Godon Bloomquist: CASE STUDIES

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Under the auspice of:

Division of Earth Sciences

Chapter 2.9

Commercial and Industrial

Heat Pump Case Studies
R. Gordon Bloomquist, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Washington State University

Figure 1. Geothermal Heat Pump System Schematic

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The Exchange continually since 1971. The system uses a

shell and tube heat exchanger between the
Location: Farmington, Connecticut wells and the circulating fluid that supplies
Building Type: 265,000 sq.ft. commercial the heat pumps. Well number 1, lying to the
and office complex east of the building, is 350 feet deep, and
System Type: Open loop, distributed water provides 55 gpm. Wells 2, 3, and 4 lie to the
source heat pump system west of the building and provide 148 gpm,
Age: 28 years 204 gpm, and 60 gpm, respectively. The
Energy Use: 17.18 kWh/sq.ft./year total: wells are all at a depth of 350 feet. Wells 1
6.2 kWh for the heating and and 2 have 2-inch pipes to depth while
cooling system number 3 has a 3-inch pipe and number 4
Estimated Maintenance Cost: approxima- has a 4-inch pipe. Well number 1 is served
tely $0.16/sq.ft./year by a 7.5-hp pump, well number 2 by a 15-hp
pump, well number 3 by a 20-hp pump, and
Building Characteristics well number 4 by a 10-hp pump. All of the
pumps are submersibles. The water is
The Exchange is a three-story, semiocta- disposed of into a nearby creek at a
gonal commercial office building located in maximum of ca 85ºF.
Farmington, Connecticut. The 265,000 squ-
are foot complex, built in 1971, is an AIA Heating, Ventilation, and Air-
award winner. The building contains prima- Conditioning (HVAC)
rily office space, but a number of restaurants
and commercial establishments are found on System Description
the ground and mezzanine levels. The
Exchange was built as part of a Planned Unit The system circulates tempered water
Development that also contains 500 single- from the tube and shell heat exchanger to
family rental and condominium units. each of the 495 individual water-to-air heat
The construction of The Exchange is of pumps that serve the building. The units are
exposed, heavy timbers without conventio- designed for a 20ºF _t in cooling mode and
nal wall and ceiling finishes in both retail 10ºF _t in heating mode. A 220-ton screw
and office areas. The sloping roof with dor- compressor can provide supplemental heat
mer-type windows keeps the building small to the loop in the winter, but since 1971,
and low in scale for its size. The walls and when it was installed, it has operated a total
ceiling are insulated with 3.5 inches of mi- of less than 8,760 hours or less than 3
neral wood (R-13). The roof is asphalt shin- percent of the time. During the summer,
gle on _ inch plywood deck. The building when the loop temperature exceeds 100ºF, a
contains 7,500 square feet of insulated glass. cooling tower rejects heat to the air. The
Floors are a combination of concrete on building has a design heating loss of
grade (1st floor) and heavy planks. The 8,745,000 Btu/hour and a design cooling
building has a recently-installed energy ma- heat gain of 7,685,000 Btu/hour. Outside air
nagement system (EMS). The $160,000 cost ventilation is 50,000 cfm.
for the EMS had a one-year payback. The building is served by a total of 495
individual heat pumps or a total of 1,094
Geothermal Heat Pump System tons. The heat pumps range in size from 1 _
Characteristics tons to 4 tons. The 1 _ ton units have _ hp
fans while the 2, 2 _, and 4 ton units all have
Geothermal Source Description _ hp fans. During periods of severe cold,
the incoming well water can be boosted
The 55ºF geothermal source is provided through the use of a Dunham Bush 220-ton
by four wells that have been used screw chiller run in reverse. During the
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summer, the loop temperature can be operation and operation. Most maintenance
moderated by sending a portion of the water is taken care of by in-house staff. Over 28
to a cooling towers. years, only nine of the 495 units has had to
be totally replaced. Three of the down hole
Selection of the Heat Pump System pumps, however, have had to be replaced.
The tube bundle in the shell and tube heat
The selection of the heat pump system
exchanger was replaced at a cost of $42,000.
was entirely consistent with the overall
In 1998, for example, nine compressors
concept of the project and the desire of the
had to be replaced. However, the work is
principals to make the complex as
done in-house and total cost per unit is $700,
environmentally responsible as possible.
including parts and labor. In addition, 11
The consulting engineers, James S. Minges
fan motors had to be replaced.
and Associates, Inc., also had previous
One major change in operation has been
experience with the use of well water for
the requirement to install a monitoring
cooling.
system for environmental control of water
that is dumped into a nearby stream. The
Operating History
monitoring system cost $20,000, and
The system has been in operation for 28 samples must be taken and sent in for testing
years, and has been extremely reliable. The 4 times per year at a cost of $400 per
builder/engineer, James Minges, calculated quarter.
in 1997 that the choice of the geothermal Total maintenance is estimated to be
heating and cooling system had saved the approximately $0.16/sq.ft./year.
“amazing amount of $5,200,000 in operation
and maintenance costs over its first 27 years System Economics
of existence over a conventional fossil fuel
James Minges, of The Minges
system.”
Associates, performed an energy analysis on
James Minges was honored for his
the building in 1997 and calculated that over
installation of the geothermal heating and
the 26-year operating history, the building
cooling system in July of 1998 by the
had saved approximately $5,200,000 as
Connecticut Engineers in Private Practice
compared to a conventional system made up
when they presented him with the 1998
of hot water boilers and conventional
Engineering Excellence Participation
chillers and cooling towers. He calculated
Award. The only major change that has
that the 1997 maintenance cost was $0.16
occurred in the building heat pump system
per square foot/year, operating costs amoun-
since the original design was the addition of
ted to $0.60 per square foot/year, and
an energy management system in 1997.
replacement costs $0.05 per square foot/year
It is interesting to note, however, that
for a total of $0.81 per square foot per year.
the building was designed, built, and in
The total electrical load for the building in
operation prior to the oil embargoes of the
1997 was 4,552,560 kWh. This amounts to
early 1970s, one of the prime driving factors
17.18 kWh per square foot/year. Based on
behind the selection of geothermal heat
the numbers presented by Mr. Minges, the
pumps for many buildings selected after that
heat pump system uses ca 6.2 kWh per
time. This building was indeed before its
square foot/year.
time in not only design and construction, but
also the incorporation of the geothermal
Satisfaction with the Geothermal Heat
heating and cooling system.
Pump System
Operation and Maintenance
The present building owners and
Maintenance has never been a major building manager are extremely pleased
problem throughout the system’s 28 years of with the system and stated in a July 8, 1998

