Computational Investigation of Dwellings’ Foundations as a GHE in Mediterranean Climate
Date Issued
August 2020
Abstract
Geothermal energy finds application through Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) for space heating and
cooling. GSHP systems extract or reject heat into the ground through a network of pipes, namely Ground
Heat Exchangers (GHEs). GHEs can either be horizontal of vertical with various configurations such as Utube, spiral/helical pipe and others. Although GSHPs provide higher performance than Air Source Heat
Pumps, the longer payback periods and higher initial investment has made the systems unattractive as an
investment. One solution to reduce the initial investment is the use of GHEs in the buildings’ foundations.
These systems are named Thermo-Active Structure systems or Energy Geo-Structures. The study here is
concerned with Thermo-Active Geo-Structures systems for dwellings in Cyprus. Thermo-Active GeoStructures coupled with GSHPs could provide an alternative solution to minimize the initial costs and make
the GHSP system viable and economically encouraged. Such systems have yet to be applied in Cyprus,
therefore, an initial computational investigation is considered using the COMSOL Multiphysics software
and available weather and ground temperature data from the island of Cyprus. A typical dwelling in Cyprus
is considered, namely a three-bedroom two-storey house of 190m2 total floor area, for which the heating
and cooling loads are presented. Typical foundations are modeled at full scale in COMSOL Multiphysics
to examine the rejected/absorbed energy to/from the ground. The convection-diffusion equation for heat
transfer is used with the three-dimensional conservation of heat transfer for an incompressible fluid. The
related parameters are adjusted to present actual parameters taken from experimental data. Preliminary
results indicate that the use of a building’s foundation as a GHE (Thermo-Active Geo-Structures) could be
an alternative to borehole GHEs, where a detailed study on the buildings’ loads is required.
cooling. GSHP systems extract or reject heat into the ground through a network of pipes, namely Ground
Heat Exchangers (GHEs). GHEs can either be horizontal of vertical with various configurations such as Utube, spiral/helical pipe and others. Although GSHPs provide higher performance than Air Source Heat
Pumps, the longer payback periods and higher initial investment has made the systems unattractive as an
investment. One solution to reduce the initial investment is the use of GHEs in the buildings’ foundations.
These systems are named Thermo-Active Structure systems or Energy Geo-Structures. The study here is
concerned with Thermo-Active Geo-Structures systems for dwellings in Cyprus. Thermo-Active GeoStructures coupled with GSHPs could provide an alternative solution to minimize the initial costs and make
the GHSP system viable and economically encouraged. Such systems have yet to be applied in Cyprus,
therefore, an initial computational investigation is considered using the COMSOL Multiphysics software
and available weather and ground temperature data from the island of Cyprus. A typical dwelling in Cyprus
is considered, namely a three-bedroom two-storey house of 190m2 total floor area, for which the heating
and cooling loads are presented. Typical foundations are modeled at full scale in COMSOL Multiphysics
to examine the rejected/absorbed energy to/from the ground. The convection-diffusion equation for heat
transfer is used with the three-dimensional conservation of heat transfer for an incompressible fluid. The
related parameters are adjusted to present actual parameters taken from experimental data. Preliminary
results indicate that the use of a building’s foundation as a GHE (Thermo-Active Geo-Structures) could be
an alternative to borehole GHEs, where a detailed study on the buildings’ loads is required.
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