenance costs for the individual sites ranged from a low of
0.086 USD/m2 to a maximum of 12.30 USD/m2.
2.5
to deliver 1 MJ of heat (MJ)
2
Gas consumption
1.5
0.5
0
Electric furnace Gas furnace Heat pump
Heating system
Figure 2.1 Gas consumption of alternative heating systems (based on reference [7]).
Another study of the HVAC maintenance costs of commercial buildings

(mainly offices, medical facilities, and schools) [6], indicates a median
cost for water-source heat pumps and packaged air-to-air heat pumps of
4.84 USD/m2 and 2.91 USD/m2 respectively. This compares with an
average of the median values for the other vapour compression chiller
systems in reference [6] of 3.82 USD/m2. All these data are for facilities
with in-house maintenance capability. Thus air-source and water-source
heat pump systems have maintenance costs comparable to most
conventional HVAC systems, but ground-source systems appear to have
significantly lower maintenance costs. The ground-source systems
surveyed in reference [5] are newer on average than the conventional
systems, and some of the ground-source maintenance advantage can be
attributed to this.
2.6 ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
The principal environmental benefit of heat pumps results from their

level of thermal performance. Instead of directly converting electricity to
heat energy, heat pumps use energy to raise the temperature of an
existing renewable energy source (such as air, water or ground) to a level

useful for space heating of buildings. Thus, they can transfer a greater
amount of energy to a building than the electrical energy they consume,
and the energy transferred is obtained from a renewable source.
Typically, heat pumps can transfer three or four times the heat energy
that they consume in electricity. This ratio is known as the coefficient of
performance (COP). This heat pump’s COP can offset the negative effect
of power plant inefficiencies, leading to overall emissions that are lower
than those produced by the direct combustion of fossil fuels for heat
(even where a high-efficiency furnace or boiler is used). Figure 2.1
illustrates this effect for a power plant operating on fossil fuel alone at a
typical thermal efficiency of 45%. Where the electrical generation mix is
not entirely fossil-fuel-based, the emission advantage of heat pumps is
improved still further, since the electrical source itself emits less
pollutants.
Heat pumps contain refrigerants, and there has been concern about their
effect on ozone depletion. Subject to the Montreal Protocol, older
refrigerants are being phased out, and replaced in new equipment with
non-ozone-depleting (zero ODP) substances. Refrigerant leaks also have
a global warming effect, but this is minimal compared to the global
warming effect of the power plant (except where the electrical generation
mix is almost entirely non-fossil-fuel-based).
Another concern is global warming. Increased concern about global

warming is reflected in the Kyoto Protocol, which puts limits on a
country’s greenhouse gas emissions. A Canadian study of the total
equivalent warming impact (TEWI) of ground-source heat pumps versus
competing technologies indicates that carbon dioxide emission
reductions of 15% to 77% were achieved through the use of ground-
source heat pumps [8]. Figure 2.2 presents the results obtained from
reference [8] for primary schools in five locations across Canada. These
five locations give a broad range of electrical generation technologies,
with Montreal and Vancouver having very low fossil fuel fractions (they
mainly use hydro-electric power), and Calgary and Halifax having a very
high proportion of fossil fuel power generation. Other northern countries
will have similar results if the electrical generation mix and degree day
data are similar to that given in the figure.
45
5.3.4 .................................................................... Upcoming technology
46
5.3.5 .................................................................... Integration of systems
46

12,000
TEWI [tonnes of carbon dioxide per year] 10,000

Central VAV
GSHP
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Vancouver Regina Toronto Montreal Halifax
City
Heating Cooling Fossil fuel

degree days degree days fraction
(18°C base) (10°C base)
Vancouver 3,157 853 0.1

Regina 5,985 900 0.8
Toronto 4,059 1,317 0.25
Montreal 4,603 1,192 0.1
Halifax 4,518 813 0.8
Figure 2.2 Total equivalent warming impact (TEWI) of ground-source heat pumps
(GSHP) in primary schools in Canada, compared to central variable-air-
volume (Central VAV) systems.

3. Selection of Heat Pump Systems
3.1 HEAT PUMP SYSTEM SELECTION
The selection of the type of heat pump system for a commercial building
in a cold climate is largely dependent on the type of heat source or sink
that is to be used. Several factors, such as the variation in ambient air
temperature, the condition of the soil and the availability of groundwater
or surface water, will determine the choice of source/sink for the system.
These factors are largely site- and location-dependent, so proper
evaluation of the site is the first step in deciding the most suitable type of
system. Table 3.1 summarises the advantages and disadvantages of the
various types of system available. A more detailed discussion of the
characteristics of the different types of heat pump system is presented in
Chapter 4.
3.2 SELECTION OF HEAT PUMP TYPE
Once the type of system is determined from the building needs,

architectural requirements, and site characteristics, the heat pumps
themselves must be selected. Heat pumps are essentially available in
four different types: air-to-air, air-to-water, water-to-air, and water-
to-water. Air-to-air systems have outdoor air as the heat source, and
transfer heat to or from the building air directly. Air-to-water systems
also have air as the heat source, but use water as the means of
distributing the heat to the building. Water-to-air systems have water as
the heat source (groundwater, ground heat exchanger water or surface
water, for example) and transfer energy directly to or from the building
air. Water-to-water systems have water as the source and distribute the
heating or cooling energy to the building through a water system of some
kind. Table 3.2 presents these four heat pump types, and the merits of
each. Further discussion of distribution systems is given in Chapter 4.
For any of these configurations there can be different drive types, for
example engine-driven (usually natural-gas-fuelled) or electric.
Absorption cycle heat pumps are also available. These are usually
gas-fired.

Table 3.1 Selection of heat pump system type.
System type Source Installed Applicability/ Notes

characteristics cost requirements
Air-source Large Low Universally Auxiliary heat

temperature applicable and defrosting
variation. required in cold
climates.
Water-source Moderate Low Universally Allows heat

(water-loop) temperature applicable recovery. Well
variation. suited to large
buildings.
Surface water Low temperature Varies Proximity to Fouling or

variation. with water of clogging
proximity adequate depth possible.
to water and surface area Loop must be
required. Anti- separated from
freeze solution building loop.
needed. Highly regulated.
Groundwater Very low High Sufficient Existing well can

temperature groundwater of reduce costs.
variation. adequate quality Loop must be
Coordination of required. Local separated from
additional authorities can building loop.
contractors restrict water
required. extraction and
re-injection.
Ground-source Low temperature Medium Space for Vertical or

variation, but to high ground heat horizontal
higher for exchanger borefield. Space
horizontal loop. needed. Anti- and/or soil
Coordination of freeze solution conditions
additional required. dictate design.
contractors
required.
Knowledge of soil
thermal properties
needed.

Table 3.2 Heat pump type and advantages.
Heat pump Source/sink Heat pump Advantages/disadvantages

type transfers
energy to/from
Air-to-air Air Air Direct conditioning of air.

Ductwork can be space-
consuming.
Air-to-water Air Water Indirect conditioning of air

incurs some thermal losses.
Allows thermal storage. Water
distribution more compact.
Allows preheating of SHW.
Water-to-air Water or brine Air Direct conditioning of air.

(building loop, Space can be saved by piping
ground loop, water source into building,
well water, minimizing distribution
surface water, ductwork.
etc.)
Water-to-water Water or brine Water Indirect conditioning of air

(building loop, incurs some thermal losses.
ground loop, Allows thermal storage. Water
well water, distribution more compact.
surface water, Allows preheating of SHW.
etc.)
3.3 REASONS FOR SELECTION OF THE

DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS
The Demonstration Projects in Part Three are largely drawn from the
CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, and from other sources available
to the authors (see references for each project in Part Three).
The following criteria were used in their selection:
• They must come from CADDET Energy Efficiency member

countries;
• The site must have a cold climate (for example northern rather than
southern USA). The only exception to this is the Wal-Mart site in
Oklahoma, which was included because it is a prototype design
which will be applied to different locations including cold climates;
• The technology (or its application) should be relatively new;

• Fairly detailed information should be available in English;
• Information must be available on:
• Energy use;
• Operating cost;
• Economics;
• Energy-saving features;
• Environmental benefits;
• Occupant/owner comments;
• Photograph of the building.
6,000
Heating degree days (18°C)
5,000 Cooling degree days (10°C)
4,000
Degree days
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Site number
Figure 3.1 Heating and cooling degree days for the example sites.
Data was collected for the sites through CADDET and other available
publications and sources. Further information was obtained by writing to
the owner or consulting engineer, stating the additional information
required to complete the data. Some follow-up communication was also
required by telephone and/or e-mail.
The heat pump systems included in the 15 Demonstration Projects

represent a broad range of heat pump types. Categorising these by type
of energy source gives:
• 5 Ground-source with a vertical ground heat exchanger;

• 1 Ground-source with a horizontal ground heat exchanger;
• 3 Groundwater using supply and discharge wells;
• 1 Groundwater using standing column wells;
• 2 Surface water (river/sea water);
• 1 Air-source;
• 1 Water-source (internal building heat gains);
• 1 Combination of groundwater and air-source.

All the heat pumps are vapour-compression except for one site
(Maastricht) which has an absorption heat pump using the generation-
absorbtion cycle (GAX).
There are six sites in Canada, five in the United States, two in Norway,
one in The Netherlands, and one in Japan. The locations are all northern
(with the exception of Wal-Mart - see Section 3.1). Heating and cooling
degree-days for each site are given in Figure 3.1. Most sites have
between 3,000 and 4,000 heating degree days (18°C base) and are
located in North America.
Site Building Location

1 Trustcan Realty Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2 St. Patrick’s High School Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
3 Tracadie District Office Tracadie, New Brunswick, Canada
4 Hydro-Quebec
Administrative Centre Laval, Quebec, Canada
5 St. Hyacinthe Vocational
School St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada
6 The Biosphere Montreal, Quebec, Canada
7 Statoil Research Centre Trondheim, Norway
8 Stavanger Military Camp Stavanger, Norway
9 Maastricht Government
Building Maastricht, the Netherlands
10 Salem Community College Carney’s Point, New Jersey, USA
11 Wal-Mart Supercenter Moore, Oklahoma, USA
12 Maxey School Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
13 Geneva Lakefront Hotel Geneva, New York, USA
14 Haverhill Public Library Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA
15 TEPCO District
Heating Plant Takasaki, Japan

4. Review of Heat Pump System
Characteristics
4.1 BUILDING DESCRIPTIONS
The heat pump systems included in this report are applied to a variety of
commercial buildings. These include office and retail buildings, schools,
a hotel, a library, a college, and an interactive museum. District heating
systems are represented by two sites: a military camp in Norway and a
district heating plant in an urban area of Japan. The floor area of the
buildings varies from 2,600 m2 to 32,000 m2, apart from the Japanese
district heating plant, which serves a total area of 68,569 m2. Buildings
were typically low-rise (of three storeys or less) with a maximum of six
storeys. Table 4.1 describes the buildings, and Table 4.2 their heat pump
systems.
Table 4.1 Building description.
No. Case study name Country Occupancy Gross floor Number

area [m2] of stories
1 Trustcan Realty Canada Office/Retail 2,600 3
2 St. Patrick’s High School Canada School 13,660 2
3 Tracadie N.B. Power District Office Canada Office/Warehouse 1,530 1
4 Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre Canada Office/Repair/Storage 12,750 2
5 St. Hyacinthe Vocational School Canada Vocational School 11,388 2
6 The Biosphere Canada Interactive Museum 4,500 irregular
7 Statoil Research Centre Norway Office 32,000 3
8 Stavanger Military Camp Norway Military Camp 34,000 (15 buildings)
9 Maastricht Government Building Netherlands Office n/a n/a
10 Salem Community College USA College 5,853 (2 buildings)
11 Wal-Mart Supercenter USA Retail 18,587 1
12 Maxey School USA Primary School 6,410 1
13 Geneva Lakefront Hotel USA Hotel 9,295 6
14 Haverhill Public Library USA Library 2,600 2
15 TEPCO District Heating Plant Japan District Heating/ 68,569 * n/a
Cooling Plant
* Area served by district heating/cooling plant

4.2 HVAC SYSTEMS
The demonstration projects include three popular arrangements for the

conditioning of the zones throughout the building. These can be
categorised as distributed (water-loop) or central (two-pipe or four-pipe).
Table 4.2 gives the type of HVAC system used in the demonstration
projects along with the total heat pump capacity and number of heat
pumps.
4.2.1 Distributed systems: water-loop heat pump
This system incorporates water-to-air heat pumps serving the various

zones, where the water side (source) is directly parallel connected to
a two-pipe, continuously circulating water-loop. The heat pumps
incorporate a reversing valve allowing the water-loop to serve as either
a heat source or heat sink, depending on the zone requirement. Thus a
given heat pump may be cooling its zone and rejecting heat to the loop,
while another heat pump is recovering that heat from the loop and
heating its respective zone. The water-loop configuration is therefore
particularly well suited to building applications where there is a
simultaneous need for heating and cooling within the building. An
example is an office building where, in winter, the perimeter zone
requires heating, but due to internal heat gains and no heating loads the
central zone requires cooling.
Table 4.2 HVAC systems.
No. Case study name Total heat Number of Central system Internal
pump capacity heat pumps or distributed distribution
[kW] system system
1 Trustcan Realty 211 17 distributed water-loop
2 St. Patrick’s High School 1,516 163 distributed water-loop
3 Tracadie N.B. Power District Office 77 9 distributed water-loop
4 Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre 563 2 central 4-pipe fan coils
5 St. Hyacinthe Vocational School 590 35 distributed water-loop
6 The Biosphere 793 43 distributed water-loop
7 Statoil Research Centre 900 2 central 4-pipe fan coils
8 Stavanger Military Camp 520 4 central 2-pipe fan coils
9 Maastricht Government Building 250 1 central 2-pipe fan coils
10 Salem Community College 563 32 distributed water-loop
11 Wal-Mart Supercenter 1,934 34 distributed water-loop
12 Maxey School 528 54 distributed water-loop
13 Geneva Lakefront Hotel 1,140 202 distributed water-loop
14 Haverhill Public Library 210 6 central 2-pipe fan coils
15 TEPCO District Heating Plant 6,603 3 central 4-pipe
(to customers)

Clearly the simultaneous heating and cooling requirements of the
building will not always be matched, so it is necessary to add a heat
source and heat sink to the loop, to take care of net heat gains or loses.
Typically a boiler and evaporative or closed-circuit cooler can be used
for this. The ground can also be used as a heat sink or source, as can
groundwater or surface water. Section 4.3 discusses these systems in
more detail.
Generally the heat pump loop will remain within a temperature range of
16oC to 32oC, so it does not normally require thermal insulation [9].
Ground coupling may reduce this temperature, however, resulting in the
need for thermally insulated water-loop piping.
4.2.2 Central system with two-pipe fan-coil units
One or more large heat pumps can be combined to cool or heat water,
which is then directed to a two-pipe distribution system. This hot water
or chilled water will typically supply fan-coil units. As a two-pipe
distribution system cannot cool and heat simultaneously, a seasonal
changeover for the system is required. As shown in Table 4.2, three of
the HVAC systems studied here had two-pipe distribution systems.
4.2.3 Central system with four-pipe fan-coil units
A central heat pump system with a four-pipe distribution system can

supply heating and cooling simultaneously. A four-pipe system is made
up of supply and return piping to both the condenser and evaporator of
the heat pump, giving chilled water and hot water to the building at the
same time.
4.2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of system types
A four-pipe central system and a water-loop distributed heat pump

system give similar levels of occupant comfort (year-round heating and
cooling). It is therefore interesting to compare the benefits of these two
configurations. Since individual heat pumps must be sized for the
particular peak load of the zone, whereas central systems can be sized for
the overall peak of the building, the installed capacity of distributed
systems is usually larger than that of a corresponding central system,
leading to higher first costs. On the other hand, the central system may
consume more space in the building because the large heat pumps will
require a separate mechanical equipment room, whereas the distributed
heat pumps can be conveniently located in the ceiling plenum space.