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news article in The Hartford Courat “The director of maintenance also expresses total
design is really ahead of its time… has never satisfaction with the system and its operation
complained or heard of any other tenant and ease of maintenance.
complaints regarding the temperature.” The

Haverhill Public Library and the annulus of the bore hole. In order to
ensure relatively consistent water tempera-
Location: Haverhill, Massachusetts ture, a “bleed” system is coupled to the cir-
Building Type: Public library, total 44,000 culation loop and allows for ca 10 percent of
sq.ft. the water to be bled off from the system,
System Type: Open loop, standing allowing for the reestablishment of the water
column wells, water source temperature if preset temperature parameters
heat pumps are exceeded. Each of the SCW submersible
Age: 5 years pumps operates on a simple pressure logic.
Energy Use: 16.3 kW/sq.ft/yr.
Estimated Maintenance Cost: Heating, Ventilation, and Air
$0.135/sq.ft./yr. Conditioning (HVAC)

Building Characteristics System Description

The Haverhill Public Library was built The library was originally built with air-
in 1967. The original building was 27,000 cooled chillers and electric resistance heat-
square feet; however, a 17,000 square foot ing. Conditioned air was distributed through
addition was built in 1997, bringing the total three large air handler units. Control was
to 44,000 square feet. The building is of via a pneumatic control system. The retrofit
concrete construction and, in addition to that took place in 1994 included the drilling
community library services, also contains an of two 1,500-foot deep standing column
extensive historical volume section requiring wells and installation of six 10-ton water-to-
precise humidity control. water heat pumps. The electric resistance
elements were completely removed from the
Geothermal Heat Pump System air handlers. The six heat pumps, located in
Characteristics the original mechanical room, were tied into
the existing air handler system via a new and
Geothermal Source Description separate building side manifold. The heat
The geothermal source consists of four pumps are designed to supply up to 115ºF
water for heating and 45ºF for cooling.
1,500-foot deep standing column wells
Building loop water temperature is manually
(SCW). Two of the wells are drilled to
serve the initial retrofit of the building to set and automatically controlled by a single
aquastat. Each of the six heat pump stages
geothermal heat pumps in 1994. Two
are sequentially called by set time delays.
additional SCWs were drilled in 1997 to
As each heat pump is called, an individual
serve the building addition. Average water
automatic water valve at the heat pump
temperature is 55ºF. The water temperatures
in the SCWs varies from a summer high of opens and pressurized well water flows
through the heat pump. The existing
69ºF to a winter low of 38ºF. Each of the
pneumatic control system was retained. The
wells may be pumped at from 70 to 80+
gpm. Each of the wells was drilled six heat pumps operate at a coefficient of
performance (COP) of over 4.8.
inches in diameter; a four-inch pipe was
In 1997, a 17,000 square foot addition to
placed in each well to depth. Pumping is via
submersible pumps that draw from the the library was built and 13 water-to-air heat
pumps were installed to heat and cool this
bottom of the well. Discharge is to the top
new area. The 13 heat pumps represent 47.5
of the well between the standing columns
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tons of new, installed capacity. Water changing of filters and lubrication of

supply to these units is from two additional mechanical equipment, including pumps,
1,500 foot SCWs. The decision to use fans, etc. No maintenance has been required
distributed heat pumps instead of adding to on the standing column wells or submersible
the central system was based on the pumps, but sediment in the system may
complexity of providing additional service necessitate the installation of sand traps or
based on the existing air distribution system filters. Maintenance cost is ca $0.135
and the need for more precise humidity sq.ft./yr.
control in the new historical volume area of
the library addition. Water from the two System Economics
SCWs is distributed to the heat pumps via a
Due to the fact that Massachusetts Electric
piping system served by two 3-hp
installed the first phase of the system at no
circulating pumps. The 13 distributed heat
cost to the library as a demonstration of
pumps are controlled by individual
geothermal heat pump technology, the
thermostats.
system was fully instrumented with remote
monitoring data acquisition devices capable
Selection of Geothermal Heat Pump
of collecting data every 15 minutes and
System
including power usage monitor meters (kWh
The decision to retrofit the library in and kW) for both heat pumps and well
1994 after nearly 30 years of operation was pumps. In the first full year of operation,
based on a need to replace existing the system saved a total of $11,586, showing
equipment and the availability of a a reduction in total electric bills of 23
Massachusetts Electric heat pump percent and a 65 percent reduction in cost
demonstration program that resulted in the for space conditioning. Of significant
system being installed at no cost to the importance to both the library and the utility
library. However, at the time of the was an approximately 50 percent reduction
addition, no utility incentive program was in demand. Unfortunately, similar data is
available and the decision was based on an not available for phase two. However, for
evaluation of geothermal heat pumps vs 1998, the entire electric load for the library
natural gas. The geothermal heat pumps was 709,800 kWh for a total of 16.13 kWh
were chosen primarily as a result of a need per square foot per year. Maintenance is
to provide precise humidity control. running approximately $0.135 per square
foot per year.
Operating History
Satisfaction with the Geothermal Heat
Since being put into operation in 1994,
Pump System
the system has performed very well. There
have, however, been some problems with Library administration and staff seem to
compressors with one unit failing almost be very satisfied with the geothermal heat
immediately and a second in 1998. The first pump system. The decision to use
compressor was replaced under warranty. geothermal heat pump technology when the
The second unit resulted in an expenditure addition was built in 1997 speaks well for
of approximately $2,000. The only other the satisfaction with the original system.
concern is the possible need to install a sand Satisfaction with the system installed in the
trap or filter system to deal with sediment in addition appears to exceed that of phase one,
the system. and is probably due primarily to the
individual control and precise humidity
Operation and Maintenance control that the system provides.
Maintenance is taken care of primarily by
in-house staff and consists of routine

