Geothermal Heating & Cooling

Geothermal Heating & Cooling with a city map and hot and cool piping overlaid on it

Geothermal heating and cooling technologies, including district heating and geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) or ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs), offer renewable and efficient temperature control solutions for buildings, campuses, military bases, and even entire communities. Widespread adoption of these technologies can help to reduce energy costs for families, stabilize the grid, and boost energy security.

Read GHP Case Studies to learn more about how these systems are being used nationwide, and learn about the GHP PATHs prize supporting the workforce.

How Do Geothermal Heat Pumps Work?

The rocks and soils below a building or community act as a heat sink—absorbing excess heat during summer, when surface temperatures are relatively higher—and as a heat source during the winter, when surface temperatures are lower.

GHPs use the constant temperature of the shallow earth (40–70°F) to provide heating and cooling solutions to buildings wherever the ground can be cost-effectively accessed to depths below seasonal temperature variations.

GHPs increase the efficiency and reduce the energy consumption of heating and cooling systems in residential and commercial buildings. They are currently deployed across all 50 states, and the market is growing as their value becomes better understood.

Learn more about geothermal heat pumps and their potential to reduce the need for new grid transmission infrastructure. 

 

Geothermal District Heating and Cooling

Geothermal Heating and Cooling Model
Geothermal heat pumps can be scaled up to meet an entire community’s heating and cooling needs on a single network, as depicted in this graphic.

District and community-scale geothermal heating and cooling systems use one or more underground loops to create a heating and cooling network that can use a series of heat pumps. New and different configurations of these systems are emerging in universities and communities all over the United States.

 

 

 

District-Scale Geothermal Energy Pilots

White circle with the words District-Scale Geothermal Energy Pilots on a blue background. Around the edge of the circle are illustrations of normal structures found in communities: homes, farms, trees, apartment buildings, municipal buildings, schools.

The Office of Geothermal's (OG) District-Scale Geothermal Energy Pilots initiative, formerly the Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling initiative, supported 11 community coalitions in 10 states to design geothermal district heating and cooling systems and create related workforce training. OG downselected three projects from the original 11 to receive funding to install their systems. 

Learn more about geothermal low temperature and coproduced resources and other OG priorities.

 

 

More Resources on Geothermal Heating and Cooling