Case Study for the ARRA-Funded Ground Source Heat Pump Demonstration at Ball State University

With funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), 26 ground-source heat pump (GSHP) projects were competitively selected in 2009 to demonstrate the benefits of GSHP systems and innovative technologies for cost reduction and/or performance improvement. One of the selected demonstration projects is a district central GSHP system installed at Ball State University (BSU) in Muncie, IN. Prior to implementing the district GSHP system, 47 major buildings in BSU were served by a central steam plant with four coal-fired and three natural-gas-fired steam boilers. Cooling was provided by five water-cooled centrifugal chillers at the District Energy Station South (DESS). The new district GSHP system replaced the existing coal-fired steam boilers and conventional water-cooled chillers. It uses ground-coupled heat recovery (HR) chillers to meet the simultaneous heating and cooling demands of the campus. The actual performance of the GSHP system was analyzed based on available measured data from August 2015 through July 2016, construction drawings, maintenance records, personal communications, and construction costs. Since Phase 1 was funded in part by the ARRA grant, it is the focus of this case study. The annual energy consumption of the GSHP system was calculated based on the available measured data and othermore » related information. It was compared with the performance of a baseline scenario— a conventional water-cooled chiller and natural-gas-fired boiler system, both of which meet the minimum energy efficiencies allowed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE 90.1-2013). The comparison was made to determine source energy savings, energy cost savings, and CO2 emission reductions achieved by the GSHP system. A cost analysis was performed to evaluate the simple payback of the GSHP system. The following sections summarize the results of the analysis, the lessons learned, and recommendations for improvement in the operation of this district GSHP system.« less