Examples of Ground Source Heat Pumps

(GSHP) from Germany

Burkhard Sanner1 and Oliver Kohlsch2
1

Institute of Applied Geosciences, Justus-Liebig-University

Diezstrasse 15, D-35390 Giessen, Germany
2

EWS Erdwrme-Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KG

Hengsterberg 15, D-33129 Delbrck, Germany

Introduction
Compared to the North American situation, the European heat pump market is relatively
small. The largest numbers of heat pumps are built in the Skandinavian countries. In
Germany, the heat pump market had a very fast development around 1980, but crashed soon
after due to reliability and service problems (fig. 1). The decreasing oil prices in the 1980s
resulted in a low around 1990, and since then the market is improving slowly, but steadily.
The repeated increase in fossil fuel prices gave a new push to the market in 2000.

Fig. 1:

Heat pump sales in Germany (after VDEW, 1996, updated with INFEL-data)

The heat pump business organisations from Germany, Austria and Switzerland joined in an
effort to create an international quality certificate. The minimal standards to qualify are:
Factory-produced heat pump
Performance rating and testing according to standard EN 255
Minimal COP for ground source heat pumps brine-water: COP = 3.5
(0/35)
water-water: COP = 4,0
(10/35)
Electric safety certificate EC/SEV, low noise emission, complete documentation for
installation and operation, comprehensive service network
2 years full warranty on heat pump, spare part supply guaranteed for 10 years
Meanwhile, the same group plans a quality certificate for borehole heat exchangers (BHE), in
co-operation with the geothermal groups (GtV). A relevant guideline for Germany exists in
the form of guideline VDI 4640 (VDI, 2000/2001).
There are ca. 30 years of experience with GSHP in Germany. A lot of resarch was done in the
heat pump field, focussing on compressors, working fluids, etc. For GSHP of particular
importance was the research site in Schffengrund-Schwalbach (Sanner, 1986; see fig. 2).
Many documented projects and monitoring add to the experience in this field, and many
reliable, economic plants give credit to good design and workmanship. This paper shows
some interesting examples.

Fig. 2:

Layout of Schwalbach GSHP research station (after Knoblich et al., 1993)

Residential houses
The first applications were in residential houses, which still account also for the largest
number of applications. The basic principle did not change, but fine-tuning of the system
design, manifolds, circulation pumps, etc., and also the use of new refrigerants like R 290 or R
407 c, allowed an increase in the seasonal performance factor from 2.5-3.0 in 1985 to around
4.0 in 2000. A state-of-the-art example for an individual residential house is selected from the
city of Delbrck in the Northwestern part of Germany. The basic data are given in fig. 3.
Another, relatively new house was investigated by Hnel & Heinrich (1999) it is located in
Burg/Spreewald close to the Eastern border of Germany. The data are listed in fig. 4.
2

 New residential house (1998), two

storeys, with high insulation standard,
heated by floor heating. The heat pump
provides the heating and hot water.
2
Floor area is 331 m , ca. 60 % of heating
through floor heating with supply water
temperature max. 35 C, ca. 40 % of
heating through radiators with supply
water temperature max. 50 C
Brine-to-water heat pump, type Bartl, with
13.6 kW nominal heating capacity
2 vertical borehole heat exchangers
(double-U), each 99 m deep; the geology
consists of cretaceous sediments (marl)
Energy cost for 1999:
total
666.17
2
specific
2.01 /m /a

Fig. 3:

(1302.92 DM)
2
(3.94 DM/m /a)

Energy efficiency 1999

HP consumpt. total:
7.616 MWh/a
Total heat delivered:
29.48 MWh/a
Seasonal performance factor:
3.87

Residential house with GSHP in Delbrck

New residential house (1997), heated by

floor heating. The heat pump provides
the heating and hot water. Some cooling
is provided by using the floor heating
2
coils. Floor area is 180 m in two storeys,
with nominal heat demand 11.5 kW
Floor heating supply temperature max.
35 C, brine-to-water heat pump, with 18
kW nominal heating capacity; cold
supplied from BHE via heat exchanger
5 vertical borehole heat exchangers
(double-U), each 50 m deep; the geology
consists of cenozoic sediments
Total investment cost :
23,300 (45,600 DM)

