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As part of the GEOFIT project, we conducted a holistic sustainable study of the novel GSHP (Ground Source Heat Pump) concepts on energy efficient building retrofitting, which is taking into account environmental (LCA), economic (LCC) and social (S-LCA) aspects.

LCA aspect

LCA analysis was performed according to ISO 14040-44, using SimaPro v.9.1 software and Ecoinvent v.3.6 database.

The analysis of the 10 selected environmental impact categories of the novel GSHP concepts shows that the heat pump or borehole heat exchanger is the most dominant element in the construction / installation phase, it depends mainly on how many boreholes are installed on site and how much mortar or diesel have been used for the borehole(s) installation. In the case of a heat pump, the main source of environmental impact is steel (in various forms) and copper. However, both are recyclable metals that can be reused again in the production process and therefore they do not present a significant environmental risk, as well as the buffer tank, that has a negligible impact on the environment In addition, from the comparative analysis of the two systems before and after thermal energy retrofitting, we were able to conclude that the reduction of CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere at the operational stage is clearly visible, in the case of Sant Cugat buildings it is about 50%, and in the building on the Aran Islands, even more than 80%, Figure 1.

Figure 1: Environmental impact at each stage of the life cycle of the heating systems in the Aran Islands building and the heating systems in the Sant Cugat buildings in relation to 1 kWh of thermal energy delivered to the building to maintain the comfort temperature, considering a study period of 30 years.

LCC aspect

LCC analysis was carried out according to the ISO 15686-5:2017. The results of the LCC analysis show that the expected payback time (PBT) of investment costs can be up to 6-11 years, it all depends on energy inflation (EI), which is not particularly stable, Figure 2.

The higher the inflation, the faster the return-on-investment costs.

S-LCA aspect

Regarding the S-LCA study on the potential positive and negative social impacts of a novel hybrid heating/cooling geothermal system, it was performed in line with the UNEP/SETAC guideline.

General positive conclusion has been drawn based on the indicators developed for this purpose.

First of all, the new geothermal system will allow to improve the economic and health benefits of the operation phase, which will be mostly well received by the consumers (users). Also, regarding the construction / installation phase, which mainly involves the following stakeholders: workers, local community, value chain actors and society, no deviation from the norm was noted.

By Ewa Alicja Zukowska and Jose Jorge Espí Gallart (EURECAT).

Renewable energy technologies for heating and cooling are safe, clean, efficient and increasingly cost-competitive. In its vision 2050 prospective document, the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Renewable Heating and Cooling – RHC ETIP – envisions that 100% renewable energy-based heating and cooling (100% RHC) in Europe is possible by 2050.

This workshop is a continuation of the two previous RHC for Buildings and Industry Workshop at SP2020 and SP2021. Focused on the same topic which brought together a selection of H2020 EU-funded projects involving experts from the biomass, geothermal, solar thermal and heat pump sectors to discuss a common strategy for increasing the use of renewable energy technologies for heating and cooling for buildings and industry. 

Projects are again invited to pitch their progress and achievements to date. Interactive discussion slots will allow for opportunities to identify possible synergies, cooperation on horizontal issues or potential joint dissemination activities to maximise expected impacts. 

Session chair : Andrea Frazzica –  CNR-ITAE ( Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche  – Istituto di Tecnologie Avanzate per l’Energia “Nicola Giordano”)

GEOFIT Project will be part of this workshop in the session “Demonstration actions for RHC in buildings” together with:

• SunHorizon 
• HybridBioVGE 

To see the presentations and the workshop video, please visit: RHC for Buildings and Industry workshop 3.0 – Sustainable Places (SP)

Using numerical modelling for simulating manufacturing processes and predicting final properties is more or less mandatory in many industries. However, it is barely used within the rock drilling market despite being a powerful and cost-efficient method.

This is why GEOFIT will introduce a novel particle-based finite element method for modelling the drilling and excavation process. With this new approach, we aim to assist operators in choosing optimum drilling parameters and tools to reduce wear These simualtions will then be validated by comparing the outcome with the data from some of the pilots.

