DigestGround Source Heat Pumps ("Geothermal") for Residential Heating and Cooling: Carbon Emissions and EfficiencyBy John Straube Building Science Digest 113: last updated 2009/10/19 |
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There has been a recent surge of interest in Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP or “geothermal” or GeoExchange™) systems for residential projects. Outrageous claims and misunderstandings about how they work are common. This digest provides some basic information and definitions, offers advice on how to compare the carbon emissions, and defines the climate regions and operating conditions for which GSHP systems are best suited.
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BSP-032: Designs That Work: Hot-Humid Climate (New Orleans, LA)
Moving beyond the basic house, Section 3 discusses pushing the performance of the house towards Net Zero with the addtion of geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water collection, and photovoltaics.
BSI-014: Deciding on Energy Priorities When Building New
The future is uncertain. This is a truism, and yet, when we design and construct a new building, we need to make decisions in the present or very near future. In fact, this is one of the critical distinctions about designing buildings: they are expected and likely to last 50 to 100 years, but we build them now. The challenge of designing for the future is no more acute than in the current choices facing the designer of an environmentally friendly building.