Fig. 4:

system schematic, Delbrck

system schematic, Burg/Spreewald

Energy between 12/1997 and 2/1999:

HP consumption total:
11.86 MWh/a
Seasonal performance factor
3.0-3.6

Residential house with GSHP in Burg/Spreewald (data after Hnel & Heinrich,
1999)
3

Over many years, most of the GSHP in residential houses were individual plants in the middle
of houses heated by fuel oil or natural gas. Meanwhile, the first whole subdivisions are
equipped with GSHP. Examples are two new residential areas (fig. 5) in the Dortmund area
with ca. 100-130 houses, where individual GSHP systems for each house are installed. A
rather simple system schematic with only one BHE in the >100 m range is used in most
houses, with a few exceptions.
The heat pumps provide for heating and domestic hot water; there is no cooling, thus no
artificial recharge of the ground. The heat extraction is larger than the possibility of natural
recharge, and a low, but continuing decrease of temperature would occur. To counteract this
and to secure long-term operation, the BHE length has to be increased (fig. 5).

Dortmund-Mengede

Werne
thermal conductivity of
the ground 2 W/m/K

300 %

time horizon 30 years

200 %

100 %
5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

typical system schematic

Distance between borehole heat exchangers [m]

Fig. 5:

Artists concept of geothermal subdivisions (above, graphics Behr + Partner,

Schwerte); lower line left: Necessary increase in borehole length for 120 BHE
with decreasing distance and lower line right typical system schematic for a
house in Werne subdivision

Commercial buildings
Since the first plants in Germany, commercial applications were part of the picture (e.g. the
Verolum building, s. Sanner, 1996). In 1987, a small commercial building was monitored
4

(Fig. 6); more information on that plant is given in Sanner et al. (1990). With a floor heating
system, a heat pump using R 22, and a seasonal performance factor of 2.9, it shows the stateof-the-art performance of the late 1980s.
Small commercial building (1987), heated
by floor heating. The heat pump provides
the heating, no hot water. The singlefloor building houses offices and
workrooms (manufacturing of electronic
equipment)
floor heating with supply temperature ca.
35 C, brine-to-water heat pump with 22
kW nominal heating capacity
5 vertical borehole heat exchangers
(double-U), each 40 m deep, the geology
consists paleozoic sediments (sandstones/shales) under tertiary overburden
(sand, silt)
Total investment cost :
15,950 (31,200 DM)
specific energy cost, incl. investment:
70.56 /MWh (138 DM/MWh)
(Prices 1987)

Fig. 6:

system schematic, Httenberg

Energy between 11/1987 and 10/1988:

HP consumpt. total:
12.9 MWh/a
Total heat delivered:
36.9 MWh/a
Seasonal performance factor
2.9
Specific heat extraction
71 W/m,
119 kWh/m/a

Small commercial building from 1987 in Httenberg/Hessen

A very interesting plant has been built recently in Gtersloh (fig. 7). The heat pump
compressor is not activated by an electric motor, but by a fuel-oil operated diesel engine. The
heat from engine cooling is also used for house heating, and an additional peak boiler exists.
This example may show that ground source heat pumps do not necessarily rely on electric
power for operation. The expected annual cost for energy and operation were calculated, and
the system showed rather economic with this constellation (tab. 1).
Table 1:

Annual cost for energy and operation in plant Gtersloh (from feasibility study)

Heat pump fuel cost

5269 DM

2694

oil burner (peak boiler)

1700 DM

870

electricity (circulation pumps, control, etc.)