It may, however, be easier to control noise with a central system since
the equipment room can be located away from the conditioned space and
can be sound-insulated. The maintenance of heat pumps in distributed
systems tends to be less disruptive than that in central systems, since heat
pump equipment shutdown has a local impact only.
4.2.5 Ventilation systems and heat pumps
With increasing public concern about indoor air quality, heat pump
installations should meet or exceed the design criteria outlined in
ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 [10], or other applicable local standards.
Ventilation air can be supplied to a heat pump system in a variety of

ways. Reference [4] presents various ways in which fresh air can be
supplied to buildings served by heat pumps. These are summarised
below:
• Ducted outside air to each heat pump: This is the most reliable way
of ensuring that a fixed amount of outside air is guaranteed for each
zone. The proportion of outside air to return air can then be closely
controlled using balancing dampers. Typically, for buildings lower
than six storeys, a fan is not used to pressurise the ventilation shaft,
so the intake ductwork should be sized for minimum pressure drop
(low air velocity).
• Ceiling plenum distribution: Where the heat pumps are arranged in

a distributed fashion, as is common with the two-pipe water-loop
design, the most convenient way to introduce fresh air to the zones
is simply to duct it into the return air ceiling plenum. While this
arrangement is simple, care must be taken to distribute the fresh air
properly. This means ducting the fresh air close to the heat pump,
and balancing the flow to a level appropriate to the corresponding
zone. Dehumidification of the outside air may be necessary in very
warm and humid conditions, to prevent the fresh air condensing
when it mixes with the cold return air.
• Corridor distribution: This is a common method of supplying fresh

air to hotel rooms and apartments. Fresh air is supplied to the
corridor, with forced exhaust air from each room inducing a flow of
air from the corridor to the units. Good air flow to the units is
ensured by door registers, or by generous undercuts to the doors.
• Rooftop units: Rooftop heat pump configurations allow the fresh air
to be directly introduced to the heat pump.

In all cases care must be taken in the design to ensure that the fresh air
does not result in an intake temperature low enough to cause the heat
pump controls to switch the unit off. This will typically occur at an
intake air temperature of about 10oC. Where low-temperature tripping-
out is imminent, tempering of the outside air will be necessary, either by
electric resistance heating, gas heating, using an energy recovery
ventilator (ERV), or other heat source. Energy recovery ventilators
exchange heat between the exhaust air and the incoming fresh air, raising
the temperature of the fresh air closer to the temperature of the
conditioned space. Thus the risk of too low an intake temperature for the
heat pump can be reduced in an energy-efficient manner, without the use
of electric resistance or gas pre-heaters.
Table 4.3 presents some details of the ventilation systems used in the
demonstration projects.
Table 4.3 Ventilation systems.
No Case study name Principal heat Heat Notes/additional features

source for recovery
ventilation system [y/n]
1 Trustcan Realty gas n
2 St. Patrick’s High School heat pump y workshop fresh air is gas
heated (no ERV)
3 Tracadie N.B. Power District Office elec. resis. y ERV uses heat pipe
4 Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre heat pump n 100% fresh air in repair
shop, garage and warehouse
5 St. Hyacinthe Vocational School gas n perforated solar wall pre-heat
6 The Biosphere heat pump y ERV uses heat pipe
7 Statoil Research Centre n/a n emergency ventilation
equipment for ammonia
hazard
8 Stavanger Military Camp heat pump/oil/elec n
9 Maastricht Government Building n/a n
10 Salem Community College air-source heat pump n old air-source heat pumps
pre-heat fresh air
11 Wal-Mart Supercenter heat pump n separate coil for fresh air
12 Maxey School heat pump n hot water pre-heat (gas fired
boiler) when necessary
13 Geneva Lakefront Hotel energy recovery only y enthalpy wheel ERVs
14 Haverhill Public Library n/a n/a
15 TEPCO District Heating Plant n/a n/a

4.3 HEAT PUMP SYSTEM CHOICES
The type of heat pump system is based on the type of heat source or sink
that is used for the overall system. Table 4.4 lists the heat pump system
type used in each of the demonstration projects.
Table 4.4 Heat pump system type.
No. Case study name Heat source/ System type Number of Borehole/
sink boreholes, well depth,
wells or or loop
loops length (m)
1 Trustcan Realty ground GSHP/vertical HX 43 91
2 St. Patrick’s High School ground GSHP/vertical HX 250 28
3 Tracadie N.B. Power District Office groundwater GSHP/well-water 2 46
4 Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre groundwater GSHP/well-water 4 n/a
5 St. Hyacinthe Vocational School ground GSHP/horizontal HX 32 365
6 The Biosphere groundwater GSHP/well-water 4 91
7 Statoil Research Centre seawater surface water n/a n/a
8 Stavanger Military Camp air air-source n/a n/a
9 Maastricht Government Building river water surface water n/a n/a
10 Salem Community College ground GSHP/vertical HX 50 61
11 Wal-Mart Supercenter internal
water source water-loop n/a n/a
12 Maxey School ground GSHP/vertical HX 120 73
13 Geneva Lakefront Hotel ground GSHP/vertical HX 318 26 & 42
14 Haverhill Public Library groundwater standing column well 2 457
15 TEPCO District Heating Plant groundwater/ n/a 2 120
air
The choice of which type of system to use depends on many factors,

including site location, soil conditions, architectural considerations,
noise, space constraints, and economic limitations. The following
subsections outline the different systems, with the advantages and
limitations of each. The subsections covering groundwater, ground-
source, and surface water systems are based on reference [4]. The
discussions on closed-loop water source and air-source systems are
based on reference [9]
4.3.1 Closed-loop water source
Closed-loop water source heat pump systems are systems where the heat
pumps are interconnected through a water loop (two-pipe), and the net
heat source or sink for the loop is a boiler and closed-circuit cooler (or
similar heat-rejection device), respectively. Unlike an air-source system,
a closed-loop water source system allows energy recovery between the

heat pumps. Thus the heat rejected by one heat pump can be passed on to
another. These systems are better suited to larger buildings, where the
internal gains (lights, people and equipment) provide adequate heat,
resulting in minimal use of the back-up boiler.
4.3.2 Groundwater
Groundwater systems employ groundwater as the heat sink or source for

the heat pumps. Groundwater is extracted from a well and returned to the
aquifer through another well. There can also be several supply and return
wells. There should be sufficient distance between the supply and return
wells to avoid a thermal short circuit between them.
An alternative design is a standing column well, where the groundwater

is extracted from the bottom of the well and returned to the top. For a
standing column well it is the depth of the well that guarantees that there
is no thermal short-circuit effect. A deep well allows sufficient contact
with the aquifer, reducing the thermal cross-over between return and
supply water.
It is good design practice to separate the groundwater flow from the heat
pump loop flow, through the use of a heat exchanger. This achieves three
goals:
• It reduces the build-up of scale and sludge, facilitating cleaning;

• It allows internal heat recovery to take place between the heat
pumps within the building loop;
• It lowers the loop pump energy required, by reducing the static
pressure difference across the pump.
To reduce corrosion difficulties, the heat exchanger should be of

stainless steel.
As the groundwater temperature varies very little from season to season,

groundwater systems offer a particularly attractive heat source and sink
for continental climates where the air temperature varies greatly from
winter to summer. The year-round groundwater temperature at a given
location is roughly the average annual air temperature for that location.
Note that the extreme depth of standing column wells can introduce ‘hot-
rock’ effects, increasing the groundwater temperature slightly from that
of the average annual ambient temperature.

4.3.3 Ground heat exchanger
Unlike groundwater systems, ground heat exchanger systems do not use

the groundwater directly, but exchange heat with the ground by a heat
exchanger buried below ground. This heat exchanger can be either of
vertical or horizontal design. The vertical configuration consists of a
matrix of vertical boreholes, typically 50 to 100 meters in depth, into
which U-tubes or, in some instances, concentric tubes are placed. The
piping from each borehole is interconnected by headers and run-outs,
forming a large ground heat exchanger called a borefield. A horizontal
ground heat exchanger employs trenches, into which piping loops are
placed. The trenches are subsequently back-filled.
The choice between a horizontal or vertical ground heat exchanger

depends on several factors. Horizontal installations take up more land
area than vertical systems, but allow for a taller building without static
pressure difficulties. Horizontal heat exchangers cost less to install, but
this may be offset by the increase in land area used.
Ground or soil conditions may also dictate the type of heat exchanger
used. Incorporating the heat exchanger into other building functions can
save costs. An example is the integration of a vertical borefield with the
pilings of a building, or the location of a borefield under a school’s
football field.
A heat exchanger separating the ground heat-exchanger loop and the

building loop is generally not required, since the working fluid is already
isolated from the groundwater. In northern regions, the loop fluid must
be an anti-freeze solution, and the loop piping inside the building should
be insulated.
4.3.4 Surface water
Where surface water is readily available, it should be considered as a

source or sink for a heat pump system. The depth of water should be not
less than 2 m, and surface area should be at least 80 m2 per kW of
installed heat pump capacity. Sometimes lakes or ponds are added to a
site for drainage or aesthetic reasons. These should be considered as
possible heat sources or sinks for heat pump systems. Where existing
lakes or rivers are present, the use of these will, of course, be subject to
local codes and regulations.

4.3.5 Air-source
Air-source heat pumps have a lower installed cost than ground-source

systems, but their application in cold continental climates is restricted
due to a decrease in capacity and efficiency with decreasing outdoor air
temperature. Air-source heat pumps also do not allow heat recovery
between the heat pump units.
In cold climates, air-source heat pumps require a defrosting cycle, since

accumulation of frost on the evaporator coils results in degradation of
performance. During the defrosting cycle, the refrigerant flow is
reversed, heating the coils and defrosting them. For reasons of energy
efficiency, these defrosting cycles should be as short and infrequent as
possible. For example, in a wet climate such as Norway’s west coast
(Project 8), a special coil design having wider-spaced fins and higher
airflow rate was specified, to reduce the frequency of defrosting.
4.4 SPECIAL FEATURES
The demonstration projects included several special features to improve

performance or reduce installation or operating costs. Table 4.5 lists the
sites and corresponding features. Some of these are summarised below:
Table 4.5 Heat pump system special features.
No. Case study name Special feature

1 Trustcan Realty Borefield located under building foundation
2 St. Patrick’s High School Retrofit, with borefield located under school’s football field
3 Tracadie N.B. Power District Office Heat recovery ventilator used for fresh air pre-heating
4 Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre Chillers used as heat pumps
5 St. Hyacinthe Vocational School Horizontal ground heat exchanger on property of
neighboring farm
6 The Biosphere Water hammer arrestors and soft starters fitted to well piping
7 Statoil Research Centre Seawater system
8 Stavanger Military Camp High air flowrate and large fin spacing reduce freeze-up risk
9 Maastricht Government Building Absorption heat pump with generator-absorber HX technology
10 Salem Community College Retrofitted to existing building system / SHW preheat
11 Wal-Mart Supercenter Separate coils for outside and return air (dual-path)
12 Maxey School Borefield located under school’s football field
13 Geneva Lakefront Hotel Portion of borefield integral with building pilings
14 Haverhill Public Library Standing column well with emergency bleed for extreme cold
15 TEPCO District Heating Plant Thermal storage of both hot and chilled water

• Low frost build-up on coils: The accumulation of frost on heat
pump evaporator coils can be reduced by increasing the fin spacing
and air flow rate across the coils.
• GAX technology for absorption chillers: With GAX (generator-

absorber heat exchange), the generator and absorber in an
absorption heat pump are designed to have a temperature overlap,
and a heat exchanger between the generator and absorber increases
the cycle efficiency [11].
• Dual path for de-humidification: A separate coil in the heat pump

for the fresh air component of a building results in better humidity
control, and reduced operating costs. Better indoor air quality also
results, due to better condensate drainage from the fresh-air coil.
• Location of vertical heat exchanger integral with building pilings:

When boreholes for a vertical ground heat exchanger can be made
integral with building features such as pilings, construction
economies are gained.
• Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs): Heat recovery ventilators are

particularly well suited to buildings with heat pumps, because an
ERV will heat the incoming fresh air to a level that the heat pump
can handle without the need for supplementary gas or electric pre-
heating. Heat pumps can be smaller capacity units, as well, with
lower first costs.
• Heat recovery: Heat pumps can be applied to a variety of heat

recovery applications. These include internal heat recovery,
industrial waste, exhaust air, sewage etc. By using a heat pump,
waste heat at too low a temperature for direct use can be brought to
a useful temperature for space heating.
• Hybrid systems: Systems with supplementary boiler or heat rejector

(cooling tower) augment the thermal capacity of the groundwater or
ground heat exchanger, thereby reducing the capital cost of the
system.
• SHW heating (desuperheater): Ground-source heat pump systems

are often equipped with a desuperheater, a device ahead of the
condenser which desuperheats the refrigerant by using it to heat (or
pre-heat) service water. This adds to the efficiency of the service hot
water system.

