SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Heating and cooling constitute approximately 48% of building energy consumption representinga significant dollar cost to society. Additionally the vast majority of this energy 63% in 2017 isgenerated by fossil fuels resulting in substantial environmental impacts. These non-point sourceemissions are challenging to address. Achieving meaningful and cost-effective reductions ingreenhouse gas emissions is a critical need of both the public and private sectors.Groundsource heat pump (GSHP) systems are the most energy-efficient and environmentallyfriendly heating and cooling solution available. The primary hurdle to customers adoptingtraditional GSHP which have long been recognized for their lifecycle cost advantage overconventional heating and cooling methods is their initial installation cost. Our novel approachuses an entirely new method to deliver the required energy exchange from a GSHP loop fieldresulting in a 10x reduction in the number of boreholes needed per installation and up to a 40- 50% cost reduction for the entire heating and cooling system.The purpose of the proposed project to expand upon the innovative design of the Darcy GSHPwell field to include production of potable water providing a unique benefit to ruralcommunities and a further reduction in GSHP installation costs. The project will numericallymodel design install and field test the first dual-use Darcy GSHP and potable water system.We will test system performance and operations to determine this new technology's efficacy andcost effectiveness with a successful outcome laying the foundations for commercial adoption ofthis renewable energy system for rural communities.