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LDS Church Office Building operation, water is pumped from the warmer
wells and injected into the cooler wells.
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah During the summer, the production and
Building Type: 683,000 sq.ft. office injection are reversed. This results in a
building greater than normal _t between the wells and
System Type: Open loop water source improves operating efficiency. Well number
heat pump system one is equipped with a 250-hp line shaft
Age: 27 years pump with the other three wells being fitted
Energy Use: N/A Building not indivi- with 200-hp line shaft pumps. Total flow
dually metered during any period of operation is 4,600 gpm.
Estimated Maintenance Cost: approxima- The facility has permission to produce up to
tely $0.13 to 6,285 gpm and inject up to 5,280 gpm.
$0.15/sq.ft./year However, under normal operation,
approximately 1,380 gpm is sent to the
Building Characteristics storm drains and 3,220 gpm injected. Total
production capacity of the four wells is
The headquarters building of the Church 8,130 gpm.
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS)
is a 28-story office tower plus penthouse and Heating, Ventilation, and Air-
two 4-story wings to the east and west. The
Conditioning (HVAC)
building was occupied in 1972. Construc-
tion is concrete. The entire complex has
683,000 net square feet of office space and System Design
houses 1,600+ employees. Three levels The central heat pump plant consists of
below ground contain the cafeteria, mail three 750-ton York units connected in series.
room, print shop, maintenance shop, and Two heat pumps can cover peak load and, in
parking for 1,400 cars. The Genealogy most instances, one heat pump will carry the
Library is on the main floor of the west entire building load. Each of the heat pumps
wing. A 335-seat auditorium is on the main consists of a turbo-compressor, condenser,
floor of the tower. The interior of the buil- cooler, and liquid intercooler, and is
ding is designed on 5-foot square modules. powered by an 800-hp General Dynamics
This permits separate control of lighting and squirrel-cage motor with geared-speed
air-conditioning for each module. On the increaser. The central system is controlled
building’s exterior, T-shaped columns help through the use of a Honeywell Master
shade the windows to reduce the cooling Control Center. In utilizing the hot and cold
load. The windows are double glazed, and water produced in the refrigeration cycle,
rotate so that external cleaning is not two main air heating and cooling systems
necessary. are used. The larger induction system is
employed around the periphery of the
Geothermal Heat Pump System building to balance heat loss and gain
Characteristics through the windows, while a dual duct,
“high velocity” system is used in the interior
Geothermal Source Description to balance the net occupancy and lighting
The geothermal source is provided by load. In the induction system, both hot and
four wells. Two of the wells are ca 390 feet cold water is delivered to separate primary
deep, and the other two approximately 635 coils in a series arrangement in air streams
feet deep. The two shallower wells are within a common enclosure. These units,
approximately 67ºF and the two deeper including 14 main air handlers, are located
wells are ca 75ºF. During normal winter on the 13 th floor of the tower and the 4th
floor of the east and west wings.
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Selection of the Geothermal Heat Pump in May of 1955, has suffered two broken
System shafts, the first in 1983 and the second in
1995. The pump in well number one also
In 1953, the church leadership expressed has had bearings replaced in 1980 and 1994.
concerns that existing city water service was Wells number two and three had sand
inadequate to provide necessary fire fighting separators added in 1983, but no other major
capabilities for the historic buildings on changes or repairs have been required. The
Temple Square. In 1954, the church began pump in well number 4 had to be pulled in
to construct a 440,000-gallon, underground, 1981 to replace the head shaft because of
concrete storage tank and two deep water leaking seals. In 1995, the entire pump in
wells and pump stations to feed fire hydrants well 4 was pulled to install new bearings.
on Temple Square. In 1957, the city Both wells number one and four have had
proposed to meet their obligations for fire the well brushed and cleaned.
protection by constructing an 8 inch All three of the heat pumps have had to
dedicated underground fire line with fire be retubed. Chiller number 1 in 1988,
hydrants at strategic locations. In 1959, the chiller number 2 in 1990, and chiller number
church began to consider what should be 3 in 1987. The average cost of retubing has
done with the storage tank. Consulting been $80,000 to $100,000. The compressor
engineers proposed the feasibility of using on unit number 3 was rebuilt in 1987, and
water from wells number one and two for the compressor on unit number 2 was rebuilt
air-conditioning purposes. In 1960, the in 1990. The cost of rebuilding a compres-
feasibility study was started and submittals sor is ca $15,000. Total maintenance cost is
were sent to the state for revised use of the estimated to be $0.13 to $0.15 sq.ft./year.
water. In 1962, the studies were completed
and it was determined that two additional System Economics
wells were needed for injection. The state
water engineers gave approval and wells The system has always been extremely
number 3 was completed in 1963 and well cost effective for the church. It was calcu-
number 4 in 1964. In 1968, the construction lated that the system had a four year
of the new church administration building payback although it had cost one-third more
was started and it was completed in 1972. than a more conventional system based on
The system was also designed to provide boilers and chiller with cooling tower.
precool assist to the HVAC system of the However, it should be remembered that two
Relief Society building. of the wells were drilled for other purposes
and are not included in the first cost of the
Operating History system. In 1982, the electrical cost for the
building was estimated to be 0.03¢ per
Since going into operation in 1972, the square foot, of which an estimated 50
system has performed very well with few percent was for lighting and the remainder
major operational or maintenance problems for mechanical equipment.
beyond what would be anticipated during 27
years of operation. According to the mainte- Satisfaction with the Geothermal Heat
nance staff, the average life of the York Pump System
units is 25 years, and that they have now
exceeded that and expect several additional Church personnel seem to be extremely
years of life before major replacement is pleased with the overall operation and
required. maintenance requirements. In fact, the head
of maintenance said, “great system, would
Operation and Maintenance recommend again.”
Only one well has required extensive
maintenance. Well number one, completed
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Parkview Apartments Geothermal Heat Pump System