1370 DM

700

maintenance

1503 DM

768

total for ca. 300 MWh heat supplied

9842 DM

5032

specific cost for 1 MWh (w/o investment)

32.81 DM

16.77

Heating and cooling

The concept of using the ground as a heat sink for the heat pump dates back to the early
development in the late 1940s in USA. With ground water as a heat source/sink it was
possible to cool directly by that water in summertime (Calm, 1987). The first plant with
borehole heat exchangers and direct cooling was built and tested for the conference room in
the office building Helmut Hund GmbH in Wetzlar-Nauborn in 1987 (Sanner, 1990).
5

DM/a

The building from 1999 with offices and a

large storage hall is heated by radiators
and fan-coil-units. The heat pump
provides the heating, and no domestic
water. An additional oil boiler provides
peak heat
The building consists of an office wing with
2
three floors (900 m ) and a large hall for
storage and dispatching of goods (1600
2
m)
system schematic, Maas Gtersloh
Heating with two different temperature levels, brine-to-water heat pump with 30 kW
20000
nominal heating output, operated by fuel
15000
oil engine, thermal output ca. 30 kW, and
10000
fuel oil boiler (105 kW) for peak load (ca.
5000
10 % of annual heat)
0
8 vertical borehole heat exchangers
conv. (fuel oil)
electr. HP
oil-fired HP w.
(double-U), each 100 m deep in
peak boiler
cretaceous sediments
Comparison of annual operation cost (from
feasibility study); realized alternative right

Fig. 7:

Commercial building Maas in Gtersloh

Conference room
fan coil unit

Radiator

Radiator
Heat
Pump

Buffer
tank

Radiator

winter mode (heating)

summer mode (cooling)

Fig. 8:
6

System schematic of first plant with direct cooling in Wetzlar, 1987

In fig. 9, the difference in direct cooling (cooling mode 1) to the cooling with heat pump still
used widely in USA (cooling mode 2) is shown. There are some limits for direct cooling in
combination with BHE:
The cooling load has to be lower than the the heating load
The cooling system must accept higher supply temperatures (14-20 C) than the
conventional 6 C
dehumidification / moisture control cannot be guaranteed all the time
Heating mode

Cooling mode 1
(direct cooling)

BHE

Fig. 9:

Cooling mode 2

BHE

BHE

Heating and cooling in GSHP-systems

Because of the tremendous savings in direct cooling mode (no power for compressor
required), several plants followed the first one quickly, and today cooling is a standard feature
of most commercial GSHPs in Germany. Two examples are given in fig. 11 and 12. Fig. 10
shows the reduction in emissions of the plant UEG in Wetzlar, calculated for the monitored
data from 1995/96 and compared to a conventional system with fuel oil for heating and an
electric chiller for cooling. The reduction of CO2-emissions amounts to 48 %!

oil / conv. AC
GSHP

Partic. SO2

Fig. 10:

NOx

CO

CxHy

CO2

Comparison of GSHP-system in UEG laboratories, Wetzlar, to a theoretical

conventional system for the same building

 The two-storey building from 1992 with

laboratories and offices is heated by
radiators and fan-coil-units. The heat
pump provides the heating, and no hot
water. An additional gas boiler provides
peak heat under certain operating
conditions (ambient air temperature is
very low, labs need fresh air to replace
air
sucked
out
by
chemical
cabinets/exhausts, thus air handlers are
at full capacity; usually 20-30 hours per
year)
Heating with brine-to-water heat pump,
47 kW nominal heat output, to a total of
three heating circuits: Radiators north
and south (supply temperature ca. 45 C)
and ventilation (central air handling unit,
blowing into the central corridor, and fan
coil units in some selected rooms)
Direct cooling with cold water from the
borehole heat exchangers is provided
through the central air handling and fan
coil units
8 vertical borehole heat exchangers
(double-U), 80 m deep, in paleozoic
sediments (devonian / upper carboniferous greywackes)

system schematic, UEG Wetzlar

(166.7 MWh)
Energy Use
100 %

Electric power
transmission losses
1%
Losses in
power plant

Transport to
power plant

35 %

Cold from
the ground
19 %
(50,1 MWh)

End
Energy
23 %
(46.1
MWh)

Geothermal Heat
58 %
(70.6 MWh)

3%
Primary Energy
62 %
(128.6 MWh)

Energy supplied to the

distribution system is 100 %

Energy flow diagram for one year, between

Juli 1995 and Juli 1996

UEG
technical room

8 BHE

manifold

BHE location

Fig. 11:

Chemical laboratory UEG in Wetzlar

Large installations
Meanwhile, there are a number of rather large installations with more than 100 kW heat pump
heating capacity. Table 2 lists some examples. Here the project in Langen is described in some
more detail.
The German Air Traffic Control builds new headquarters in Langen, just a few kilometers
southeast of Frankfurt airport. The office building (fig. 13) with a total building volume of
230000 m3 and total floor area of 57800 m2 will offer room for ca. 1200 employees, and is
planned as a Low-Energy-Office (LEO). A GSHP-system with two borehole fields (fig. 14)
8

comprising a total of 154 BHE each 70 deep is integrated into the heating and cooling system.
Both fields supply a total cooling capacity of 340 kW and 330 kW heating capacity.
The building with seminar rooms, offices
and a restaurant is heated by floor
heating. The heat pump provides the
heating and domestic water. Cooling is
provided by cooling ceilings and fan coils.
The building has 48 kW nominal heat
demand, uses passive solar architecture
and has three floors:
Ground floor restaurant, kitchen, etc.
Second floor seminar rooms, offices
Small third floor with offices
Heating with brine-to-water heat pump,
two compressor stages with 70 kW total
heating output; radiators in most rooms,
floor heating in ground floor, and air
3
handling units (total flow 9720 m /h). This
results in relatively high supply/return
water temperature of ca. 55/45 C.
nominal cold demand 37 kW (of which air
handling 26 kW and cooling surfaces 11
kW); direct cooling with cold fluid from
the borehole heat exchangers, heat
pump used as chiller for peak cooling

system schematic, Umweltzentrum Cottbus

12 vertical borehole heat exchangers
(double-U), 50 m deep, in cenozoic
sediments
Energy between 9/1995 and 8/1996:
HP power consumption:
45.65 MWh
Total heat delivered:
142.14 MWh
Annual performance factor
3.1
Additional energy for
heating,pumps, fans
30.17 MWh

Fig. 12:

Seminar building Umweltzentrum in Cottbus (after data from Hnel, 1996,

and Hnel, 1999)

Table 2:

Examples of recently built large GSHP-plants in Germany

Project name

heating/cooling capacity

No. BHE

Depth BHE

WAGO Minden

100 / 120 kW

44

100 m
1

60 m

Gladbeck-Wiesenbusch

280 / 180 kW

32

DFS Langen

330 / 340 kW

154

70 m

MPI Golm

ca. 1000 / 1000 kW

160

100 m

Early in the design process it was decided to realize an economic, but also ecologically
sustainable office building. The building also should offer a high quality working environment
and great flexibility in the interior layout. In a first step, a Low-Energy-Office target value
(electricity and heat/cold-demand of the building) for the specific project was defined to:
100 kWh/m2/a
(incl. electricity for the catering kitchen)
This value means an energy reduction of about 35 % compared to conventional offices. Based
upon simulations of the building and the underground, an optimization of the subsurface and
building components of the heating and cooling plant could be achieved through several steps,
leading to a reduction of energy cost by approx. 300000 DM annually.

additional horizontal loops

Fig. 13:

Artists view of DFS headquarter, Langen (from Seidinger et al., 2000)

0 5 10 m
3 x 18 BHE (54)

Fig. 14:

Layout of the two BHE fields for the German Air Traffic Control (DFS) headquarters (left) and drilling in Langen (right)

The following items characterize the energy concept (cf. fig. 15):
Optimum building skin with perfect shading (to minimize the impact of the outdoor
climate on the indoor climate)
Use of the thermal storage capacity of the mass of the building (only few suspended
ceilings and double floors)
Thermo-active ceilings (TAC)
154 BHE each 70 m deep, with 5 m horizontal distance as seasonal heat- and cold storage
Heat pump with environmentally benign refrigerant NH3 and high COP above 6 for low
temperature heat up to 30 C
Local heating net for temperatures >30 C
Cost-effective compact chiller for peak cooling loads
Optimum use of daylight, lighting controlled e.g. by occupancy sensors
10