• Simultaneous heating and cooling: When the heat pump (through a
four-pipe system) can be used to simultaneously generate chilled
and hot water, both the sink and source of the heat pump are
employed at the same time, increasing the operational efficiency.
This mode of operation can be extended by storing the chilled and
hot water to meet later peak loads.
• Standing column wells: Groundwater systems can be designed using

standing column wells. In this design the supply water is extracted
from the base of the well and returned to the top. The well must
therefore be very deep to eliminate thermal exchange between the
returning water and the supply. At such depths (for example:
500 m), some ‘hot rock’ energy is present, increasing the heat
supply. The standing column well design also reduces the number
of wells required, as there is no need for a separate supply and
return well. Standing column wells may require a bleed cycle,
diverting a portion of the return water away, to be replaced with
water from the aquifer to prevent the well water from freezing in
low temperature conditions.
• Thermal storage: Heat pumps lend themselves well to thermal

storage systems, due to their ability to heat and cool simultaneously
at temperatures consistent with water storage systems. This can lead
to a substantial reduction in peak load for the heat pump.

5. Analysis of Heat Pump Systems
5.1 ENERGY USE
The total building energy use for the demonstration projects is shown
in Figure 5.1. The average annual energy use of the buildings was
533 MJ/m2. This compares to the national average for commercial
buildings in the United States of 1048 MJ/m2 [12]. Thus the
demonstration projects consume only about 51% of the US national
average. The average building energy demand is similar in Canada and
the United States, due to a similarly extreme climate. The European
average is lower than that of North America, however, due to a more
temperate climate and consequently lower demand for air conditioning.
Thus, the reduction in total annual energy consumption to 51% is not
entirely attributable to the use of heat pumps, since the demonstration
projects include sites at locations where the average total energy use is
lower than that of the United States.
1,200
Annual total energy use [MJ/m2]
1,000
800
600
400
200
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Site number
Figure 5.1 Total building energy use per square metre of floor area.
A recent study conducted for ASHRAE [2] indicates an average total

energy use for ground-source heat pump systems to be 63% of that of
conventional HVAC systems.

5.2 ECONOMICS
A simple payback analysis is one way of assessing the economic benefits

of heat pump systems over conventional systems. The simple payback
period is the time it takes to pay back the capital cost premium from the
operating costs savings, assuming no interest charges. Simple payback
periods reported by the demonstration project sites ranged from immediate
to 12 years, with an average of 5.2 years. This compares favourably with
a simple payback period of 5.94 years for ground-source heat pump
systems given by reference [2]. Reference [1] indicates an average
simple payback period for ground-source heat pump systems of 8.1 years,
if two sites which had payback periods of greater than 20 years are
excluded. An immediate simple payback period indicates that the system
cost no more than a conventional system and that operating cost savings
were also achieved. For a complete life-cycle cost analysis, maintenance
costs should also be included. Life-cycle cost analysis shows the internal
rate of return, allowing comparison with alternative investments.
5.3 TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
This section will attempt to provide the reader with an indication of the
issues and trends in heat pump technology applicable to commercial/
institutional buildings in cold climates.
5.3.1 Alternative refrigerants
The one issue that will impact on all heat pumps before long is the
replacement of the almost universally used refrigerant HCFC-22 with
either an HFC or a natural refrigerant such as hydrocarbon or
hydrocarbon blends and ammonia. HCFCs are currently scheduled to be
phased-out by 2020. North American industry favours the use of HFC
replacements. In countries such as Germany and Norway, there is
significant use of hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon blends in heat pump
equipment. HFCs represent a safe, non-ozone depleting, non-flammable
alternative to HCFCs, with little or no performance penalty. They are,
however, greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming.
Hydrocarbons, on the other hand, are flammable in the concentrations
used in commercial/institutional applications, are non-ozone-depleting
and contribute less to global warming. Performance in machines
equipped with hydrocarbons is the same or better than with HCFCs or
HFCs. Ammonia (NH3) is used extensively in industrial refrigeration
applications. It is non-ozone-depleting and has no direct global warming
potential. Concerns about its toxicity and flammability limit its use in
commercial applications, however.

5.3.2 Energy efficiency standards
The efficiency of heat pump equipment used in commercial building

water-source, ground-source and air-source systems is covered by the
minimum energy efficiency requirements of ASHRAE 90.1R, Energy
Standard for Buildings, Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The
standard was recently approved by ASHRAE and was published early
in 2000. The revised efficiency levels will become effective two years
later. The United States Energy Policy Act requires all states to adopt an
energy code at least as stringent as 90.1.
The efficiency requirements for heat pumps are significantly more

stringent than the 1989 version of the standard. While products for
export can have lower energy efficiency, it is likely that the new standard
will become the low-end product.
ASHRAE is also about to develop a Guideline document, to provide

guidance to building designers who want to go beyond the minimum or
regulated levels specified in 90.1. These two documents are likely to
influence the efficiency of heat pump equipment manufactured in all IEA
countries.
Many current building codes in North America, Europe, and Japan favour
systems such as heat pumps through measures that encourage heat
recovery and the use of renewable energy. Examples are: mandatory heat
recovery for buildings with very large exhaust air quantities, and the
lowering of other requirements where site-recovered energy is employed.
Future codes may mandate building system integration. This type of
directive tends to favour heat pump systems, since heat pumps are well
suited to system integration through their heat recovery capabilities.
Future codes may also require decisions based on complete life-cycle
cost analysis. This will favour heat pumps, since their energy efficiency
makes long-term assessment of their costs more attractive than short-term.
5.3.3 Popular current configurations/types
There is relatively little information on volume or value shipments of

heat pumps for commercial building applications. It is difficult to
differentiate residential from commercial equipment in industry
shipments, because air-source single-package and split-system
equipment is used interchangeably in the two sectors, as are water-source
heat pumps. The most popular commercial heat pump configuration is
the single-package air-source unit which is roof-top mounted or installed
at ground level. This is followed by the packaged terminal heat pump
commonly used in apartments, hotels and other single-zone applications.

The third most popular commercial heat pump application would be the
water-source heat pump used in conjunction with a two-pipe water-loop,
a boiler and a cooling tower. Finally, a significant number of the water-
source heat pumps shipped annually are used in ground-source heat
pump systems.
Other heat pump configurations include mini-split heat pumps which

are used in buildings without duct distribution systems. There are also
through-the-wall heat pumps, which have similar applications to
packaged terminal heat pumps, but are similar in appearance to window
air-conditioners.
5.3.4 Upcoming technology
While there are continuing efforts to improve energy efficiency and

reliability of electrically-driven heat pumps of all types, the most
significant development efforts during the past 10 years have
concentrated on natural gas heat pumps. Both engine-driven vapour
compression equipment and absorption units are under development.
They promise to reduce global warming through more efficient
conversion of natural gas, and reduced emissions from electric power
plants as they do not use electricity to drive the heat pump. Absorption
heat pumps eliminate the use of ozone-depleting CFCs and HCFCs, and
avoid the need for greenhouse gases such as the alternative HFCs.
The Generator-Absorber heat eXchanger (GAX) heat pump concept,

which is used in the Maastricht building in the Netherlands (Project 9),
has a heat exchanger between the generator and absorber to raise the
efficiency of the absorption cycle by recovering heat energy released in
the absorber. Natural gas is burned to provide heat to the generator. The
working fluid is a mixture of ammonia and water. There are a number of
GAX developments underway in the United States and elsewhere.
Heating coefficients of performance in the range of 1.6 to 1.8 (excluding
electric inputs) have been measured on prototype air-source heat pumps.
This suggests much lower CO2 emissions than high-efficiency gas
furnaces (COP of 0.9), or electric heat pumps using electricity from
natural gas-fired power plants with low electrical efficiency.
5.3.5 Integration of systems
A popular trend today, that will continue in the future, is the integration
of heating and cooling functions in one system rather than separate
systems. The simplest example is provision of water heating by a
desuperheater on a heat pump. In commercial water-loop heat pump

systems, it is common to connect the heat rejection from commercial
refrigerators and freezers to the loop. This heat can be used by heat
pumps in the heating mode on the same 2-pipe loop, or if there is no
heating load, heat can be rejected to the cooling tower or ground or
water-well.
Water-to-air heat pumps can be used to pre-condition ventilation air to

the zones using excess heat in the same 2-pipe loop. Also, water-to-water
heat pumps can extract heat from the loop to pre-heat service hot water.
Often, ventilation systems use energy recovery ventilators and heat
pumps to recover energy from the general building exhaust, and to
condition the ventilation air prior to supplying it to the occupied zones.
Integration of systems can reduce mechanical system duplication, and

can reduce heating and cooling loads. This will positively impact on
equipment size, provide lower system first cost and lower operating
costs.

6. Conclusions
This Analysis Report has described the benefits, features, performance

and operational characteristics of large commercial/institutional building
heat pump systems used in cold climates. The most important motivation
for end-users is the significantly lower operating costs with such heat
pump systems than with other large building heating and cooling
systems. Other benefits include lower maintenance costs, improved
comfort, better building aesthetics, and the fact that these systems use
renewable energy and result in lower impacts on the environment.
A variety of system types are available to suit the specific building

circumstances, and the availability of heat sources/heat sinks – air, water,
surface water, groundwater and the ground. Fifteen Demonstration
Projects from five CADDET countries are presented in Part Three,
including at least one of each of the different system types.
One of the most popular systems used in large buildings in cold climates
is that involving distributed water-to-air heat pumps on a two-pipe
water-loop distribution system. This allows for simultaneous heating
and cooling all year round, offers flexibility in moving heat pump units
around to suit the owner or tenant’s space layout needs, and minimises the
need for mechanical equipment room and ceiling space in comparison to
central systems. Ventilation, with or without heat recovery, can be
readily accommodated into this type of heat pump system.
Commercial buildings with heat pump systems in North America exhibit

average total annual energy use as low as 50% of that of buildings without
heat pumps. Payback periods as short as immediate to an average of just
over five years were reported by the fifteen Demonstration Projects
presented here. Lower service and maintenance costs can improve the
economics.
The future will likely see increased use of natural refrigerants which do
not contribute to global warming. Upcoming heat pump technology will
involve natural gas engine-driven vapour compressors, and natural gas-
fuelled absorption cycles, driven by a need to reduce global warming
through more efficient use of primary energy. Increasingly, systems will
be integrated, combining multiple functions in one machine to reduce
mechanical system duplication, lowering both system first costs and
operating costs.

Part Three
Demonstration Projects
Demonstration Projects
Fifteen Demonstration Projects from five CADDET countries are

described on the following pages. The amount of detail varies slightly,
according to what information was available to the authors in English, or
what the CADDET National Teams could obtain. Most projects are from
North America. The main reason for this is the ‘Cold Climates’ aspect of
the Analysis Report and the high number of projects available in North
America.
Simple payback period, the calculation most widely adopted for

comparison of CADDET demonstration projects from different
countries, is independent of the currency concerned. For the convenience
of readers studying individual projects installed in other countries,
however, recent exchange rates against the US dollar and the Euro (as of
15 May 2000) are given in Table 7.1. Note that the Euro was not yet in
use for the periods to which most of the figures refer.
Table 7.1 US dollar and Euro equivalents* of other currencies used in the
Demonstration Projects.
USD EUR
1 Canadian dollar (CAD) = 0.671 = 0.733
1 Norwegian Krona (NOK) = 1.118 = 1.220
1 Netherlands Guilder (NLG) = 0.416 = 0.454
100 Japanese Yen (JPY) = 0.913 = 0.997
* as of 15 May 2000.

1. TRUSTCAN REALTY OFFICE, TORONTO,
ONTARIO, CANADA
Trustcan Realty – Summary

Building description
Occupancy: Office/Retail
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Gross floor area: 2,600 m2
Number of stories: 3
Type of system: New
Completion date: 1990
Degree days - cooling (10°C) 1,317
- heating (18°C) 4,059
Interior system
Total installed heat pump capacity: 211 kW
Number of heat pumps: 17
Internal distribution system: Water-loop
Installed pump sizes: 2 x 7.5 kW
Additional systems and features:
• Ground heat exchangers are located below parking garage.
• A gas-fired boiler is connected to loop to prevent ground freezing
and structural damage due to borefield.

Ground-source system
Vertical heat exchanger
43 x 91 m boreholes
Heat exchanger pipe: 32 mm polyethylene
Secondary heat transfer fluid: propylene glycol
Energy consumption
Annual electricity used - building: 552 MWh
Annual gas used - building: 58 GJ
Economic analysis
Building HVAC capital costs: CAD 290,500
Annual building energy costs: CAD 50,600
Conventional HVAC capital costs: CAD 212,000
Conventional energy costs: CAD 57,200
Estimated simple payback period of GSHP system over conventional:
11.9 years
Utility/government incentive: CAD 35,000
Background
The Trustcan Realty Office is located near downtown Toronto. It is a
three-storey building with a total floor area of 2,600 m2. This building is
an example of the application of a ground-source heat pump (GSHP)
system to an urban renewal project. Due to the high-density location, the
borefield is situated under the building itself – a unique layout for a
GSHP system. The building was completed in 1990.
Toronto has a continental climate, with cold winters and warm, humid
summers. The weather extremes are moderated at times due to proximity
to Lake Ontario.
System description
The ground-source system is a closed-loop design incorporating
43 boreholes of 91 m depth. The boreholes are spaced a minimum of
3.0 m apart, and are all at least 4.6 m from the building footings. The
fluid is a propylene glycol solution, which is circulated throughout the
ground loop and building loop by a 7.5 kW pump (the ground-loop and
building loop are continuous, with no separating heat exchanger). The
borefield runouts are located 2.1 m below the floor slab of the parking
garage. The runouts are connected to reverse-return headers, to ensure
even flow to all boreholes.

