Use of building foundation piles as ground heat exchangers

Jun. 01, 2010 – The latest newsletter of the IEA heat pump centre discusses how the foundation piles of a building can be applied as ground heat exchangers, leading to installation cost reductions. It provides examples of installations in Japan, including that in the headquarters of Mayekawa that employs an ammonia screw type heat pump unit.

The market for this type of system known as ‘Energy Pile System’ has been growing in recent years in Europe. The use of the building foundation piles as ground heat exchangers leads to installation cost reductions, while at the same time, the multiple building foundation piles are suitable for the underground thermal storage as the well field.

With the origins for this system dating back to a 1962 article in the Journal of Japanese Association of Refrigeration, it is now also gaining popularity in Japan, in applications such as schools and other public buildings.

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Source: ammonia21.com