Ground source heat pumps: Opportunities and challenges
February 6, 2024
Authors
David Petroy & Neil Kolwey
Both air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) and ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) offer improved efficiencies and greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions for heating of residential and commercial buildings compared to gas or propane heating systems. Increasing the installations of these heat pump technologies is an important pathway for Colorado to achieve its climate goals for residential and commercial buildings.
GSHPs offer improved efficiencies compared to ASHPs, but at significantly greater upfront costs. Therefore, GSHPs will be most cost-effective and will achieve the greatest benefits for larger buildings or for networks of buildings, including these applications:
- Schools (K-12) and college/university buildings
- Medium-size and larger commercial buildings
- Geothermal networks for new home developments or a mix of residential and commercial buildings
Colorado has many examples of these types of applications, and we highlight several in this report. With a focused effort among GSHP businesses, building owners, real estate professionals, and policymakers, there is great potential for expanding GSHP use in these types of building scenarios.