The heat pump loop serves 15 water-to-air heat pumps, ranging from
12.3 kW to 17.6 kW in capacity, giving a total capacity of 211 kW.
On the first two floors, the heat pumps are located above the suspended
ceiling. On the third floor, rooftop heat pumps are used.
Due to the location of the ground loop below the building, there was a
concern that if the loop temperature dropped below freezing, damage
could occur to the building’s foundation due to frost.
To prevent this, a gas-fired boiler was installed to maintain the loop
temperature above 0oC.
The make-up air system installed provides 1,416 litres/second of fresh

air to the building. This outdoor air is heated by a gas-fired rooftop unit
and ducted directly to the heat pumps in the conditioned space.
A schematic diagram of the HVAC system used at Trustcan is shown in

Figure 7.1.
15 heat pump units
HP HP HP
Conditioned space
Expansion
tank
Gas-fired
hot water
boiler Circulating
pumps
43 boreholes,
91 m deep
(under building)
Figure 7.1 Schematic diagram of the ground-source heat pump system at the
Trustcan Realty Office.

Project costs
The total installed cost of the ground-source heat pump system at
Trustcan was estimated to be CAD 290,500. This cost includes air
distribution ductwork, diffusers, registers, insulation and controls. By
comparison a conventional system, assumed to consist of a packaged
VAV rooftop system with a gas-fired furnace and direct expansion
cooling, was estimated to cost CAD 212,000.
System performance
Comparing the GSHP system at Trustcan with a conventional HVAC
system (packaged rooftop variable-air-volume (VAV) arrangement with
gas heating and direct-expansion (DX) cooling) gives total annual energy
cost savings of CAD 6,600 or 11.5%. This yields a simple payback
period of 11.9 years. With the incentive received from Ontario Hydro,
this payback period was reduced to 6.5 years.
Operating experience
Information current in 1995 indicates that the GSHP system had not had
any operational difficulties.
Contact name:
Oxford Suburban Group
Mr. Michael Ytsma
855 Matheson Blvd.
Mississauga, Ontario
L4W 4L6 Canada
Tel.: +1-416-2988898
Fax: +1-905-6256242
References
[13] Case studies of three commercial/institutional GSHP systems.
Caneta Research Inc: Prepared for Hydro-Quebec, 1995.
[14] A ground source system at the Trustcan Realty Office. CADDET

Energy Efficiency Register, Project No. CA-99-540, 1999.

2. ST. PATRICK’S HIGH SCHOOL, SARNIA, ONTARIO,
CANADA
St. Patrick’s High School – Summary

Occupancy: High school
Location: Sarnia, Ontario
Floor area: 13,660 m2 (excluding portable classrooms)
Number of stories: 2
Type of system: Retrofit
Completion date: September 1992
- heating (18°C) 3,677
(Windsor Airport)
Interior system
Total installed heat pump capacity: 1,516 kW
Number of heat pumps: 155 water-to-air, 8 water-to-water
Installed pump sizes: 4 x 30 kW
• Cooling tower provides supplementary heat rejection.
• Air-to-air heat recovery to pre-heat outside air.
• Water-to-water heat pumps provide supplementary conditioning for
outdoor air.
• 21 Portable classrooms are heated with electric resistance heaters.
250 x 28 m boreholes
Secondary heat transfer fluid: ethanol

Energy consumption
Annual electricity used - building: 2,171 MWh
Annual gas used - building: 124 GJ
Economic analysis
Building HVAC capital costs: CAD 1,938,000
Conventional HVAC capital costs: CAD 1,892,000
Conventional energy costs: CAD 187,000
Cost of ground coupling: CAD 275,000
11.5 years
Utility/government incentive: CAD 261,000
Background
In 1992, St. Patrick’s High School in Sarnia, Ontario was retrofitted with
a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system. The school consists of a
13,660 m2 main building and 21 portable classrooms. St. Patrick’s is one
of several schools in the region constructed or retrofitted with a GSHP
system. A CAD 261,000 incentive was provided by the provincial utility
for the GSHP system at St. Patrick’s.
Sarnia is located in southern Ontario, on the south shore of Lake Huron.

The climate is cold continental, with some local moderation from Lake
Huron. Winters are cold. Summers are warm and humid.
System description
The system consist of 155 water-to-air heat pumps ranging in size from
2.6 kW to 45.7 kW, giving a total thermal capacity of 1,516 kW. These
units are located above the suspended ceiling in the rooms located in the
building’s interior zone, and as console units in the exterior (perimeter)
rooms. In addition, there are eight 52.8 kW water-to-water heat pump
units used for service hot water heating and ventilation air heating or
cooling.
The ground heat exchanger consists of 250 boreholes, 28 m deep, and

spaced 4.6 m apart. The borefield runouts and headers are buried 1.2 m
below ground, and are covered with 50 mm of styrofoam insulation. This
piping is arranged in a reverse-return fashion to ensure a uniform flow to
each borehole. The borefield is located under the school’s football field.
Except for the workshop area, the outdoor ventilation air is pre-conditioned
using energy recovery ventilators. It is then further conditioned by
heating/cooling coils from the water-to-water heat pumps. Total fresh air

to the building (excluding the workshop) is 17,430 litres/second. The
workshop system uses a gas-fired fresh air unit of 2,450 litres/second,
interlocked with the shop’s dust collection system.
The ground loop and building loop are directly connected, and the fluid
is circulated by four 30 kW pumps (two operating and two stand-by).
When the building loop is in heat recovery mode (thermal equilibrium),
the ground heat exchanger is by-passed, and only one pump is operated
to save energy. When the heat rejection load is beyond the capacity of
the ground heat exchanger (borefield) it is again by-passed, and heat
from the building loop is rejected through a closed-circuit cooler.
A schematic diagram of the GSHP system at St. Patrick’s is given in

Figure 7.2.
163 heat pump units (total)
HP HP HP
Conditioned space
Circulating
pumps
Closed circuit
cooler
Expansion
tank
250 boreholes,
28 m deep
(under football field)
Figure 7.2 Schematic diagram of the ground-source heat pump system at

St. Patrick’s High School.

Project costs
The total cost of the GSHP system, including the ground heat exchanger,
interior water loop, heat pumps, heat recovery units with ductwork, and
controls was CAD 1,938,000. Assuming a conventional system to be a
central plant chiller/boiler system, the cost (including all ductwork,
outdoor air units, piping, and controls) is estimated to be CAD 1,892,000.
System performance
Comparing the energy use of St. Patrick’s High School for a given year
(1994/95) with an estimate of the energy use of a conventional chiller/
boiler system yielded an annual energy cost saving of CAD 4,000. This
gives a simple payback period of 11.5 years. If the utility incentive is
included in the payback analysis, the simple payback period becomes
instantaneous.
Initially, potassium acetate was chosen as the fluid in the loop. This
caused a large number of the threaded joints in the interior piping system
to leak, and these leaks resulted in some external corrosion to iron pipes
and pipe accessories. A change to an ethanol solution eliminated both the
joint leak and corrosion problems.
Contact name:
Lambton County Roman Catholic School Board
Mr. Matt Roop
430 Christina Street South
Sarnia, Ontario
N7T 2N8 Canada
Tel.: +1-519-3366139
Fax: +1-519-3365160
References
Caneta Research Inc. Prepared for Hydro-Quebec, 1995.
[15] A ground source system at St. Patrick’s High School. CADDET

Energy Efficiency Register, Project No CA-99-541, 1999.

3. TRACADIE DISTRICT OFFICE, TRACADIE, NEW
BRUNSWICK, CANADA
Tracadie, N.B. Power District Office – Summary

Occupancy: Office/warehouse
Location: Tracadie, New Brunswick
Gross floor area: 1,530 m2 (Office -745 m2)
Number of storeys: 1
Type of system: New
Completion date: January, 1990
Degree days - cooling (10°C) 841
- heating (18°C) 4,759
Interior system
Total installed heat pump capacity: 77.4 kW
Number of heat pumps: 9 units - 3.5 to 17.6 kW
Installed pump size: 1 x 1.5 kW
• HRV across outdoor air and exhaust air
Groundwater
1 supply well and 1 discharge well
Well depth: 46 m
Well diameter: 150 mm
Isolation of groundwater from bldg. loop: plate frame heat exchanger
Building heat transfer fluid: methanol and water
Well pump size: 1.1 kW

Energy consumption
Annual electricity used for building: 313 MWh
Annual electrical energy use for HVAC system: 92 MWh
Economic analysis
Estimated HVAC capital costs: CAD 140,000
Conventional HVAC capital costs: CAD 99,500
Conventional HVAC energy costs: CAD 27,500
Cost of ground-source system: CAD 11,750
7 years
Utility/government incentive: No
Background
In order to demonstrate the energy savings and peak electrical demand
reductions attainable with ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems,
New Brunswick Power decided to specify a ground-source heat pumps
system for their new regional office in Tracadie, New Brunswick.
The building is a combined office and warehouse of single-storey

construction, with 745 m2 of office area and a gross floor area of
1,530 m2. It was completed in January, 1990. The climate is continental,
with cold winters and warm summers.
System description
The system installed is an open-loop, GSHP system, with a 46 m deep
supply well with a casing 150 mm in diameter, and a discharge well of
the same dimensions.
A 1.5 kW pump is used to pump the groundwater at a rate of 2.5 litres/

second through a plate heat exchanger, where the heat is transferred to
(or from) the building heat pump loop. This building loop serves nine
heat pump units varying in capacity from 3.5 kW to 17.6 kW, giving a
total installed heat pump capacity of 77.4 kW.
Fresh air is supplied to the building through a make-up air unit

incorporating a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) to recover heat from the
exhaust air. The HRV exchanges heat between the general building
exhaust and fresh air ducts by means of a heat pipe. Final pre-conditioning
of outside air is accomplished through an electric resistance duct heater.
Figure 7.3 is a schematic of the HVAC system installed at Tracadie.

9 heat pump units
HP HP HP
Conditioned space
Discharge well Supply well

45.7 m deep 45.7 m deep
Well pump
Figure 7.3 Schematic diagram of the groundwater heat pump system at the
Tracadie District Office.
Project costs
The cost of the entire HVAC system, including the ground-source
wells and an energy management systems (EMS), was estimated to
be CAD 140,000. This compares to the baseline system considered
(a variable air volume rooftop air-conditioner and baseboard electric
heaters) with a cost of CAD 99,500.
System performance
Comparing the energy performance of the installed GSHP systems with
that of a conventional system (packaged rooftop cooling with electric
baseboard heaters) shows a drop in total building energy use of
102,680 kWh. This corresponds to a simple payback period of about
seven years.

Initially the interior water-loop was operated without antifreeze. Freeze
damage resulted in one of the heat pump evaporators. Resetting the water
flow rate through this unit and adding 14 litres of methanol to the interior
water loop corrected the problem and gave freeze protection to -7°C.
Some difficulty was also encountered in the control of the back-up

resistance heaters.
Contact name:
New Brunswick Power
Mr. George Dashner
PO Box 2000
Fredericton, New Brunswick
E3B 4X1 Canada
Tel.: +1-506-4583285
Fax: +1-506-4584000
E-mail: gdashner@nbpower.com
References
[16] Monitoring of a groundwater source heat pump system at Tracadie.
University of Moncton and Caneta Research Inc. Prepared for the
Canadian Electricity Association, 1996.
[17] Groundwater Source Heat Pump System at Tracadie Power

Supply Office. CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project
No. CA-99-539, 1999.

4. HYDRO-QUEBEC ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRE,
LAVAL, QUEBEC, CANADA
Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre – Summary

Occupancy: Office, repair shop, storage
Location: Laval, Quebec, Canada
Type of system: New
System completion date: January, 1987
- heating (18°C) 4,603
(Dorval Airport)
Interior system
Number of heat pumps: 2 units - 211 kW and 352 kW
• Heat pumps are standard chillers
• Back-up boiler in loop
Ground-source description
Groundwater system
Number of wells: 2 supply, 2 injection
Depth of wells: n/a
Ground loop flow rate: 6.6 litres/sec
• Groundwater system is separated from the heat pumps by a plate
heat exchanger (except for the heat rejection condenser of the
352 kW unit which is directly connected to the groundwater loop)

Energy consumption
Annual reduction in energy use of HVAC system: approx. 2,160 GJ
(compared with similar building having a conventional HVAC
system)
Peak demand reduction: 600 kW
Economic analysis
Incremental HVAC capital costs: CAD 50,000
Annual building energy savings: CAD 24,707
2.0 years
Utility/government incentives: none
Background
The administration centre of Hydro-Quebec at Laval is a two-storey
office building with a total floor area of 12,750 m2. The building is
made up of three main areas: an office area of 4,220 m2, a shop area of
5,300 m2 (for vehicle repair and equipment storage), and a 3,230 m2
unheated ‘shelter block’ for maintenance vehicles. The building was
completed in 1987.
The city of Laval is located immediately north of Montreal. The climate

is continental, with cold winters and warm, humid summers.
System description
The system consists of a heat pump loop thermally connected (by a plate
heat exchanger) to a groundwater system. In this way the groundwater
acts as a thermal source or sink for the heat pump loop when the energy
exchange within the loop is not balanced. The loop serves two large heat
pumps, one of 352 kW and the other of 211 kW. These heat pumps are
standard chillers which provide both chilled water and hot water to the
building. A back-up boiler for the heating loop is also installed.
The groundwater system includes two supply wells of 250 mm diameter,

each equipped with a submersible pump and two injection (return) wells,
also of 250 mm diameter. The groundwater system is separated from the
building heat pump loop by a heat exchanger.
The make-up air system supplies fresh air at the rate of 5,660 litres/
second to the office and 14,160 litres/second to the repair shop, parking
garage and warehouse.
Figure 7.4 depicts the system at the Hydro-Quebec Administrative

Centre.

