Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Nationwide Geothermal Heat Pump Deployment

While the technology has existed since the late 1940s, geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), also known as ground source heat pumps and GeoExchange®, currently account for less than two percent of the total North American heating and cooling market.  Only 121,243 units were shipped in the United States in 2008.  But what if GHPs were installed from sea to shining sea?  How would a nationwide deployment of these green heating and cooling systems benefit the country?

With support from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Bob Lawrence & Associates, Inc. (BL&A) and the California Geothermal Energy Collaborative (CGEC) are conducting the GHPsRUS Project, a three-year effort to help answer that question.  The GHPsRUS Project is the first market study to quantify the entire GHP chain—from manufacturing to design to installation. 

BL&A and the CGEC will collect cost and geological data focusing on the 30 largest U.S. metropolitan areas.  Cost data, including manufacturing and installation costs, will be sought from manufacturers, designers, installers, and drillers.  Geological data for the 30 areas, including soil types, thermal conductivity, hydrological properties, and heating and cooling demand, will be gathered into a database.  The cost and geological data will then be overlaid to identify how geography affects costs.  Finally, BL&A and the CGEC will estimate the economic, environmental, and social benefits if GHPs were deployed wherever they make economic and geographic sense based on low, likely, and high scenarios.

Economic benefits include jobs created, business expansion, and energy savings. Environmental benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants, and the decreased need for new fossil-fuel based electricity generation. Social benefits include improved quality of life.

The active involvement of ground water professionals—ground loop designers and installers—is needed to ensure the GHPsRUS Project’s ultimate success.