• Cancellation Policy

Seminar Description

This seminar is designed to acquaint HVAC engineers, geo-scientist, contractors, and building owners to the recent advances in ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems. The session will introduce attendees to design and installation methods with an emphasis on commercial and institutional buildings. Participants are provided handouts and are encouraged to “learn by doing” in the session. The handouts are based on the ASHRAE publication, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Design of GHPs for Commercial and Institution Buildings (Kavanaugh and Rafferty, 1997) and the technical newsletter, Outside the Loop (http://www.geokiss.com/tech-news.htm).

The design methods integrate concepts familiar to most HVAC engineers (building heat loss/gain, zoning, ventilation air, etc.). An overview of GSHP systems and required design steps are provided.

The seminar then proceeds with

•  selecting extended range water-to-air heat pumps
•  outdoor air distribution with GSHPs
•  closed-loop ground heat exchanger design
•  surface water coil design
•  groundwater loop design
•  loop installation methods
•  interior piping and pump/drive selection for good performance
•  examples of system installation costs

Non-HVAC engineers are made aware of the characteristics of quality GSHP design and simple field measured indicators of successful operation. This includes some information of energy consumption results and EPA Commercial Building Energy Star ratings.

An effective training approach is to link the seminar with accurate and easy-to-use design tools. Attendees can perform many of the design procedures in class which typically reduces the amount of time required to become proficient. Most of the design tools are available at no cost from the web site www.geokiss.com. The exception is GshpCalc 5.0, the primary ground, ground water, and surface water design software, which is available at no cost in a demonstration version.

Establishing local networks is critical to the maturity of the GSHP industry. The seminars can also be a good place for engineers, drillers, geo-hydrologist, contractors, building owners, and vendors to meet and further develop an effective infrastructure that will improve cost-effectiveness and enhance system quality.

Seminar Description - Day 2

Open loop (ground water) systems offer comparably high efficiency but often lower capital cost relative to closed loop systems – particularly in large applications. As a result they are increasingly viewed as an attractive geothermal option. This seminar addresses the key design issues of open loop heat pump systems for commercial, institutional and other large building applications. Major systems types are introduced with the focus on conventional two well production/injection. Topics including site evaluation, wells and well testing, water chemistry, optimum ground water flow selection, well pumps and control, plate heat exchangers, injection wells and well spacing are covered in detail. The material is targeted at HVAC design engineers but is suitable for other technical personnel including equipment vendors, regulatory officials, earth science professionals, energy managers and similar groups.

This part of the course explores the design aspects of open loop (or ground water) heat pump systems as they are applied to large commercial and institutional buildings. With the emphasis on providing design engineers with the necessary background to successfully participate in these projects, the seminar addresses production aspects of ground water, successful handing of ground water in mechanical systems, determination of optimal ground water flow requirements and environmentally acceptable disposal of ground water. In addition, proper integration of the ground water loop with the building system is addressed including such issues isolation, building loop pumping benchmarks, and unitary heat pump performance. The overall philosophy of the seminar is to identify proven methods for the design of simple, efficient and low maintenance systems for the building owner.

Specific areas covered include:

• Introductory issues – terminology, customer expectations, residential/commercial differences, system types, project players, overall design strategy
• Site Characterization – information sources, where to start
• Building loop pumping – benchmarks for head loss and loop pump power,
• Unitary heat pumps – performance, type, specification
• Groundwater – aquifers, wells, flow testing
• Ground Water Chemistry – testing, fouling, corrosion, particulates, pressurization, biological issues, avoidance of problems
• Well pumps – design, control, power requirements
• Heat exchangers – selection, pressure drop, materials, maintenance
• Disposal of ground water – injection wells, well spacing
• Design procedure – spreadsheet, GSHPcalc program, example
• Cost issues in open loop systems – capital costs, maintenance costs

Note: Participants should bring a notebook/laptop if they would like to follow along during the design procedure.

Intended Audience

The intended audience for these seminars is HVAC design engineers. However, subject matter is appropriate for other technical personnel, such as HVAC and drilling contractors, GSHP and HVAC equipment/supply vendors, electric utility specialist, architects, and energy managers.

Instructor

Steve Kavanaugh, PhD – Energy Information Services

Dr. Kavanaugh has been involved with ground source heat pump research and development for 20 years. He is the author of two books on the subject and has published several articles in the American Society of Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Transactions and Journal. He is a co-author of the ASHRAE book, Ground Source Heat Pumps: Design of Geothermal Systems for Commercial and Institutional Buildings. He is the former chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee 6.8 on Geothermal Energy, has served as a consultant to many electric utilities, and has conducted over one hundred GSHP design seminars for design professionals.

Dr. Kavanaugh has been a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama since 1985. He teaches courses in HVAC, Energy Conservation, Heat Transfer, Instrumentation, Senior Design I and II, and Capstone Design. His publications include 34 refereed journal articles, 15 refereed conference articles, 17 conference articles, 25 research reports, and numerous design notes. He also developed GCHPCalc, a software package for large GSHP system design.

Kevin Rafferty, P.E. – Geo-Heat Center

Kevin Rafferty, P.E., is a consulting engineer in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He has been involved in the HVAC industry since 1971 - initially as a refrigeration mechanic and for the past 30 years in engineering and research roles. Active in ASHRAE, he is past chair of Technical Committee 6.8 Geothermal Energy Utilization and a member of TC 6.9 Applied Heat Pump Systems. Rafferty is the co-author of the ASHRAE book, Ground-Source Heat Pumps – Design of Geothermal Systems for Commercial and Institutional Buildings, the ASHRAE Geothermal Handbook Chapter, The Direct Use Engineering and Design Guidebook and author of numerous papers and articles on geothermal direct use and GSHP systems. He is past chair of the Geothermal Interest Group of the National Ground Water Assn. and recipient of the US Department of Energy's “Ring of Fire” award for service to the geothermal industry. Associate Director of the Geo-Heat Center at Oregon Institute of Technology until 2003 he is now semi-retired but remains active in the geothermal industry.

Cancellation Policy

Registered attendees unable to attend the event may designate a substitute, provided APEGBC receives written notification at least one business day prior to the event. Registration information for the substitute attendee should accompany the notice. If notice of cancellation of registration is received:

•  5 business days or more prior to the event, a refund will be processed
•  Less than 5 business days prior to the event, no refunds apply

Substitute registrants are permitted up to the day of the seminar and member/non-member fees will be applied. The organizers reserve the right to cancel the event if less than the minimum required participants have registered. Liability limited to registration fee.

APEGBC is an AIBC/CES registered provider offering an AIBC-Accredited activity for 15 Core Learning Units.

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