During summer the cold water from the borehole heat exchangers is used directly to cool the
cooling ceilings, and the underground is slowly heated. In winter this heat is used as heat
source for heat pumps. The peak cooling loads are met by conventional chillers, and the peak
heating loads are covered by districted heating.
H E A T IN G
District Heating

mechanical
cooling

Borehole Heat Exchangers

free
cooling

Chiller

Heat
Pump

Thermoceilings
Air
cooling

static
heating

Air heating

Ventilation
Air
Cooling ceilings
Pre-heating

Fig. 15:

Pre-cooling

Schematic of the heating- and cooling concept for the German Air Traffic Control (DFS) headquarters (from Seidinger, 2000)

There is a particularity of the BHE system for the German Air Traffic Control (DFS)
headquarters. While most ground source heat pump systems make use of an antifreeze to cope
with temperatures below 0 C, in Langen only pure water is used. This is possible due to the
priority of the cooling operation and the very exact design calculations. Operation without
antifreeze has an ecological advantage in the case of a leakage (see below), and also the cost
for filling the large system with antifreeze can be avoided. Design with minimum heat supply
temperatures of +4 C also allows for a very good seasonal performance factor in the heating
mode.
There is another reason for not using antifreeze. The BHEs in Langen are located inside zone
III of a groundwater protection area. Thus the plant required a specific license, and it was
necessary to prove by calculations and expertises the absence of any noxious impact to the
water wells. This could be done successfully, and the water authorities granted the license.
To extract an energy amount as high as possible with source temperatures above +4 C, the
borehole thermal resistance has to be lowered. From the USA, thermally enhanced grout is
known for backfilling. By addition of ecologically sound materials with high thermal
conductivity (e.g. fine quartz), the thermal conductivity of the borehole filling can be pushed
from a normal 0.6-0.8 W/m/K to ca. 1.6 W/m/K. A material suitable for the German
conditions and available at acceptable cost could be developed, and the heat transfer in the
borehole thus could be enhanced substantially. With a thermal response test the effect of the
thermally enhanced grout could be confirmed, lowering the borehole thermal resistance from
rb = 0.11 K/(W/m) to rb = 0.08 K(/W/m). This reduction by more than 27 % is in good
agreement with the theoretical calculation for an almost doubled thermal conductivity of the
filling (Mands et al., 2000).

11

The BHE systems allows, even with higher first cost, an annual cost saving compared to
conventional heating and cooling plants. The cost comparison, regarding energy, maintenance
and capital cost of the heat and cold generation, reveals that the Low Energy Office with
BHEs is the most economical solution, due to the low energy cost.
(LEO: Low Energy Office)
900000
800000
700000

Energy cost
Maintenance cost
Investment cost

600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0

LEO DFS

Fig. 16:

WSO 95

LEO w/o BHE

Annual cost comparison for heating and cooling the German Air Traffic Control (DFS) headquarters (from Seidinger et al., 2000)
Version LEO DFS:
Borehole heat exchangers, heat pump, local heat
net, chiller, 4.5 million DM
Version LEO without BHE: Local heat net, chiller, 3.5 million DM
Version Standard WSO 95: Local heat net, chiller, 3.5 million DM

Conclusions
Within the recent years, the efficiency of the heat pumps sold in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland increased steadily (fig. 17). Together with improved system design, new grouting
materials, piping and manifolds with reduced pressure drop, etc., the annual performance
factor of GSHP could also optimized in Germany.
5,5
5

COP

4,5
4

Regression line
3,5
3

Heat Pumps for ground source heat pump systems

2,5
2
0

10

20

30

Number of tested HP

12

40

50

60

Fig. 17:

Comparison of COP of heat pumps for GSHP-plants tested in the years 199398 (after data fromFWS / Wrmepumpentest- und ausbildungszentrum Tss)