Heating Conditioned space
coils
Cooling
coils
Back-
up
boiler
HP HP
Plate heat
exchanger
2 injection 2 supply
wells wells
Figure 7.4 Schematic diagram of the groundwater heat pump system at the Hydro-
Quebec Administrative Centre in Laval.
Project costs
The increased cost of the groundwater heat pump system over a
conventional system is estimated to be CAD 50,000. This increase is
based on the cost of the wells, groundwater piping, submersible pumps
and the plate heat exchanger.
System performance
The geothermal system resulted in net energy savings of CAD 24,707
per year, giving a simple payback period of two years, based on the
energy cost of several comparable buildings in the area. Peak power
demand is reduced by 600 kW to less than 700 kW.
Some problems were encountered with corrosion of the groundwater
loop galvanised piping, particularly under the tape used to secure the
wiring to the well pump. The on-off mode of operation of the well
pumps was also cited as a problem. A variable-frequency drive was
judged more suitable.

Contact name:
Dessau-Soprin Inc.
Mr. Laurier Nichols
375 Roland-Therrien Blvd.
Longueuil, Québec
J4H 4A6 Canada
Tel.: +1-514-2811010
Fax: +1-450-4429996
E-mail: longueuil@dessausoprin.com
References
[18] Minea, V., Experimental study of two institutional ground-source
heat pump systems. Third International Conference - Heat Pumps
in cold Climates, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Caneta Research Inc.,
p. 469, 1997.
[19] Integrated heat pump system using a geothermal source. Dessau

Inc. Entry submitted to ASHRAE Energy Awards, 1990.
[20] ASHRAE 1990 Energy Awards: Second place – energy distribution

and control system. ASHRAE Journal, March 1990, p. 28.
[21] Laurier Nichols, Dessau-Soprin Inc., personal communication,

May 1999.
[22] Heat pump system using geothermal source at Hydro-Quebec

Administration Centre, Laval. CADDET Energy Efficiency
Register, Project Number CA-99-532, 1999.

5. ST. HYACINTHE VOCATIONAL SCHOOL,
ST. HYACINTHE, QUEBEC, CANADA
St. Hyacinthe Vocational School – Summary

Occupancy: School
Location: St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada
Type of system: New
Completion date: July, 1994
- heating (18°C) 4,778
(Drummondville)
Interior system
Number of heat pumps: 35 units (12.3 kW to 19.9 kW)
Installed pump sizes: 1 x 15 kW
• Thermal storage tank in loop with back-up heating from a boiler
(oil).

Horizontal heat exchanger (in farm field)
Number of loops: 32
Length of each loop: 365 m
Heat transfer fluid: 21% methanol
Energy consumption
Annual electrical consumption - building: 1,327 MWh
Annual gas consumption - workshop section: 2,192 GJ
Annual GSHP system electrical consumption: 519 MWh
Economic analysis
GSHP capital costs: CAD 115/m2
Conventional HVAC capital costs (est.): CAD 155/m2
Annual savings due to GSHP system: CAD 41,000
Estimated simple payback period of GSHP system: immediate
Utility/government incentives: none
Background
St. Hyacinthe School is a two-storey building with a total floor area of
11,388 m2. However, only the academic and recreational section
(6,856 m2) is heated and air-conditioned by the heat pump system.
The town of St. Hyacinthe is located in the province of Quebec, just east
of Montreal. The climate is continental, with cold winters and warm,
humid summers.
System description
The ground-source system is a closed-loop design with a horizontal
ground heat exchanger. This heat exchanger consists of 32 loops of
32 mm high-density polyethylene pipe, buried 1.2 m under the field of
a neighbouring farm. Each loop is 365 m long. To prevent freeze-up,
the fluid is a 21% methanol/water solution.
The building loop is directly connected to the ground-source system and

serves a total of 35 water-to-air heat pumps ranging in capacity from
12.3 kW to 19.9 kW. A thermal storage tank is also located within the
loop, with a back-up hot water boiler system for auxiliary heating of this
tank.

The fresh air for the building is preheated by a solar wall. The solar wall
is made up of perforated metal panels which absorb the solar radiation.
The warmed air is drawn through the perforations into the fresh air system.
Any further heating of the fresh air needed is done by natural gas.
Figure 7.5 depicts the ground-source system installed at St. Hyacinthe

School.
Project costs
The cost of the GSHP system was CAD 114.6/m2, which is about 26%
lower than that of an equivalent conventional system.
System performance
Compared to a similar school with a conventional system, the
St. Hyacinthe School costs CAD 4/m2 less per year to heat and cool.
The payback period is immediate, due to lower capital cost than a
conventional system.
35 heat pump units
HP HP HP
Conditioned space
Thermal
storage tank
Back-up hot
water boiler (oil)
Horizontal ground
heat exchanger
32 loops, 365 m long
Figure 7.5 Schematic diagram of the St. Hyacinthe School ground-source heat
pump system.

Maintenance costs are comparable to other systems, but special training
for the personnel is required.
Contact name:
St. Hyacinthe School Board
Mr. Guy Thibault
2255, rue Sainte-Anne
Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec
J2S 5H7 Canada
Tel.: +1-450-7738401 Ext. 533
Fax: +1-450-7736876
References
[18] Minea, V., Experimental study of two institutional ground-source
heat pump systems. Third International Conference - Heat Pumps in
cold Climates, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Caneta Research Inc.,
p. 469, 1997.
[23] Heat pumps coupled to heat exchanger save energy at a school.

CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number CA-97-505,
1997.
[24] Guy Thibault, Commission Scolaire Saint-Hyacinthe, personal

communication, April 1999.

6. THE BIOSPHERE, MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA
The Biosphere – Summary

Occupancy: Interactive museum
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Type of system: New, within frame of existing geodesic dome.
System completion date: 1995
- heating (18°C) 4,603
(Dorval Airport)
Interior system
Number of heat pumps: 43 units - 2.2 kW and 76.6 kW
• Heat pumps located in separate mechanical rooms to reduce noise.
Groundwater system
Number of wells: 2 supply, 2 injection
Depth of wells: 91 m (supply)
Ground loop flow rate: total 22 litres/sec

• Groundwater system is separated from the heat pumps by a
stainless steel plate heat exchanger.
• Water hammer arrestors and soft starters fitted to reduce start-up
difficulties.
Energy consumption
Annual energy use of GSHP system: 6,325 GJ
Annual energy use of conventional system:
- with electric boiler: 7,978 GJ
- with gas boiler: 9,634 GJ
Economic analysis
GSHP system capital cost: CAD 525,000
Conventional system (elec. boiler) capital cost: CAD 508,375
Conventional system (gas boiler) capital cost: CAD 532,600
Estimated simple payback period of GSHP system over conventional

with electric boiler: 0.41 years
Utility/government incentives: funded by government
Background
The Biosphere, which opened in 1995, is an interactive museum to
promote awareness of the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes ecosystem.
It is located within the geodesic dome that formed the United States
pavilion at Expo 67. This dome, 76 m in diameter and 63 m high, was
originally fitted with clear acrylic panels, but has been unglazed since
1976 when a fire destroyed these panels.
The building has a floor area of 4,500 m2, and a large window area. Due
to its unique architecture, 80% of the total floor area is in a peripheral
zone. These factors, combined with the severity of the climate, lead to a
demanding heating and cooling load.
System description
The system is an open loop ground-source heat pump system (See
Figure 7.6). The building loop serves 43 heat pumps, varying in size
from 2.2 kW to 76.6 kW, with a total installed capacity of 793 kW.
These heat pumps are located in eight small mechanical equipment
rooms to reduce noise. The building loop is separated from the
groundwater system by two plate heat exchangers of stainless steel
design. The building loop incorporates two (one operating, one standby)
11.2 kW pumps, giving a total flow of 44.2 litres/second.

The groundwater system comprises two production (supply) wells and
two injection (discharge) wells. The production wells are 91 m deep and
200 mm in diameter, each fitted with submersible motors and pumps.
Pump power for the two production wells are 18.6 kW and 11.2 kW.
These pumps give flow rates of 13.8 litres/second and 8.2 litres/second
respectively. Two water hammer arrestors and soft starters were fitted to
eliminate start-up difficulties.
The fresh air system consists of two independent constant-volume

systems. Heat is recovered from the exhaust air using a heat-pipe heat
recovery ventilator (HRV). The fresh air is then brought to conditioned
temperature by a coil from a water-to-water heat pump. Care was taken
to ensure that the fresh air supply is evenly distributed to all rooms.
Project costs
The estimated investment cost of the system is CAD 525,000. This
compares to a chiller/boiler system cost of CAD 508,375 (electric boiler)
or CAD 532,600 (gas-boiler).
To fresh air coil

Conditioned space
Water-to-air heat pumps
HP HP HP HP HP
Water-to-water heat pumps
Plate heat exchangers (2)
Injection wells (2) Supply wells (2)

91 m deep
Figure 7.6 Schematic diagram of the groundwater heat pump system at the
Montreal Biosphere.

System performance
The annual energy consumption of the GSHP system was 6,325 GJ
costing CAD 124,155. This compares to 7,978 GJ (CAD 164,330) for a
conventional chiller/boiler system with an electric boiler, or 9,634 GJ
(CAD 109,426) with a gas boiler. The simple payback period compared
to the chiller/boiler system with electric boiler is 0.41 years.
Note that the natural gas boiler system has the lowest energy cost of all.
This was known at the outset, but the designers chose the GSHP system
due to its environmental benefits, which are in keeping with the
museum’s theme of ecological preservation.
The location of the heat pumps in separate rooms allows maintenance
of the units during working hours without disturbing the exhibition.
The system is easier to maintain and operate than a conventional system,
but more specialised staff are required.
Contact name:
Bouthillette Parizeau & Associés Inc.
Mr. Jacques Lagacé
9825, Verville
Montréal, Québec
H3L 3E1 Canada
Tel.: +1-514-3833747
Fax: +1-514-3838760
E-mail: bpa@sympatico.ca
References
[25] Geothermal heating and cooling for Montreal’s Biosphere.
CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number CA-97-503,
1998.
[26] Jacques Lagacé, Bouthillette Parizeau et Associés Inc., personal


7. STATOIL RESEARCH CENTRE, TRONDHEIM,
NORWAY
Statoil Research Centre – Summary

Occupancy: Office
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Gross floor area: 32,000 m2 (four buildings)
Type of system: New
- heating (18°C) 3,823
(Bergen)
Interior system
Total installed heat pump capacity: 900 kW (plus 200 kW chiller for
cooling back-up)
Number of heat pumps: 2 units + chiller
• 2 Propane boilers (250 kW each) fitted to heating loop as back-up.
• Ammonia system (low charge, leak detection, and exhaust air
scrubber reduce risks)

Water-source description
Seawater system
• Heat from cooling can be recovered from seawater loop and
transferred to heating loop.
Energy consumption
Annual energy use of HP system: 4,680 GJ
Annual energy use of propane boiler: 3,240 GJ
Economic analysis
HP system capital cost: NOK 3.6 million
Estimated simple payback period: 4.5 years (not including benefit of
seawater cooling)
Utility/government incentives: 20% subsidy
Background
The Statoil Research Centre in Trondheim, Norway, is a 32,000 m2
research office with a staff of about 500. In 1994, two ammonia heat
pumps were installed, each having a capacity of 450 kW. These heat
pumps provide 60% of the maximum (design) heating requirement of
the building.
Trondheim is located on an inlet (fjord) on the coast of Norway.

The climate is cool temperature.
System description
Figure 7.7 is a schematic diagram of the system. Seawater at 5°C to 6°C
serves as the heat source for the heat pump evaporators. Total heat pump
capacity is 900 kW. The discharge from these evaporators is then routed
to a heat exchanger where it absorbs heat from the space cooling loop.
Before finally discharging back into the sea, this fluid passes through
another heat exchanger where any heat gained from the cooling loop can
be transferred to the heating loop if required. The cooling loop is fitted
with a 200 kW chiller, but this is mainly a back-up.
The heating loop is fitted with a propane boiler to provide back-up heat
when necessary.
The use of ammonia as the heat pump refrigerant imposed some safety
requirements, since the machine room where these heat pumps are
located is within the office building. To address this problem a leak
detection system is fitted, coupled to an alarm system and failsafe
two-stage mechanical ventilation system. As a further precaution,

Conditioned
space Gas-fired boilers
Water heating
Space heating
Chiller Heat HP HP
exchanger
Space cooling
Heat
exchanger
Seawater
Figure 7.7 Schematic diagram of the heat pump system at the Statoil Research
Centre.
the heat pump units have a low ammonia charge, and the refrigeration
circuits are sectioned, limiting the amount of ammonia that can be
released. As a final precaution against any possibility of transferring high
concentrations of ammonia to surrounding buildings, an ammonia
scrubber system is fitted to the exhaust system.
Project costs
The heat pump system cost NOK 3.6 million. This gives a payback
period of 4.5 years, not including the savings due to cooling by seawater.
System performance
The annual energy consumption of the heat pumps and seawater pumps
totalled 4,680 GJ. The propane boiler consumed 2,160 to 2,880 GJ per
year. Compared to a conventional system (oil-fired heating system and
central air-conditioning), the system saved 8,280 GJ of thermal energy
and 0.4 GWh of electricity for cooling.
Annual maintenance costs on the heat pump compressors average
NOK 120,000. Maintenance intervals are 7,000 hours. The owners are
very satisfied with the installation and report no extra maintenance on
the compressors.

Contact names:
Statoil Research Centre in Trondheim
Mr. Kjell Sirevåg
Rotvoll Postuttak
Trondheim
N-7005
Norway
Tel.: +47-51-997356
Fax: +47-51-990050
References
[27] Ammonia water-to-water heat pump in a commercial building.
CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number NO-99-501,
1998.
[28] Rolf Ingdahl, Statoil, personal communication, June 1999.

