Flathead Electric Cooperative Facility Geothermal Heat Pump System Upgrade.

High initial cost and lack of public awareness of ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology are the two major barriers preventing rapid deployment of this energy saving technology in the United States. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), 26 GSHP projects have been competitively selected and carried out to demonstrate the benefits of GSHP systems and innovative technologies for cost reduction and/or performance improvement. This paper highlights findings of a case study of one of the ARRA-funded GSHP demonstration projects, which is a heating only central GSHP system using shallow aquifer as heat source and installed at a warehouse and truck bay at Kalispell, MT. This case study is based on the analysis of measured performance data, utility bills, and calculations of energy consumptions of conventional central heating systems for providing the same heat outputs as the central GSHP system did. The evaluated performance metrics include energy efficiency of the heat pump equipment and the overall GSHP system, pumping performance, energy savings, carbon emission reductions, and cost-effectiveness of GSHP system compared with conventional heating systems. This case study also identified areas for reducing uncertainties in performance evaluation, improving operational efficiency, and reducing installed cost of similar GSHP systemsmore » in the future. Publication of ASHRAE at the annual conference in Seattle June 2014.« less