Quality problems were encountered mainly with inferior BHE design, inproper grouting, and,
most important, insufficient BHE length. There is no merit in saving first cost by jeopardizing
safe long-term operation! The guideline VDI 4640 (VDI 2000/2001) could set first rules, but
further activities like certification of drillers and installers have to follow. The majority of
GSHP in Germany serves the heating (and cooling) purpose in a reliable and economic way.
In an environment, where new construction and insulation methods reduce the heating load of
residential houses substantially (fig. 18), GSHP can substitute fossil-fuel-based heating
systems in a big scale. Continuing development and optimisation will keep the GSHP in the
forefront of modern heating technology.
Ventilation heat load

250
200

Transmission heat load

50

Heat load for dom. hot water

150
100
50

145

50
65

40

25
15
15
15
15
0
Mean of buildings buildings low energy
exist. houses since 1984 since 1995 house

Fig. 18:

35
15

Specific heating load for residential houses in Germany, according to construction year

References
Calm, J.M. (1987): Ground-Source Heat Pump Workshop Summary. - Proc. WS on GSHP
Albany, Rep. HPC-WR-2, pp. 1-10, Karlsruhe
Hnel, K. (1996): Bericht ber Ergebnisse aus dem Verhalten und dem Energiebedarf des
Umweltzentrums Cottbus. - Report, 10 p., Brandenburg Technical University, Cottbus
Hnel, K. (1999): Erdwrmeanlage am Umweltzentrum Cottbus. - Proc. OPET-Seminar
Erdgekoppelte Wrmepumpen zum Heizen und Klimatisieren von Gebuden. pp. 77-83, GtV,
Geeste
Hnel, K. & Heinrich, S. (1999): Wirtschaftlichkeit von Wrmepumpen - Realisierung ... am
Beispiel einer Wohnanlage in Burg Spreewald. - Proc. OPET-Seminar Erdgekoppelte
Wrmepumpen zum Heizen und Klimatisieren von Gebuden. pp. 65-76, GtV, Geeste
Knoblich, K., Sanner, B. & Klugescheid, M. (1993): Energetische, hydrologische und geologische Untersuchungen zum Entzug von Wrme aus dem Erdreich. - Giessener Geologische
Schriften 49, 192 p., Giessen
Mands, E., Sanner, B., Sauer, M. & Seidinger, W. (2000): Das Low Energy Office der
Deutschen Flugsicherung in Langen mit geothermischer Wrme/Klte-Speicherung. Tagungsband 6. Geothermische Fachtagung Herne, GtV, Geeste, in press
Sanner, B. (1986): Schwalbach Ground Coupled Heat Pump Research Station. - Newsletter
IEA Heat Pump Center 4/4, pp. 8-10, Karlsruhe.
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Sanner, B. (1990): Ground Coupled Heat Pump Systems, R&D and practical experiences in
FRG. - Proc. 3rd IEA Heat Pump Conf. Tokyo 1990, pp. 401-409, Pergamon Press, Oxford
Sanner, B., Brehm, D. & Knoblich, K. (1990): Design and Monitoring of four ground-coupled
heat pump plants with vertical earth probes. - Proc. 3rd Workshop on Solar Assisted Heat
Pumps with Ground Coupled Storage, pp. 63-79, CIT 1990:3, Gteborg
Sanner, B. (1996): Die "Erdgekoppelte" wird 50 - 50 Jahre Erdgekoppelte in den USA, 15
Jahre Erdwrmesonden in Mitteleuropa. - Geothermische Energie 13/96, p. 1-5,
Neubrandenburg
Seidinger, W., Mornhinweg, H., Mands, E. & Sanner, B. (2000): Deutsche Flugsicherung
(DFS) baut Low Energy Office mit grter Erdwrmesondenanlage Deutschlands. Geothermische Energie 28-29/00, p. 23-27, Geeste
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VDI (2000/2001): Thermal Use of the Underground. - Guideline VDI 4640, Beuth Verlag,
Berlin
part 1, General and environmental issues, Dec. 2000
part 2, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Aug. 2001
Zaugg, J. (1993): Marktsituation der Wrmepumpe in der Schweiz, Deutschland und sterreich.
- elektrowrme international 51(1993), A2, p. A72 - A76, Essen

14