They key strength behind these simulations is their potential to simulate the rock fragmentation processes. The rock material will be mechanically characterized and finally the numerical approach will be validated by comparing the outcome with the data from some of the pilots.

In this video below you can see some of the numerical simulations developed up to date by the group at the Division of Mechanics of Solid Materials of Lulea University of Technology (LTU) for the GEOFIT project.

Still curious about our drilling innovations? Make sure to read EURECAT’s article on their work on Drilling Bit Materials for an Improved Performance.

In the GEOFIT project, heating and cooling components design and integration are developed for the different layouts and demo-sites and comprise a detailed design and description of the different subsystems or components to form a complete system.

Key elements and components, as well as their specifications, are being developed and inventoried as part of the GEOFIT project activities. As in previous work, the deployment of low-invasive risk assessment, site-inspection, and worksite-building monitoring techniques extend its use as a monitoring tool for geothermal based retrofitting operations and deploy novel tools enabling the view of assets in a cartographic or a geographical environment and comparing with the information stored into GIS collectors and the Web Map Services (WMS).

A common data environment containing GIS/BIM models/sensor data allows users to locate, map, update and share objects and subsurface utility information simultaneously, contributing to the realization of a new “GEOBIM platform”. The objective of the GEOBIM platform is to assess and verify the integration of the GEOFIT solutions in specific cases developing the respective different BIM models over a geographical information layer, aiming at replication and modularity of the solutions, outputs for exploitation, impact assessment, and dissemination of the results.

The implementation of the previously defined system is addressed for buildings with different typologies and energy demands. Then, integration of the conditions and the building’s engineering specifications are defined within the GEOBIM platform.

The GEOBIM platform considers the scalability and flexibility of the data integration and analysis tools development to support interoperability among the elements installed. The design inputs come from:

1. Boreholes and ground excavations information
2. Geothermal heat exchangers designs
3. Ground source heat pumps designs
4. Heat pumps designs
5. Heating and cooling systems designs
6. Sensors information
7. Simulations data

By covering the 7 dimensions of the #BIM approach, the GEOBIM platform implements the following functions:

• Project visualization
• Data management
• Demo-site analysis functions
• Geothermal performance
• Heating/Cooling performance
• GEOFIT assets management
• CAPEX
• The lifecycle of systems and assets

Within the GEOBIM platform development (understood as a common data environment), model-based cooperation is the advanced portrayal of the general GEOFIT development process. This portrayal is made in collaboration with the different partners involved in the design, modeling, construction/fabrication, installation, and commissioning, who utilize different CAD-based tools. The Common Data Environment (CDE) is characterized as a typical advanced task space, which gives very much characterized collaborative territory to the undertaking partners joined with clear status definitions and a strong work process portrayal for sharing and endorsement forms and objects data.

Written by Sergio Velasquez, from IDP

Want to learn more?

➜ Click on this link to have a look a the 10 Geobim videos posted on the project’s Youtube channel and thank you for watching!

Videos produced by COMET

On the 6th of October, IDS GeoRadar was at the pilot in Perugia to perform a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey over the area where excavation works will be executed. 

Nowadays, GPR is commonly used to detect both metallic and nonmetallic underground objects, as well as providing 3D location, reporting depth, and “X,Y” location.  

However, this technology has some drawbacks. Mainly, that it requires an expert, typically a trained geophysicist, to interpret the scans. In GEOFIT this issue was addressed and an algorithm, capable of detecting most of the buried utilities, has been developed. 

At Perugia, IDS GeoRadar used a recently developed compact GPR array solution designed to provide a 3D mapping of underground utilities. This is called STREAM C and uses a massive antenna array with two polarizations that provide a huge amount of data, thus dramatically increasing the detection performance and the level of accuracy of the survey.  

The analysis of the collected data will therefore allow avoiding damages to the buried infrastructures when performing the excavation for the heat-exchanger installation.