Characteristics
Location: Winchester, Massachusetts
Building Type: 207,400 sq.ft. apartment/ Geothermal Source Description
condominium complex The complex was originally served by
System Type: Open loop, central and three wells; however, the system now relies
water source heat pump on two wells. The depth is estimated to be
system ca 80 feet. The two wells provide approxi-
Age: 34 years mately 1,500 gpm of ca 54ºF water.
Energy Use: 15.35 kWh/sq.ft./year – Pumping is via 30-hp, 78-foot vertical shaft
Total 8.43 kWh/sq.ft./yr pumps. Operation of the system requires the
for the mechanical system use of only one well with the second in
Estimated Maintenance Cost: approxi- reserve except during peak demand periods.
mately $0.12 to $0.15/ An Alpha Laval plate and frame heat
sq.ft./yr. exchanger separates the well water from the
in-building circulation system. Water, after
Building Characteristics passing through the heat exchanger, feeds
The Parkview Apartments in Manches- the ponds that cascade through the courtyard
ter, Massachusetts, was opened in 1965. and finally drains into a nearby stream.
The 207, 400-square foot complex is built as
a perfect semi-circle and frames a two-acre Heating, Ventilation, and Air-
landscaped courtyard. Each of the apart- conditioning (HVAC)
ments opens onto a balcony overlooking the
landscaped courtyard, including rock gar- The original system consisted of three
200-ton Chrysler Air Temp water-to-water
dens bordering on a succession of ponds,
heat pumps. Each of the three units is
bridged streams, and miniature waterfalls.
The 8-floor structure and full basement equipped with two 100-ton compressors.
The heat pumps operate at a COP of
contains 318 units, including studios and
between three and four. Water heated or
one- or two-bedroom units. The back wall
of the complex encloses hallways and cooled by the heat pump is circulated
throughout the complex via two 75-hp
shelters the apartments from wind and
circulating pumps supplying a two-pipe
reduces energy losses. The exterior is of
system allowing for the supply of either
precast concrete panels with 1 inch of
heating or cooling. The system circulates up
urethane insulation (R-7). The roof is built-
to 2,000 gpm. During the winter, water is
up tar and gravel on 2-inch urethane
supplied to the individual fan coil units at
insulation (R-14) over 8-inch precast
from 95º to 110ºF. During the summer,
concrete deck. The gross wall area is 80,250
square feet with glass covering 39,120 52ºF water is circulated to the fan coils from
the central heat pumps. During the shoulder
square feet. The design heat loss is
period, the system circulates 59ºF water that
5,200,000 Btuh with a ventilation require-
ment of 19,200 cfm. The design heat gain is can be produced by rejecting heat directly to
the well water via the plate and frame heat
3,600,000 Btuh with a ventilation requi-
exchanger. The system also includes a
rement of 19,200 cfm.
In April of 1980, the Parkview Apart- 3,000-gallon hot water accumulator and a
1,000-gallon chilled water accumulator.
ments was converted to a condominium, and
Water circulates to each apartment where it
has been operated as a condominium com-
plex since that time. supplies a total of 950+ fan coil units.
Temperature in the individual units is regu-
lated by means of wall-mounted pneumatic
heating/cooling thermostats and modulating

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valves in the fan coil units. For domestic Once the change is made in the fall and
hot water, incoming city water passes spring, they are reluctant to change back.
through a tube nest within the heat This can result in some days where air-
accumulator and then passes to a storage conditioning would be desirable but they
tank where it mixes with water from the feel it is better to error on the side of being
booster heater to bring it up to desired tap able to provide heating. This does not
temperature. appear to have been a major source of com-
plaint, but it appears that a four-pipe system
Selection of the Geothermal Heat Pump would be the preference if retrofitting the
System complex were feasible.

The apartment complex was built upon Operation and Maintenance

the site of a former tannery that had required
very large volumes of water. The availa- The system has operated very success-
bility of water provided the developer with sfully for over 30 years, and has served the
the possibility of using water-to-water heat tenants well. At this point, maintenance is,
pumps. The structural aspects of the buil- however, becoming a problem and system
ding design precluded consideration of reliability is coming more and more into
localized through-the-wall cooling equip- question. At this point, maintenance and
ment and mandated that a central space repair is running as high as $80,000 per
conditioning system would have to be year; however, the expected range is ca
adopted. The decision thus became one of $25,000 to $30,000. The wells and especi-
economics and the first-cost differential ally the pumps appear to be requiring much
between the costs of an oil-fired boiler plant more maintenance than would normally be
with its housing, stack, fuel storage facilities required. They have to pull the pumps every
and chillers and cooling tower, etc., and the other year. One potential cause for this is
cost of the heat pump system. The that the pumps are not fitted with variable-
differential turned out to be small. The final speed drives, and it appears that a conside-
selection would therefore be based on rable amount of sand is drawn into the
operating cost and, after extensive analyses, system, most likely when the pumps are
it was determined that the heat pump system started. Normal operation is taken care of
would have substantially lower operation by the condominium association, and
and maintenance cost. maintenance is also coordinated by one of
the association board members who has a
Operating History very good understanding of the system and
its maintenance and operational require-
The system is now over 30 years old and ments.
is definitely showing its age. One of the
Chrysler Air Temp heat pumps failed System Economics
several years ago and, because replacement
parts are no long available, had to be taken When the system was first built (1965),
out of operation. The other two units conti- the owner, Edward Brendt, calculated that
nue to operate, although the condominium heating and cooling was costing an average
association is now looking at other heat of only $6.10 per apartment per month, or
pumps to replace those that are now in use. approximately $0.11 per square foot per
Several years ago, the association installed year. At this time (1998), heating and
the Alpha Laval plate and frame heat cooling requires 8.43 kWh/square foot/year,
exchanger and they are very pleased with its while total electrical consumption is 15.35
performance. The two-pipe system does kWh/square foot/year (1997). Maintenance
require a certain amount of crystal balling as costs are calculated to run approximately
the system has to be changed manually from $0.12 to $0.15/square foot/year. The
heating to cooling mode and vise versa. condominium association is, however, ex-
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pecting to incur a major expense in the near and only recently has the system deterio-
future as the heat pumps are definitely at a rated to the point where maintenance and
point where they need to be replaced to repair costs are rising and major replacement
ensure reliability. Continued tracking of this deemed to be a necessity. The one single
facility through the change out and over the item that would appear to be a source of
next several years of operation would appear dissatisfaction is the two-pipe system allow-
to provide an excellent opportunity. ing for only the supply of either hot or
chilled water but not both. This appears to
Satisfaction with the Geothermal Heat be an almost universal problem, and two-
Pump System pipe systems should be avoided in favor of
four-pipe system whenever possible.
There seems to have been a high level of
satisfaction with the system over the years,
There is a horizontal ground loop under
Benton PUD the parking lot and grass area east of the
building. There are three sets of loops in
Location: Kennewick,
Washington three layers for a total of nine overall loops
Key Contact: Nancy Philipp, Energy that feed into a header in the mechanical
Advisor room. Within each set of loops there are
Geothermal Source:Ground source, seven to eight individual loops. The first
horizontal loop layer of pipes was put in six inches of sand
System Type: closed loop,water-to- covered by three feet of fill followed by the
air heat pumps second layer of pipes in six inches of sand
Age of System: 3 years covered by three feet of fill, then the third
Building Type: 31,000 ft2 office layer of pipes in six inches of sand and
building topped off by six feet of fill. The loops
Energy Use: 18 kWh/ft2 cover an area that is approximately 160 feet
System Designer: SCM Engineering by 166 feet. There are two 5-hp pumps that
pump a potassium acetate (GS-4) heat
Building Characteristics transfer solution through the ground source
The new headquarters for Benton PUD was loop. The pumps are equipped with variable
occupied in January 1994. The building speed drives. Only one pump operates at a
primarily consists of office space, but also time.
includes a customer service area and an
auditorium that is regularly used for public Heating, Ventilating and Air
meetings and events. Construction is stick Conditioning (HVAC) System
frame with a masonry facade. This is an Description:
energy-efficient-building featuring efficient
lighting, occupancy sensors, an efficient The HVAC system consists of nine
building envelope, and variable speed drives water-to-air heat pumps for space
on pumps. conditioning and one water-to-water heat
pump for domestic hot water. The heat
Geothermal Heat Pump System pumps use the ground source potassium
Characteristics acetate loop as a heat source when heating
and a heat sink when cooling. There are
valves at each heat pump to allow the
Ground Source Description:
ground loop to bypass the heat pump when it
is not heating or cooling. The total design
heat pump capacity is 77 tons.