8. STAVANGER MILITARY CAMP, STAVANGER,
NORWAY
Stavanger Military Camp – Summary

Occupancy: Military camp
Location: Stavanger, Norway
Number of buildings: 15 (Total 34,000 m2)
Type of system: Existing
- heating (18°C) 3,823
(Bergen)
Interior system
Number of heat pumps: 4 (air-source)
Operating pump flowrate: 20 litres/second
Energy consumption and peak demand

Annual electricity used - building: 7,325 GWh (after heat pump),
8,125 GWh (before heat pump)
Annual gas used - building: n/a
Details of air-source heat pumps

• Heat pumps have special evaporators adapted to the climate:
- high air flow rate
- larger gap between the fins (8 mm)
- epoxy coating for corrosion protection
- hot-gas defrosting
• Heat pumps pre-heat domestic hot water
• COP = 2.4
Economic analysis
Building HVAC capital costs: NOK 4 million
Annual energy costs savings: NOK 0.4 million
Conventional HVAC capital costs: n/a
10 years
Utility/government incentive: none

Background
Stavanger Military Camp is one of the sites of the Norwegian Defence
Construction Services (FBT). It comprises 14 buildings served by a
central district heating system.
In 1997, four air-to-water heat pumps were added to the system.

These provide 85% of the total heating requirement and 50% of the peak
requirement of the system. The heat pumps also provide pre-heating for
the domestic hot water.
Stavanger is located on the west coast of Norway. Due to its coastal

location, it has a cool temperate climate.
System description
The system uses four air-to-water heat pumps, each with a capacity of
130 kW. These heat pumps serve the main district heating loop of the
camp. Each of these units has two evaporators which are specifically
designed for the climate of western Norway. A large surface area and
high flow rate with a large gap between the fins (8 mm) reduces the
formation of frost and delays the eventual coil blockage, while an epoxy
coating protects the surface of the evaporators from the corrosive effects
of the sea air. When freeze-up does occur, hot-gas defrosting is
employed to rapidly and effectively defrost the evaporators.
These heat pumps use R-134a as the refrigerant, which has zero ozone
depletion potential (ODP).
Figure 7.8 is a schematic diagram of the system.
Project costs
The heat pump system installed at Stavanger cost NOK 4 million.
System performance
The special evaporator design results in only one or two defrost cycles
a day when the ambient temperature is below 4°C. Also, the large
evaporator surface area helps to improve efficiency, due to a lower
temperature difference in the evaporators.

Air-to-water
heat pumps (4)
Electric Oil-fired
boilers boilers
Supply to
buildings
Figure 7.8 Schematic diagram of the system at Stavanger Military Camp.
The heat pumps supply about 85% of the total annual heating
requirement of the camp. This includes space heating, domestic hot
water (which accounts for half of the heat pumps’ energy use), and
ventilation air heating. The remaining 15% is met by electric and
oil-fired boilers, which provide the peak heating load requirements,
since the heat pumps can supply only 50% of the maximum load.
The resulting energy savings gave a payback period of six years, with
no subsidy to offset the capital costs.
Initially, heat pump system performance was affected by a flow
balancing problem. Also, it was necessary to add a wall to mask the
sound the units. The cost of the wall is included in the project costs
and payback period calculation given above.
Contact name:
Partner Consult A/S
Mr. Ove Njaa
Torgveien 15a
Stavanger
N-4016
Norway
Tel.: +47-51-585020
Fax: +47-51-585020

References
[29] Air-water heat pump installed in a military camp. CADDET
Energy Efficiency, Project Number NO-99-505, 1998.
[30] Stene, Jorn. An air-to-water heat pump in a small-scale district

heating system. IEA Heat pump Centre Newsletter, Vol. 16, No. 4,
1998.
[31] Njaa, Ove, Partner Cousult As, personal communication,

April 1999.

9. MAASTRICHT GOVERNMENT BUILDING,
MAASTRICHT, THE NETHERLANDS
Maastricht Government Building – Summary

Occupancy: Office
Location: Maastricht, The Netherlands
Gross floor area: n/a
Number of storeys: n/a
Type of system: Existing
Completion date: Heat pump installed in 1993
- heating (18°C) 3,162
(Amsterdam)
Interior system
Number of heat pumps: 1
Installed pump sizes: n/a
• NH3 – H2O gas fired absorption heat pump incorporating the GAX
(temperature overlap) technology to increase efficiency.
Water-source system
• Water from the Maas river.
• Two-stage pumping to reduce risk of freezing when river water
temperature is low.
Gas consumption and peak demand

Annual gas use - building: 9,992 GJ (est.)
Economic analysis
Building HVAC capital costs: n/a
Annual building gas use: 9,992 GJ (est.)
Conventional energy use: 13,693 GJ
Estimated simple payback period of GSHP system over conventional: n/a
Utility/government incentive: n/a
Background
A new high-efficiency gas-fired absorption chiller was developed by the
Dutch manufacturer Rendamax in conjunction with the engineering firm

Colibri, with the financial backing of the Netherlands Agency of Energy
and the Environment (NOVEM). This was a 50 kW unit which served
only as a laboratory prototype.
Based on the prototype’s design, a 250 kW unit was developed in 1991.

This was installed in the Maastricht Government building in 1993. In this
installation, water from the river Maas is used as the heat source.
Maastricht is located on the river Maas in the Netherlands. It has a cool,

temperate climate.
System description
The primary innovation in the system is the heat pump itself. This high-
efficiency absorption heat pump uses ammonia-water as the fluid and
incorporates GAX (generator/absorber heat exchanger), or temperature
overlap, technology.
This temperature overlap allows heat to be exchanged between the

absorber and vapour generator, which makes it possible to optimally
adjust the process for a given process temperature range.
Critical to this design is the type of heat exchanger employed, where a

high efficiency, low-temperature difference design is required. Plate-fin
heat exchangers are used, giving a high surface area combined with
compactness and high thermal efficiency.
The building is situated on one bank of the Maas river, making it

convenient to use the river water as a heat source. The temperature of the
river water almost never drops below 4°C. The river water is separated
from the evaporator by a heat exchanger, to prevent the possible
clogging of the evaporator. The river water loop has a two-stage pump
system. When the water temperature is above 7°C, only the smaller
pump operates, allowing a temperature drop of 5°C across the heat
exchanger. At lower temperatures, the large pump cuts in, decreasing the
temperature drop across the heat exchanger to 2°C and reducing the risk
of freezing.
A diagram of the heat pumps system is shown in Figure 7.9.
System performance
The system is estimated to save 3,701 GJ per year, reducing the
gas consumption of the building by 27% from 13,693 GJ/year to
9,992 GJ/year.

To building
GAX absorption
heat pump
NH3 H2O
Intermediate
brine syetem High capacity pump
Low capacity
Heat pump
exchanger
River water
Figure 7.9 Schematic diagram of the GAX heat pump system at the government
building in Maastricht.
n/a
Contact name:
Colibri
Mr. Reinhard Schneider
PO Box 1112
6460 BA Kerkrade
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-43-3066227
References
[32] Bassols, J., Schneider, R., Ohrt, D., Kuckelkorn, B., Langreck, J.,
Veelken, H: First results of the operation of a gas-fired 250 kW
absorption heat pump. Heat Pumps for Energy Efficiency and
Environmental Progress, pp. 447-452, 1993
[33] Langreck, J: Bringing GAX absorption technology to the market,

IEA Heat Pump Centre Newsletter, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 27, 1997.

10. SALEM COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CARNEYS POINT,
NEW JERSEY, USA
Salem Community College – Summary

Occupancy: College
Location: Carney’s Point, New Jersey
Total floor area (2 buildings): 5,853 m2
Completion date: 1993/1994
- heating (18°C) 2,752
(Philadelphia)
Interior system
Number of heat pumps: 32 units
• old air-source HP pre-heats outdoor air in Science and Technology
Building.
Ground-source system description

50 x 61 m boreholes
Secondary heat transfer fluid: 10% methanol

Economic analysis
HVAC retrofit costs: USD 200,500
Annual energy savings: USD 59,000
Annual maintenance savings: USD 8,000
3.0 years
Utility/government incentives: Yes
Background
Salem Community College is located in Carney’s Point, New Jersey. In
1993/94 two buildings on the college campus were converted to a
ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system. These were the Science and
Technology Building (2,880 m2) and the Donaghay Building (2,973 m2).
The college chose a GSHP system to reduce operating costs and to

provide the students in the HVAC mechanics programme with practical
installation experience. Also, the existing system needed replacement.
Carney’s Point is situated in the south-west part of the state of New

Jersey, USA. The climate is continental, with warm, humid summers and
cool winters.
System description
The HVAC system uses 16 heat pumps in each building. Three of the
units in the Donaghay Building are fitted with desuperheaters, which use
the waste heat from the condenser to heat water. This supplies more than
50% of the building’s hot water needs. The total capacity of the system
(including both buildings) is 563 kW.
The loops that serve the heat pumps in each building are directly
connected to the ground-source heat exchanger, which has 50 boreholes,
each 61 m deep. The piping in these boreholes is of high-density
polyethylene. The borehole centres are spaced 4.6 m apart. A 10%
methanol solution is used to prevent freezing.
The block diagram of the system is shown in Figure 7.10.

32 heat pump units
HP HP HP
Conditioned space
50 boreholes,
61 m deep
Figure 7.10 Schematic diagram of the ground-source heat pump system at Salem
Community College.
Project costs
The cost of converting the Donaghay Building was USD 94,500. For the
Science and Technology Building the cost was USD 106,000. Money
from granting agencies more than covered these costs.
System performance
The new system resulted in annual savings of USD 28,000 and
USD 31,000 for the Donaghay and Science and Technology Buildings
respectively. There were also savings in maintenance costs of about
USD 8,000 annually (total, including both buildings).
This gives a simple payback period for the entire investment of 3.0 years,
not including the subsidies.
The reduced maintenance costs prove that the system is reliable and
effective. College representatives have indicated (referring to the Science
and Technology Building) that the GSHP system improved occupant
comfort.

Contact name:
Salem Community College
Mr. Charles Erhardt
460 Hollywood Avenue
Carneys Point, NJ
08069-2799
United States of America
Tel.: +1-609-3512603
Fax: +1-609-3512631
E-mail: erhardt@willie.salem.cc.nj.us
References
[34] Operating experiences with commercial ground-source heat
pumps. Caneta Research Inc. ASHRAE Project Number 863, 1995.
[35] Geothermal solution for college’s heating/air-conditioning system.

CADDET Energy Efficiency, Project Number US-95-531, 1996.

11. WAL-MART SUPERCENTER, MOORE, OKLAHOMA,
USA
Wal-Mart Supercenter – Description

Occupancy: Retail
Location: Moore, Oklahoma, USA
Type of system: New
Completion date: n/a
- heating (18°C) 2,033
(Oklahoma City)
HVAC system
Number of heat pumps: 34 (6 dual-path, 28 single-path)
• Waste heat recovery from retail refrigeration.
• Dual-path (return/fresh air). Eliminates reheat and provides better
humidity control.
Energy consumption
Annual electrical use - building: 3.91 GWh (22% below the baseline
design)

Economic analysis
Building HVAC capital costs: n/a
Annual building energy saving USD 103,000
Conventional energy use: n/a
Estimated simple payback period: n/a
Utility/government incentive: n/a
Background
In conjunction with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI),
Wal-Mart embarked on a project to investigate an energy-efficient and
environmentally friendly superstore design. This project was sponsored
by Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, one of Wal-Mart’s utility
providers, and is intended to be a prototype for future centres. The
supercenter consist of a department store section and supermarket section.
The specific objectives of the project were:

• The system should be applicable to most climates,
• Increase ventilation rates to meet the new ASHRAE standard,
• Low humidity to minimise the refrigeration energy use of display
cases, and minimise their frost build-up,
• Incorporate a maximum practical amount of refrigeration heat
recovery,
• Use non-CFC refrigerants,
• Use only proven components,
• Low cost.
The town of Moore is located in the state of Oklahoma, USA, near

Oklahoma City. Although this cannot be classified as having a cold
climate, the project is included in this report since it is a prototype for
other buildings located in colder climates.
System description
The system is made up of a water-loop serving all the heat pumps,
air-conditioning and supermarket display case refrigerator condensers.
This water loop is common to both the department store and supermarket
sections of the building, maximising the heat recovery possible. Excess
heat in the water loop is rejected, when necessary, to a cooling tower of
advanced design. Variable speed pumps are employed in the loop to save
energy.

The building incorporates an innovative heat pump design. This is a
dual-path rooftop unit (as opposed to conventional single-path) where
one path serves the outside (make-up) air and the other path the return
air. This separation of air flows allows each coil to be optimised for its
specific function, thereby increasing efficiency. This eliminates the need
for reheat to control humidity, for example. Humidity control is
particularly important where refrigerated display cases are present (as
they are in the supermarket section), to reduce frost build-up on the cases
and products. This dual-path design also results in a more concentrated
condensation build-up on the outdoor-air coil than would be present in a
combined-use coil. The result is better condensate disposal, with less
chance of mildew build-up or growth of biological contaminants. Since
fresh air quantity and overall building air quantity are increasingly a
public concern and the subject of standards and regulation (such as
ASHRAE 62-89), the importance of efficient and effective fresh air
conditioning is paramount.
A diagram of the system is shown in Figure 7.11.
Dual-path Heat Supermarket

heat pumps pumps display
(6) (28) cases
Fresh air
Return air
Variable
speed
Cooling pumps
tower
Figure 7.11 Schematic diagram of the system at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in

Moore, Oklahoma.

