Pre-feasibility

In the early planning stages of a new building, the only decisions about the building might be the size of the building and its occupancy. The exact building site may not yet have been finalized. But some basic thoughts about the type of mechanical system may have already been considered. A GSHP system is often dismissed in the early stages because of misperceptions about cost and reliability. 

GEOptimize has worked with Gaia Geothermal (developers of industry standard GHX design software - GLD) to develop an online pre-feasibility assessment tool at www.geofease.com. 

GeoFease draws on a large database of energy models of typical building types for over 80 locations across North America and internationally. The tool allows us to choose a representative building with a range of energy efficiency measures and compare construction and utility costs with different fuels and quickly develop an economic analysis for a project, including a GHX design without the necessity of time-consuming and expensive detailed energy modeling. 

A pre-feasibility assessment provides a building owner with the information to seriously consider the installation of a GSHP system. 

Detailed Feasibility

GEOptimize has the greatest impact on the viability of a GSHP system when we have the opportunity to work with the developer and design team early in the design process. 

Iterative hourly energy modeling of a proposed project allows us to calculate the impact of changes to the building, mechanical and electrical systems to balance energy loads to the ground. Load balancing results in:
  • The smallest and most cost-effective GHX 
  • Minimizing the potential for long-term temperature changes that compromises heat pump performance
  • Long-term, predictable performance of the GHX

This design methodology has been refined and proven in hundreds of GSHP systems by GEOptimize for almost 40 years. 

Detailed analysis provides the information needed by building owners and developers to determine the economic and technical feasibility of a GSHP system for their project. 

Energy sharing systems

Different types of buildings have different heating and cooling load profiles. An office building requires cooling during the day when it is heavily occupied, while the condo tower across the street sits mostly empty till people head home for the evening. 

Connecting different types of buildings to a common GHX allows the system to move heat from a building that has to get rid of heat to another that can use it. 

GEOptimize has invested in modeling software to optimize the performance of interconnected systems to: 
  • Minimize initial cost of interconnected systems
  • Take advantage of synergies between buildings
  • Integrate renewable energy resources such as solar thermal, PV or wind power to create net-zero energy campuses and communities. 
  • Take advantage of excess heat from systems for beneficial uses in the community, such as sidewalk snowmelt,