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Each heat pump serves a zone in the was 119°F. The heat pump units were
building. They are constant volume units. tripping off because of high head pressure.
They have 2-stage compressors with econo- They could not bring the heat pumps back
mizers. A thermostat in each room controls on until the head pressure dropped. Since
a damper to allow some individual room the first year there has been some
control within each zone. improvement as the ground loop has “settled
in.” Now in the winter the loop temperature
Selection of the Geothermal Heat Pump gets down to the low 40’s and last summer it
System got up to the high 90’s. They hope this
improvement continues.
The PUD wanted an attractive building They have been told since the
that showcased energy efficiency for the installation that it can take up to five years
community. An energy study was for a ground loop to “settle in.” The process
performed that compared air-to-air heat of settling in involves the elimination of air
pumps and the geothermal heat pumps to a pockets in the soil and the rehydration of the
baseline system with electric resistance soil which dried out during the construction
heating and DX cooling. The payback for process. This process improves heat transfer
the geothermal heat pump system was between the ground loop and the soil.
relatively long, even with a $44,700 rebate They believe some of the problems
from the Bonneville Power Administration maintaining and controlling the ground loop
(22 year payback). However, the temperature are related to a lack of moisture
geothermal heat pump system was clearly in the ground. Moisture in the ground is
the most efficient, using less than half the important for heat transfer. They have clay
energy of the other options. They also like soil that looses moisture rapidly.
expected it to have lower maintenance than Having some kind of leach line that would
an air-to-air heat pump system which is allow them to introduce water and control
exposed to greater temperature extremes. the moisture content in the soil would
The commissioners were favorably improve heat transfer.
disposed toward a geothermal system. One The original design strategy was to
commissioner had a water source heat pump oversize the loop capacity. They were
system for his residence and others were supposed to need only seven of the nine
familiar with residential systems. They also loops so that there would be extra capacity
visited several other non-residential for additions to the building. However,
buildings with similar geothermal heat because the ground loop temperatures have
pumps. been worse than expected, they have been
using all nine loops. The factors affecting
Operating History heat transfer with the soil noted above
The PUD has had some difficulty effectively reduce the heat transfer capacity
achieving stable operation from the of the loop. Another contributing factor
geothermal heat pump system. When they could be the three-layer ground loop design.
first occupied the building in January 1994, The three ground loops are stacked
the ground loop temperatures got down to relatively close together which would tend
18°F. They were concerned about the to reduce the capacity of the ground loop.
potassium acetate freezing solid in the loop They are also trying to reduce system
as this temperature was very close to its low run time by shutting the system off at 6 p.m.
end temperature range. To reduce the load Extended hours of operation don’t allow the
on the ground loop and to prevent the loop ground loop to recover, reducing the
from freezing they used electric space capacity of the system. Some of the
heaters to aid in heating the building. The problems when the building was first
first summer the loop temperature leaving occupied may have been due to a bake out
the building reached 126°F and the return of the building to remove volatile chemicals.
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Heating the building to 90°F for the bake The original installation used teflon tape on
out took a lot of heat out of the ground and it the fittings in the geothermal loop. For
did not recover before occupancy. Another potassium acetate, plumbers putty needs to
strategy they have used during the hottest be used. When the system goes from winter
part of the summer is to heat the building at to summer operation and the heat transfer
night and on weekends to help cool the fluid expands, there are lots of leaks. This
ground loop. They remove any excess heat makes a mess. They have had leaks in the
in the building using the ventilation system ceiling in a number of places in the building.
in the cool of the morning. The leaks are very disruptive and are not
They have had some problems with easy to repair. Even though the potassium
temperature control across the zones in the acetate is environmentally benign, it has an
building. Some zones include perimeter acidic smell and feel and really isn’t that
areas with different orientations as well as pleasant. It is also corrosive when exposed
interior areas. They plan on splitting some to air. Some of the plumbing fittings on the
of these zones by adding another heat pump system look they are 20 years old. Their
and converting the domestic hot water heat black moly fittings are not lasting. They
pump to a space conditioning unit for some also believe that the failure of all the bypass
of the core spaces. valves to the heat pumps is due to this heat
There are also some control problems. transfer fluid.
One of the most baffling occurs only Because the valves to the heat pumps
occasionally when the system is in air have failed, the heat transfer fluid
conditioning mode. As the need for cooling continually flows through each heat pump.
increases, the central direct digital control As a result, the pumps on the ground loop
system calls for 2nd-stage cooling. The heat always run at full load and have not been
pump has not been responding to the control able to take advantage of their variable
signal. They manually have to trick the heat speed capability.
pump into going to 2nd-stage cooling by Both motors on the ground loop pumps
creating an emergency situation. The have been reconditioned and they replaced
challenge in solving this problem is that one both shafts. It is not clear what the problem
vendor claims it is a central control system is, but they believe it may be due to negative
problem and the other vendor claims it is a pressure on the pump due to leaks. There
problem with the heat pump controls. was a lot of cavitation damage on the shafts
and pumps and the unstable load may be
Operation and Maintenance Issues stressing the motors.
On the heat pump side, the maintenance
System Economics
is no different than what you would expect
for a typical system. They have a preventive An energy study was completed prior to
maintenance program that includes changing the design of the Benton PUD Headquarters
the filters, checking the belts, inspections, Building. The study compared a geothermal
etc. Two compressors have failed on one of heat pump system and air-to-air heat pump
the heat pumps. Both were replaced under system to a baseline electric resistance heat
warranty. and direct expansion cooling system. Table
The biggest maintenance headache has 1 summarizes the results relative to the
to do with the potassium acetate heat baseline.
transfer fluid that is in the geothermal loop. The Bonneville Power Administration
They selected this heat transfer fluid because provided a $44,700 rebate for the
it is very environmentally benign. It is not geothermal heat pump system, which
hazardous and does not require any special reduced the payback to 22 years. A package
handling if it spills or leaks. However, there of efficiency measures including increased
have been extensive problems with leaking. wall and roof insulation, high efficiency
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windows, reduced glazing area, high 39 percent (229,320 kWh/yr). The simple
efficiency lighting, and occupancy sensors payback of all the efficiency measures
was installed. A rebate of $62,850 was without the rebate was 13.8 years. The
provided for all these measures, which were rebate reduced the payback for the utility to
estimated to reduce energy consumption by 4.7 years.