System performance
The new dual-path system gave a measured energy use of 3.91 million kWh
for a year, compared to forecast HVAC energy use of 5.06 million kWh
per year for a conventional system. This gives a 22% energy reduction,
resulting in savings of about USD 100,000.
The system has resulted in consistently low space humidity levels: a
relative humidity of under 40% in the grocery area and under 50% for
the entire space throughout the first year. Also, carbon dioxide levels
have been below 1,000 ppm (ASHRAE Target).
Contact name:
Wal-Mart Corporation
Mr. Charles Zimmerman
701 South Walton Blvd.
Bentonville, AR
72716
Tel.: +1-501-2734139
Fax: +1-501-2040151
References
[36] EPRI Integrated Water Loop/Dual Path HVAC System. CADDET
Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number US-99-526, 1999.
[37] Julia Kelley, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, personal

communication.
[38] Wal-mart superstore with heat pumps. Presentation by

Mike Bohrofen, Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company.

12. MAXEY SCHOOL, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, USA
Maxey School – Summary

Occupancy: School
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Type of system: New
- heating (18°C) 3,488
Interior system
• Fresh air quantity meets ASHRAE standard 62-1989 of
7.1 litres/second per person.
Number of boreholes: 120
Depth of boreholes: 73 m
Heat transfer fluid: 22% propylene glycol
Energy consumption
Annual energy use -building: 1,116 MJ/m2 (includes gas and electricity,
where electrical consumption includes the effect of generation
efficiency, taken as 33%).

Economic analysis
HP system capital cost: USD 658,190
Estimate simple payback period: n/a
Utility/government incentives: Yes, joint project with utility, whereby
the utility received 50% of the school’s energy savings until the
utility’s initial capital investment in the project was recovered.
Background
Maxey School is a 6,410 m2 primary school located in Lincoln,
Nebraska, USA. This school is one of four new schools built recently
(1995). Each school has 20 classrooms, common areas, a music room,
a gymnasium, and offices. Maxey School opened the fall of 1995.
It accommodates more than 500 pupils.
A ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system was chosen as the HVAC

systems for these schools, as a joint project of Lincoln Electric System
(LES) and Lincoln Public Schools (LPS).
Lincoln is in the south-east of the state of Nebraska. It has a continental

climate, with warm summers and cool winters.
System description
The cooling and heating load of the school is handled by a total of
54 heat pumps. Of these, 50 heat pumps, varying in size from 4.9 kW
to 15.8 kW, serve the classrooms and offices. The school meets the
ASHRAE Standard 62-1989, providing 7.1 litres/second of fresh air per
person. For the classrooms and offices the air drawn from outside is
heated by two 52.8 kW heat pumps. A 35.2 kW unit handling 40%
outside air and a 15.8 kW unit handling 45% outside air serve the
assembly areas (cafeteria, gymnasium etc.). The outdoor air units are
provided with hot water preheat when the outside temperature falls
below 4°C. Four gas-fired boilers, each with a capacity of 96.7 kW,
provide this hot water, which is also used for vestibule and other
perimeter heating.
The ground-coupling consists of a borefield of 120 boreholes spaced 6 m

apart in a 10 x 12 matrix. Each borehole is 73 m deep and 115 mm in
diameter, except for the top 6 m of each hole which is 127 mm in
diameter. A bentonite (clay) plug is installed around the top 3 m of each
borehole to prevent contamination of surface groundwater. The loops
consist of 25 mm diameter polyethylene piping, with thermally-fused
joints.

The fluid is 22% propylene glycol and is circulated throughout the
systems by a 22 kW pump with variable-frequency control. The borefield
(loop field) is conveniently located below the school’s football field.
Figure 7.12 shows a schematic diagram of the system.
Project costs
The total cost of the GSHP system for the four new primary schools was
USD 2,632,760. As the school HVAC systems are similar, Maxey’s
GSHP system cost was about one quarter of this value (USD 658,190).
System performance
The average total annual energy consumption of the school over the
years 1996 and 1997 was 1,116 MJ/m2. This figure includes both gas and
electricity consumption, including the effects of overall electricity
generation efficiency (assumed to be 33%). Of all the kindergarten to
grade 12 schools in the Lincoln Public School District, only 30% used
less energy than Maxey School, and many of these did not have 100% of
their floor area cooled.
54 heat pump units
HP HP HP
Conditioned space
120 boreholes,
73 m deep
Figure 7.12 Schematic diagram of the ground-source heat pump system at

Maxey School.

The GSHP system has been very well received. The school
administrators and the principal were impressed with the ability of
the system to keep an even temperature throughout the school and
throughout the year. There has been some operational difficulty with
the variable-frequency loop pumps.
Contact name:
Maxey Elementary School
Mr. Rod Bodfield, Building Superintendent
5200 South 75th Street
Lincoln, Ne.
68516
Tel.: +1-402-4361153
Fax: +1-402-4361274
References
[39] Fenenbach, R.S. and Bantam, D.D. Going underground (finally),
Engineered Systems, April 1988.
[40] Bantam, D.D. and Benson, S.J. A public utility strategy for
implementing and monitoring a ground coupled heat pump system
in a public school. APPA Energy/Customer Services and
community Workshop – New Tactics for Marketing Heat Pumps,
Kansas City, Missouri, October 16, 1995.
[41] Shonder, J.A., Martin, M.A., Sharp, T.R., Durfee, D.J., Hughes, P.J.
Benchmark for performance: geothermal application in Lincoln
Public Schools. Draft paper for ASHRAE, 1999.
[42] John Shonder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, personal


13. GENEVA LAKEFRONT HOTEL, GENEVA,
NEW YORK, USA
Geneva Lakefront Hotel – Summary

Occupancy: Hotel
Location: Geneva, New York
Type of system: New
Completion date: June, 1997
- heating (18°C) 3,741
(Rochester, NY)
Interior system
Installed pump sizes: 1 x 37 kW (plus backup)
• 2 enthalpy wheels used for fresh air ventilation heat recovery
(total 4,720 l/s)

Vertical Heat Exchanger (in building pilings and under parking lot)
Pilings boreholes: 198 x 26 m deep
Parking lot boreholes: 120 x 42 m deep
Borehole length per kW: 8.9 m/kW
Heat transfer fluid: 20% ethanol
Energy consumption
Annual electrical use - building : 1,624 MWh
Annual electrical use for HP system: 414 MWh
Economic analysis
Building HVAC capital costs: USD 900,000 plus USD 250,000 for
underground work.
Annual building energy costs: n/a
Conventional energy costs: n/a
Estimated simple payback period of GSHP system: n/a
Utility/government incentives: discounted rate from utility
Background
Geneva Lakefront Hotel is a Ramada Inn located in Geneva, New York.
This six-storey, 9,295 m2 hotel has 149 guest rooms, a restaurant,
meeting rooms and common areas. Geneva is located in the north-west
part of New York state. It has a continental climate, with cold winters
and warm, humid summers.
System description
The HVAC system is a vertical heat exchanger, ground-source system
serving 202 heat pumps. Each guest room is fitted with a 2.6 kW heat
pump. The remaining units are used for the space conditioning of the
common areas (lounge etc.), as well as for service hot water (4 units of
35 kW each) and pool water heating. Fresh air is pre-heated using two
enthalpy wheels for energy recovery.
The borefield is divided into two areas, one located under the parking lot,
and one, uniquely, integrated with the building’s pilings. Both these
fields serve the same loop. The parking lot borefield consists of

120 bores, 42 m deep. The piling borefield has bores of less depth
(24 m), but there are more of these (198), giving a similar length of
piping to that of the parking lot borefield. Polyethylene piping (32 mm)
is used in all the boreholes, with a reverse-return layout to ensure an
equalising flow distribution. The working fluid is a 20% ethanol solution
to give adequate freeze protection.
Figure 7.13 is a schematic of the system.
Project costs
The owner’s estimate of the cost of the heating system, not including the
ground work, is USD 900,000. The underground work is estimated at
USD 250,000 bringing the total cost for the system to USD 1,150,000.
Four heat pumps 198 heat pump units

for service
hot water HP HP HP HP
Conditioned space
Parking lot borefields Piling borefields

120 boreholes, 198 boreholes,
42 m deep 24 m deep
Figure 7.13 Schematic diagram of the ground-source heat pump system at Geneva
Lakefront Hotel.

System performance
Total electrical energy use for the whole building from June 1997 to
May 1998 was 1,624 MWh. Of this total, 239 MWh was attributed to the
heat pumps, 136 MWh to water heating, and 39 MWh to the electricity
consumption of the loop pumps. These electrical consumption levels
were measured during a period of high occupancy, with weekend
meetings or conferences scheduled throughout the period.
Some difficulty was encountered in controlling the two-way valves on
the heat pumps. Also, a fourth heat pump (as reflected in the numbers
above) had to be added to the hot water system as no electric resistance
backup is installed. Two of the heat pumps have required compressor
replacement.
Contact name:
CDH Energy
Mr. Steven Carlson
P.O. Box 641
132 Albany Street
Cazenovia, NY 13035
Tel.: +1-315-6551063
Fax: +1-315-6551058
E-mail: carlson@cdhenergy.com
References
[43] Geneva Lakefront Hotel Site Survey - Overview, CDH Energy
Corporation, 1997.
[44] Steven Carlson, CDH Energy, personal communication,

April 1999.

14. HAVERHILL PUBLIC LIBRARY, HAVERHILL,
MASSACHUSETTS, USA
Haverhill Public Library – Summary
Occupancy: Library
Location: Haverhill, Massachusetts
System completion date: January 1995
- heating (18°C) 3,134
(Boston)
Interior system
Number of heat pumps: 6 units - 35 kW each
Installed pump sizes: n/a
• existing air handlers (3) employed
Groundwater system
Number of wells: 2
Depth of wells: 457 m
• each well serves as supply and return (supply from bottom and
return to top of well)
• small (about 10% of flow) emergency bleed system to stabilise well
temperature during extreme weather conditions.

Energy consumption
Annual reduction in electrical energy use of HVAC system:
approx. 130 MWh
Peak demand reduction: ~50%
Economic analysis
Building HVAC capital costs: USD 209,000
Annual building energy savings: USD 11,586
Utility/government incentives: n/a
Background
The town of Haverhill is located in the north-east part of the state of
Massachusetts, not far from the city of Boston. The original building, a
2,600 m2 two-storey structure, was constructed in 1969. In 1995, a
groundwater heat pump system was added to the building. The original
HVAC system was made up of an air-cooled chiller and an electric
boiler, serving two-pipe air handlers. A major addition to the building
was built in 1997. This report covers the groundwater heat pump system
as applied to the original building.
Haverhill has a continental climate, with warm, humid summers and cold
winters.
System description
The system consists of two standing column wells, 457 m deep. Each well
serves both as supply and return, with supply water drawn from the bottom
of the well, and return water discharged into the top. There is a separate
pump for each well. This well water forms the heat source or sink for the
heat pumps, which are of water-to-water design. There are six heat pumps,
each 35 kW in capacity. These combine to supply chilled or hot water to
the three existing air handlers. In this way existing piping and ductwork
could be used to save costs, and minimise disruption during the retrofit.
The original air handlers were oversized, which suited the heat pump
installation, due to the lower heating water temperatures of the heat pumps.
To prevent the groundwater temperature from dropping excessively

during times of high heating demand, a bleed system on the discharge
side of the groundwater piping was specified. This is only for emergency
use, and discharge quantities of 10% of the flow for about 30 minutes are
typically all that is required to stabilise the well temperature.
Figure 7.14 is a schematic diagram of the system installed at Haverhill.

Conditioned space
3 air
handling
units
6 water-to-water
heat pumps HP HP HP
Bleed
discharge
Expansion
tanks (2)
2 standing column wells

457 m deep
Figure 7.14 Schematic diagram of the ground-source heat pump system at the
Haverhill Public Library.
Project costs
The total cost of the system is USD 209,000.
System performance
The groundwater heat pump system resulted in a reduction in electricity
use of approximately 230 MWh per year. The peak electrical demand of
the building was reduced by 50%.
This application of groundwater heat pump technology has been very
successful. The use of the existing air handlers and ductwork contributed
to the success in providing a more cost-effective and trouble-free
installation.

Contact name:
Water and Energy Systems Corporation
Mr. Carl Orio
100 Maple Ave.
Atkinson, N.H
03811-2245
Tel.: +1-603-3624666
Fax: +1-603-3624890
References
[45] Geothermal heat pump data review, CDH Energy Corporation,
Haverhill Public Library, 1997.
[46] Summary report for geothermal heat pump retrofit. Water and
Energy Systems Corporation, Haverhill Public Library. Prepared
for the Geothermal Demonstration Project of the NEES Companies,
1996.

15. TEPCO DISTRICT HEATING PLANT, TAKASAKI,
JAPAN
TEPCO District Heating Plant – Summary

Plant description
Type of plant: District heating
Location: Takasaki, Japan
Total floor area served: 68,569 m2
Completion date: December, 1993
- heating (18°C) 1,659
Heat pump system

(to expand eventually to 13,179 kW)
Number of heat pumps: 3 (2 groundwater-source and 1 air-source)
• Chilled water storage tank: 390 m3
Hot water storage tank: 200 m3
Chilled/Hot water storage tank: 700 m3

Groundwater system
Number of wells: 2
Depth of well: 120 m:
Well diameter: 400 mm
Well pumps: 3 at 30 kW each
• One well is used for supply and the other for discharge. The roles
are reversed twice a year.
• Groundwater is extracted and returned at depths below 60 m to
avoid interference with other wells in the area, which draw from a
shallower aquifer.
Energy consumption and heat supplied by plant

Annual electricity used - plant: 2,900 MWh
Annual heat supplied - plant: 29,000 GJ
Economic analysis
(when system had only one heat pump of 520 kW):
Plant system capital costs:
- Plant (including. groundwater system): JPY 900 million
- Service pipeline: JPY 1,050 million )
- Total: JPY 1,950 million
Conventional plant capital costs: Similar system with air-source heat
pumps would be JPY 1,925 million total.
Conventional energy costs: n/a
Cost of ground coupling: JPY 650 million (JPY 25 m more than
equivalent air-source system)
Utility/government incentives: Partial release from capital assets tax for
ten years.
Background
Out of a concern for saving energy and environmental benefits, the
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is promoting the use of
alternative energy sources for district heating. As a result of this
initiative, TEPCO chose a groundwater heat pump system for its district
heating plant in Takasaki. Takasaki is located in the Gunma Prefecture in
Japan. The district heating plant serves the ‘Central Area’ of Takasaki,
the commercial, cultural and administrative hub of the city. At present
the district heating plant supplies three buildings, the TEPCO office
building, the City Hall and the Takasaki City Gallery. Future plans
envision an expanded customer base, with a near doubling of plant
output by the addition of an air-source heat pump of 5,626 kW.