Table 1.Comparison of HVAC System Incremental Costs and Savings

Incremental Incremental
Energy Incremental Energy Cost Simple
Incremental Savings Energy Savings Payback
Cost ($) (kWh/yr) Savings (%) ($/yr) (yrs.)
Air-to-Air Heat 12,345 35,991 6.1 1.080 11.4
Pump
Geothermal 124,560 122,011 20.8 3,660 34.0
Heat Pump
little, if any, energy. However, as the
Clearly, the selection of the geothermal ground loop continues to settle in and the
heat pump system was not based purely on
economics. When the interactive effects of
the other measures are considered, the actual problems with the failed valves are addres-
payback would be longer than 22 years. The sed, the geothermal heat pump system will
geothermal heat pump is clearly the most begin to produce savings.
energy-efficient choice and the desire of the
utility to demonstrate this technology was Satisfaction with the Geothermal Heat
the overriding factor in its selection. Pump System
Actual energy use in the building has
been greater than estimated in the energy Benton PUD was not satisfied with the
study. For the year ending in March 1997, initial performance of their geothermal heat
building energy use was 559,920 kWh (18 pump system. If the first year problems
kWh/sq.ft.-yr). This is 56 percent higher would have continued, they would have had
than the energy study estimate. The PUD to find a solution like adding a cooling tower
has a meter on the building HVAC or boiler. Fortunately, some of the problems
equipment. Energy use by the HVAC seem to be correcting themselves as they
equipment was 236,930 kWh for the year make adjustments and the system settles in.
ending on March 1997. This compares to They still have the issue of the potassium
34,724 kWh estimated in the energy model. acetate and whether to keep dealing with the
This dramatic of a difference draws into leaks or go to the expense of replacing it.
question the validity of the energy model. It One of their concerns is the amount of
appears the model significantly underesti- time and money they have put into this new
mated fan and pump energy. The geo- system to deal with a number of operation
thermal system is also operating less effici- and maintenance problems. The average
ently than expected due to the extreme building owner might not have access to the
ground loop temperatures, longer hours of resources the PUD has to deal with these
operation to maintain temperatures, pumps maintenance problems. The PUD expected
not unloading due to failed valves, and other many years of trouble free operation after
control problems. These results suggest the the initial shakedown period.
geothermal heat pump system is not meeting They still believe in the geothermal heat
performance expectations and is saving very pump concept. They realize most of the
problems they are experiencing are due to

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 International Course on GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS
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design decisions.
Their advice to
others
considering a
geothermal
system is to
make sure the
designer is
experienced with
geothermal
systems.
Figure 1.
Schematic of
Geothermal
Heat Pump
System

Yakima County Jail Geothermal Heat

Pump Study
Yakima, Washington

Contact Names: Regie Goforth

Phone Number: (509)
574-2300
Geothermal Source: Groundwater
System Type: Open loop, two 150-
ton water to water
heat pump Geothermal Heat Pump System
Age of System: 14 years Characteristics
Building Type: 180,000 ft2 County
Correctional Facility, Groundwater Source Description
including court
rooms, and inmate The facility is served by one 900 foot
quarters and support deep, 8 inch diameter well capable of
facilities. producing 600 gallons per minute of 70+°F
Energy Usage: 20.69 kwh/ft2 /year water. The 30-horsepower pump is driven
$0.917/ft2 /year via a variable speed drive, and is set at 260
feet. The water is pumped to two plate and
Building Characteristics frame heat exchanger where a delta T of six
Yakima County Correctional Facility to eight degrees is removed. The
geothermal water is then pumped to an
The main building containing court rooms, injection well where the water is returned
jury rooms, inmate quarters, and support back to the producing aquifer.
facilities was completed in 1983, and is a
four-story, concrete block structure. A Heating, Ventilation, and Air
60,000 ft 2 annex of similar construction was Conditioning (HVAC) System Description
added in 1991.
The mechanical room contains two plate and
frame heat exchangers, two 150-ton Trane
heat pump and a 600 kW, 1,588 amp, 4,620
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MBtuh electric boiler. In addition, the and the County contacted the Washington
system uses a cooling tower for heat State Energy Office (WSEO) and requested
rejection. A four-pipe system circulates the help in determining causes of the problems
heated or cooled water to air handlers that and measures that could be taken to
are located throughout the building. Two minimize or eliminate these problems.
15-horsepower pumps circulate water for WSEO, in turn, brought in the Oregon
heating and two 10-horsepower pumps are Institute of Technology Geo-Heat Center
used for circulating chilled water. (OIT) to undertake the engineering studies.
Although the water had been tested prior to
Selection Criteria selecting the heat pump system and found to
be potable, a number of poor engineering
Selection of the Geothermal Heat Pump decisions led to the problem encountered.
System
The primary causes of the corrosion were
At the time the Yakima County the use of an open to the atmosphere holding
Correctional Facility was being planned, the tank, and a decision to circulate the
country had just experienced the second geothermal water directly throughout the
major oil crisis in a decade, and oil and building, i.e., no heat exchangers were used
natural gas prices were escalating rapidly. to separate the geothermal fluids from the
The Yakima County Commissioners were piping and air handlers found throughout the
intent on finding the most cost-effective, facility. Another major problem involved
energy-efficient, and secure energy alternate the use of a fixed speed pump. The
for the planned 265-bed correctional facility. production well pump which, upon start up,
Technical studies were provided to the caused considerable turbulence in the well
County by the Washington State Energy and resulted in large amounts of sand being
Office, the Oregon Institute of Technology introduced into the system.
Geo-Heat Center, and Pacific Power. These OIT engineers recommended several
studies evaluated the opportunity for and the design and operational changes to the
risk of obtaining adequate supplies of system. First was to eliminate the open
geothermal fluids, the technical feasibility of holding tank that was allowing oxygen to
using heat pumps to meet the heating and enter the system, and second was to isolate
cooling needs of the proposed facility, and the geothermal fluid loop from the
the economics of the heat pump option inbuilding distribution loop. This was done
relative to the use of natural gas and/or through the addition of plate and frame heat
electricity. These studies plus the existence exchangers. The third major design change
of a 85°F flowing artesian geothermal well was to add a variable speed controller to the
drilled in the early 1900s, only a few blocks production pump that would minimize
from the planned construction site, and turbulence at start up and eliminate the
information concerning the economical problem of brining sand up from the
feasibility of installing a geothermal heat production zone. These changes completely
pump system were all the Commissioners eliminated the operational and corrosion
needed to choose the heat pump system over problems that had been encountered but at a
other alternatives. significant cost to the County. These costs
included engineering, purchasing new
Operating History equipment, construction, and possibly most
significant, the County was forced to use an
The Yakima County correctional facility electric boiler throughout the reconstruction
was commissioned in 1983. Within weeks period. Unfortunately, these costs resulted
of commissioning, the geothermal heat in lengthy legal proceedings with the County
pump system began experiencing extremely finally prevailing.
high and totally unacceptable levels off
corrosion. The system had to be shut down
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Operation and Maintenance Issues

The County has been very satisfied with
The system has operated very the system despite the initial problem that
satisfactorily from a mechanical standpoint, resulted in lengthy legal proceedings. The
with the only major problem being one system has proven to be very easy to
compressor that has been rebuilt on a maintain, and has met the demands of the
number of occasions. The other three com- increased load without major system
pressors have required little maintenance. expansion or modification.
The system has, however, experienced Problems that have been related to one
two problems with the geothermal supply of the four heat pump compressors is not in
and disposal system. The Yakima area has anyway directly related to the geothermal
experienced a significant lowering of the system.
groundwater table over the past several Problems with the declining acquifer,
years due to several years of draught the requirement to reset the production
conditions and increased groundwater usage. pump, and what appears to be an increasing
The lowering of the static water level in the problem of pressure building up in the
production well required that the production injection well have been and continue to be
pump be reset and nine sections of pipe of major concern. The County may be
added. The system has also experienced forced to work on the injection well or drill
some problems with the injection well being a second injection well.
able to accept no more than 250 gpm of If acquifer draw down or injection
spent geothermal fluid without increasing problems worsen, operation and mainte-
pump pressure. The exact cause of the nance personnel have indicated that they
injection problem has not been determined. may be forced to look at alternative opera-
If the situation worsens, the County will be tional strategies and/or system options. To
forced to increase pumping pressure, work date, however, the system has continued to
over the existing injection well, or drill a provide reliable service is a cost-effective
second injection well. manner, and county officials have experi-
enced strong support for and confidence in
Satisfaction With the Geothermal Heat the system.
Pump System

Beaver Lake Middle School (note that during design the school was
called Plateau Middle School). The building
Location: Issaquah, is a two-story 109,000 square foot structure
Washington serving 570 students. A track and grass
System Type: Closed Loop, Water sports field is located to the southeast of the
Source Heat Pump
System
Age of System: 3 years building. The building layout is a cross
Building Type: 109,000 ft2 middle shape and includes music rooms, stage and
school commons area, library, main gymnasium,
Estimated Energy Use:11 kWh/ft2 and auxiliary gym. Two-story classroom
Estimated Maintenance Cost: n/a wings extend out each side with shop areas
System Designer: Tres West and a kitchen included in the west wing.
Engineers, Inc. Administrative offices are located at the
junction of the east wing.
Building Characteristics Construction is primarily CMU with
metal stud framing and metal deck roofing
Beaver Lake Middle School was occu- with asphalt shingles. The floors are con-
pied beginning with fall classes in 1994 crete and glazing is double-pane with
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thermal break in aluminum frames. There is Selection Criteria