System description
The system, at present, consists of three heat pumps: a groundwater-
source heat pump of 520 kW, a second groundwater unit of 1,934 kW,
and an air-source heat pump of 4,149 kW. This gives a total installed
capacity (cooling) of 6,603 kW. Thermal storage is also incorporated
into the plant, so that off-peak electricity can be used. The thermal
storage system incorporates three tanks, a chilled water tank of 390 m3,
a hot water tank of 200 m3, and a tank for either chilled or hot water
(depending on need) having a volume of 700 m3. Both chilled and hot
water is supplied to customers through a four-pipe system.
The groundwater system is made up of two wells, one supply well and
one re-injection (return) well. These wells reverse their roles twice a year
(at seasonal change-over). Both wells are 120 m deep and 400 mm in
diameter. Testing revealed that two aquifers at different depths were
present at the Takasaki site, one between 30 m and 60 m below ground,
and another between 90 m and 120 m. Since most groundwater users in
the region use the shallower aquifer, the TEPCO installation extracts and
discharges the well water below the 60 m level to avoid interference with
these existing groundwater users.
Figure 7.15 depicts the TEPCO system at Takasaki.
Customers
Chilled water Hot water

storage tank storage tank
Water-to-water
heat pumps HP HP HP
Return well Supply well

120 m deep 120 m deep
Figure 7.15 Schematic diagram of the TEPCO district heating system in Takasaki.

Project costs
Project cost information given here relates to the system when only one
heat pump (groundwater-source) of 520 kW was present. The plant cost
JPY 900 million, of which JPY 650 million is attributed to the groundwater
system. The service pipeline to the customers cost JPY 1,050 million,
bringing the total cost of the system to JPY 1,950 million. It is estimated
that an equivalent air-source system would cost JPY 25 million less, which
would bring the total cost to JPY 1,925 million.
System performance
The annual electrical energy consumption of the existing plant is
approximately 2,900 MWh. This corresponds to an annual heat supply
of 29,000 GJ.
TEPCO reports no major difficulties with the system. District heating
and cooling systems have the advantage of reducing the amount of
HVAC equipment required by the customers. They are also well suited
to thermal storage, since larger tanks have a smaller surface-area to
volume ratio, reducing the heat loss per unit volume.
Contact name:
Tokyo Electric Power Company
Mr. Koki Nishigaki
1-3, Uchisaiwai-cho 1-chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-0011
Japan
Tel.: +81-3-35018111
Fax: +81-3-35968521
E-mail: t0647040@pmail.tepco.co.jp
References
[47] First district heat service in Japan using groundwater as a heat
source. CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number
JP-96-504, 1997.
[48] Koki Nishigaki, TEPCO District Heating and Cooling Service

Centre, personal communication, May 1999.
[49] Utilization of unused energy - district heating and cooling system

(information pamphlet), TEPCO, 1998.

List of Figures
Figure
1 Basic flow diagram of heat pump with motor-driven

compressor. For heating, condenser is indoors and
evaporator outdoors. For cooling, condenser is
outdoors and evaporator indoors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1 Gas consumption of alternative heating systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Total equivalent warming impact (TEWI) of
ground-source heat pumps (GSHP) in primary
schools in Canada, compared to central
variable-air-volume (Central VAV) systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.1 Heating and cooling degree days for the example sites. . . . . . . . 28
5.1 Total building energy use per square meter of floor
area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.1 Schematic diagram of the ground-source heat pump
system at the Trustcan Realty Office. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
system at St. Patrick’s High School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.3 Schematic diagram of the groundwater heat pump
system at the Tracadie District Office. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
system at the Hydro-Quebec Administrative Centre
in Laval. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
7.5 Schematic diagram of the St. Hyacinthe School
ground-source heat pump system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
system at the Montreal Biosphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7.7 Schematic diagram of the heat pump system at the
Statoil Research Centre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7.8 Schematic diagram of the system at Stavanger
Military Camp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
7.9 Schematic diagram of the GAX heat pump system at
the government building in Maastricht. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
system at Salem Community College. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
7.11 Schematic diagram of the system at the Wal-Mart
Supercenter in Moore, Oklahoma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
system at Maxey School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

system at Geneva Lakefront Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
system at the Haverhill Public Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
7.15 Schematic diagram of the TEPCO district heating
system in Takasaki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

List of Tables
Table
1.1 Types of heat pumps considered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3.1 Selection of heat pump system type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2 Heat pump type and advantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.1 Building description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2 HVAC systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.3 Ventilation systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.4 Heat pump system type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.5 Heat pump system special features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7.1 US dollar and Euro equivalents of other currencies
used in the Demonstration Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

References
[1] Operating Experiences with Commercial Ground-Source Heat

Pump Systems ASHRAE Project 863, Final Report, November
1995.
[2] Operating Experiences with Commercial Ground-Source Heat
Pump Systems, ASHRAE, 1998.
[3] Handbook: HVAC Applications, ASHRAE,1999.
[4] Commercial/Institutional Ground-Source Heat Pump
Engineering Manual. ASHRAE, 1998.
[5] Cane, D., Morrison, A., Ireland, C., Garnet, J.: Survey and
Analysis of Maintenance and Service Costs in Commercial
Building Geothermal Systems - Project Update. RP-024.
Sponsored by: Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium, Inc., 1999.
[6] HVAC Maintenance - Final Report (draft version #2). ADM
Associates Inc. Prepared for ASHRAE Inc. (Project RP-929),
June 1999.
[7] Heat Pumps, Better by Nature, HPC-BR2, IEA Heat Pump
Centre, April 1993.
[8] Global Warming Impacts of Ground-Source Heat Pumps
Compared to other Heating and Cooling Systems. Caneta
Research Inc. Prepared for the Renewable and Electrical Energy
Division, Natural Resources Canada. March 1999.
[9] Handbook: HVAC Systems and Equipment, ASHRAE, 1996.
[10] Ventilation for Acceptable Air Quality, Standard 62-1989,
ASHRAE, 1989.
[11] DeVault, R.C., Welesko Garland, P., Fiskum, R.J., Ryan, W.:
Technology Trends In Gas Heat Pumps In North America.
Proceedings of the 5th IEA Heat Pump Conference, 1996.
[12] Energy End-Use Intensities in Commercial Buildings, Office of
Energy Markets and End-Use, US Department of Industry,
Energy Information Administration, Report No. DOE/EIA-0555
(94)/2, September 1994.
Caneta Research Inc. Prepared for Hydro-Quebec, 1995.
[14] A ground source system at the Trustcan Realty Office.
CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number
CA-99-540, 1999.
[15] A ground source system at St. Patrick’s High School. CADDET
Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number CA-99-541, 1999.

[16] Monitoring of a groundwater source heat pump system at
Tracadie. University of Moncton and Caneta Research Inc.
Prepared for the Canadian Electricity Association, 1996.
[17] Groundwater Source Heat Pump System at Tracadie Power
Supply Office. CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project
Number CA-99-539, 1999.
[18] Minea, V., Experimental study of two institutional ground-
source heat pump systems. Third International Conference -
Heat Pumps in cold Climates, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Caneta
Research Inc., p. 469, 1997.
[19] Integrated heat pump system using a geothermal source.
Dessau Inc. Entry submitted to ASHRAE Energy Awards, 1990.
[20] ASHRAE. 1990 Energy Awards: Second place – energy
distribution and control system. ASHRAE Journal, March 1990,
p. 28.
[21] Laurier Nichols, Dessau-Soprin Inc., personal communication,
May 1999.
[22] Heat pump system using geothermal source at Hydro-Quebec
Administration Centre, Laval. CADDET Energy Efficiency
Register, Project Number CA-99-532, 1999.
[23] Heat pumps coupled to heat exchanger save energy at a school.
CA-97-505, 1997.
[24] Guy Thibault, Commission Scolaire Saint-Hyacinthe, personal
[25] Geothermal heating and cooling for Montreal’s Biosphere.
CA-97-503, 1998.
[26] Jacques Lagacé, Bouthillette Parizeau et Associés Inc., personal
[27] Ammonia water-to-water heat pump in a commercial building.
NO-99-501, 1998.
[28] Rolf Ingdahl, Statoil, personal communication, June 1999.
[29] Air-water heat pump installed in a military camp. CADDET
Energy Efficiency, Project Number NO-99-505, 1998.
[30] Stene, Jorn. An air-to-water heat pump in a small-scale district
heating system. IEA Heat pump Centre Newsletter, Vol. 16,
No. 4, 1998.
[31] Njaa, Ove, Partner Cousult As, personal communication,
April 1999.
[32] Bassols, J., Schneider, R., Ohrt, D., Kuckelkorn, B., Langreck,
J., Veelken, H: First results of the operation of a gas-fired
250 kW absorption heat pump. Heat Pumps for Energy
Efficiency and Environmental Progress, pp. 447-452, 1993

[33] Langreck, J: Bringing GAX absorption technology to the
market, IEA Heat Pump Centre Newsletter, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 27,
1997.
[34] Operating experiences with commercial ground-source heat
pumps. Caneta Research Inc. ASHRAE Project Number 863,
1995.
[35] Geothermal solution for college’s heating/air-conditioning
system. CADDET Energy Efficiency, Project Number
US-95-531, 1996.
[36] EPRI Integrated Water Loop/Dual Path HVAC System.
US-99-526, 1999.
[37] Julia Kelley, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, personal
communication.
[38] Wal-mart superstore with heat pumps. Presentation by
Mike Bohrofen, Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company.
[39] Fenenbach, R.S. and Bantam, D.D. Going underground
(finally), Engineered Systems, April 1988.
[40] Bantam, D.D. and Benson, S.J. A public utility strategy for
implementing and monitoring a ground coupled heat pump
system in a public school. APPA Energy/Customer Services
and community Workshop – New Tactics for Marketing Heat
Pumps, Kansas City, Missouri, October 16, 1995.
[41] Shonder, J.A., Martin, M.A., Sharp, T.R., Durfee, D.J., Hughes,
P.J. Benchmark for performance: geothermal application in
Lincoln Public Schools. Draft paper for ASHRAE, 1999.
[42] John Shonder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, personal
[43] Geneva Lakefront Hotel Site Survey - Overview, CDH Energy
Corporation, 1997.
[44] Steven Carlson, CDH Energy, personal communication,
April 1999.
[45] Geothermal heat pump data review, CDH Energy Corporation,
Haverhill Public Library, 1997.
[46] Summary report for geothermal heat pump retrofit. Water and
Energy Systems Corporation, Haverhill Public Library.
Prepared for the Geothermal Demonstration Project of the
NEES Companies, 1996.
[47] First district heat service in Japan using groundwater as a heat
source. CADDET Energy Efficiency Register, Project Number
JP 96.504, 1997.
[48] Koki Nishigaki, TEPCO District Heating and Cooling Service
Centre, personal communication, May 1999.
[49] Utilization of unused energy - district heating and cooling
system (information pamphlet), TEPCO,1998.

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CADDET Analyses Series No.

Learning from experiences with

CENTRE FOR THE ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION OF

© CADDET Energy Efficiency 2000

Disclaimer CADDET Energy Efficiency

Layout by de Vormgeverij, Meerssen

Those involved in the field of energy conservation have long recognised

This limitation is overcome in a geothermal heat pump, which exchanges

As more heat pump systems are installed, other benefits in addition to

Patrick Hughes and John Shonder

Steve Carlson, CDH Energy Corp. (Geneva Lakefront Hotel)

The Centres for Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy

CADDET Energy Efficiency operates as the International Energy

CADDET’s objective is to broaden and improve the collection and

Demonstrations afford a vital link between Research and Development

CADDET’s work therefore includes the collection of information and

This publication is the twenty-seventh in a series of Analysis Reports.

Part One Executive Summary

Part Two Technical Report

2. Motivation for Heat Pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3. Selection of Heat Pump Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5. Analysis of Heat Pump Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Part Three Demonstration Projects

List of Figures ....................................................................... 113

List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

ASHP: Air-source heat pump

ASHRAE: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and

Electrical generation mix

ERV: energy recovery ventilator (also known as heat recovery ventilator

GAX: generator-absorber heat exchanger

GSHP: ground-source heat pump

Horizontal ground heat exchanger

HVAC: Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning

HX: heat exchanger

ODP: ozone depletion potential

SHW: service hot water

Simple payback period

TEWI: total equivalent warming impact

Vertical ground heat exchanger

This Analysis Report evaluates and compares operating experience

Instead of directly converting electricity into thermal energy (as a

Immediately after this Executive Summary, Part Two: Technical

As background it is pointed out that, in cold climates, where the

Commercial/Institutional Heat Pump Systems in Cold Climates 3

The method of operation of a heat pump is identical to that of a

Heat from heat source

Figure 1 Basic flow diagram of heat pump with motor-driven compressor.

In large heat pump systems such as those discussed in this report,

Unfortunately, in practice, the heating and cooling loads rarely

4 CADDET Analyses Series No. 27

In Chapter 2, the motivation for using heat pumps is considered, with

Heat pump systems also have other advantages for commercial

Commercial/Institutional Heat Pump Systems in Cold Climates 5

The selection of the type of heat pump system for a commercial

In a water-loop system, the heat pumps are all connected to a single

Central systems normally have the advantage of a smaller installed

6 CADDET Analyses Series No. 27

Once the type of system is determined, the heat pumps themselves

These soon-to-be-standardised heat pumps are essentially available in

Chapter 5 considers the analysis of heat pump systems, with particular

Commercial/Institutional Heat Pump Systems in Cold Climates 7

Table 1.1 Types of heat pumps considered.

System type Source Installed Applicability/ Notes

Air-source Large Low Universally Auxiliary heat