a large quantity of skylights over the gyms,
Issaquah School District wanted a
library, and commons area. The building
modern, efficient middle school that would
has an energy-efficient envelope, efficient
provide a great learning environment. The
lighting system with occupancy sensors,
District has had success with water source
energy management system with digital
heat pumps and had a larger site where
controls, and variable speed drives on
ground coupling could be implemented. An
pumps.
energy study was provided by Puget Sound
Power and Light.
Geothermal Heat Pump System
Characteristics The geothermal system was clearly the
Ground Source Description: most efficient showing $33,622 in yearly
energy savings relative to the baseline
The ground-coupled water source heat system. Financial incentives provided by
pumps utilize a horizontal ground loop heat Puget Sound Power and Light covered the
exchanger for a heat sink in lieu of a cooling incremental costs of the geothermal system
tower and supplemental boiler. The and convinced the District to try the new
horizontal loop consist of 162,500 linear feet technology.
(650 ft. per ton) of 1” diameter polybutylene
piping in two layers (4 ft. and 6 ft. deep) Operating History
spaced 2 feet apart. The piping is buried
below the football and baseball fields Issaquah School District has had
southeast of the building. There are three (3) difficulty achieving stable operations from
circulation pumps equipped with variable the geothermal heat pump system. During
speed drives. the first year of occupancy they began to
experience leaks throughout the system.
Heating, Ventilating and Air These leaks occurred at all of the valves and
Conditioning (HVAC) System connections at the heat pumps. The
recommended solution was to replace the
Description: non-toxic gylcol refrigerant with water.
The system consists of 52 Water Source Many adjustments were required in the
Heat Pumps located in ceiling spaces. Each operations because of the change. The
heat pump serves a zone in the building, replacement of the refrigerant created many
either one room or a portion of a larger air pockets in the lines which caused the
room. The total design heat pump capacity lack of proper flow to the heat pumps. This
is 250 tons. An 840 kW electric boiler resulted in the units tripping off because of
provides auxiliary backup heating. high head pressure. The second year of
The system is constant volume with a operation required a lot of maintenance staff
thermostat controlling each zone. System hours to adjust the operation to use water as
controls modulate the pumps as required to the heat transfer fluid and removing air
meet the loads. Piping and valves at each pockets.
heat pump provide bypass flexibility for The system now seems to be operating
maintenance and repair. The heat pump properly with loop temperatures being
water loop is sized to provide requirements maintained at 50°F. The electric boiler
for the whole building (520 gallons per automatically comes on when temperatures
minute) if all heat pumps were working from the ground loop drop below 50°F. The
simultaneously. system is sufficiently able to maintain
comfortable conditions in all zones
according to maintenance staff.

Operation and Maintenance Issues

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General maintenance for the system has Adjustments also had to be made by trial
been no different than expected for a typical and error to modify flows and temperatures
heat pump system. The biggest maintenance because of the different heat transfer fluid
problems have been caused by the glycol characteristics. The system now appears to
heat transfer fluid in the geothermal loop. be working with routine maintenance requi-
The system leaked due to brass fitting rements. There are still concerns about futu-
corrosion during the first year. Many differ- re maintenance requirements such as dama-
ent Teflon tapes were tried unsuccessfully to ged valve and fitting replacement.
stop the leaking. The leaks persisted during
the first year necessitating the replacement System Economics
of many ceiling tiles. Some valves have
An Energy Smart Design Assistance
been replaced but the corrosion is still
Report was completed prior to the design of
evident throughout the system.
Beaver Lake Middle School. The study con-
The glycol fluid was removed and the
sidered several system options. The baseline
system was cleaned and replaced with water
system was water source heat pumps with
the second year. Unfortunately air was
electric boilers and constant speed pumps.
trapped in lines causing problems the second
Options included variable pumping, water
year. Air vacuum causes an interruption in
source heat pumps with gas boilers, and the
the flow of water and the heat pumps shut
geothermal heat pump system. Table 1
off due to high head pressure. The heat
summarizes the results relative to the
pumps then are taken out of service using
baseline.
the bypass valves and maintenance is
performed to remove air from the lines.

Table 1. Summary of HVAC Analysis

SYSTEM SYSTEM ENERGY ENERGY ENERGY SIMPLE

COST($) USE COSTS($) SAVINGS PAYBAC
(kBtu/YR) ($) K (YRS)
WSHP- Elec Boiler BASELINE 6,933,197 $93,322 BASELINE
Const Spd Pumps $1,015,303
WSHP-Elec Boiler + $27,230 6,542,555 $88,065 $5,257 5.18
VFD Pumps
WSHP- Gas Boiler - $ 7,450 7,620,264 $92,530 $ 792
Const Spd Pumps
WSHP- Gas Boiler + $19,780 7,229,622 $87,293 $7,584 2.61
VFD Pumps
WSHP-Grnd Source + $84,563 4,686,927 $65,802 $27,520 3.07
Elec Boiler
WSHP-Grnd Source + $112,908 4,252,159 $59,700 $33,622 3.36
Elec Boiler- VFD

Puget Sound Power and Light provided simple payback without the rebate would
a $112,908 rebate for the geothermal heat have been 3.36 years.
pump system, which reduced the payback to The selection of the geothermal heat
0 years. The system was estimated to pump system was based primarily on the
reduce energy consumption and save Beaver economics and the desire of the District to
Lake School District $33,622 yearly. The build a modern efficient facility for its
students and staff.
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The District has no comparable school system to use water as the heat transfer
facilities and therefore is not aware of liquid. They also had to contend with many
whether this school is saving money relative disruptions due to air trapped in the lines as
to similar schools. The actual energy cost in a result of the switch in heat transfer fluids.
1996 was $15,000 greater than the estimate Although the maintenance problems now
from the Energy Smart Design Report. seem minimal, there are still concerns about
However, this was mostly due to an increase the possible long-term maintenance cost of
in electric rates. Actual energy use for the replacing valves and fittings corroded by the
facility was 4,179,099 kBtu, several percent glycol heat transfer fluid.
less than the study estimate. Adjusting Because of the problems they have had,
original baseline energy costs for the current the District believes the system has not
electric rates results in an annual baseline realized the energy savings they were
energy cost of $121,884. Relative to this promised. They also believe new
new baseline, the District is saving over technologies should not be tested in public
$45,000 annually, which is more than the schools where resources are not available to
original savings estimate. handle operation and maintenance problems.
They still believe the geothermal
concept is sound, but have no faith in the
Satisfaction with System
ability of engineering to deliver the
Issaquah School District is not satisfied technology. They believe the engineer must
with the geothermal heat pump system. The have more knowledge and experience before
first year they spent a lot of time dealing the system can be installed successfully.
with leaks and the second year adjusting the

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