Assessment of the Potential of Installing Space Cooling-Only Ground Source Heat Pumps in a Tropical Country

The present article examines the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of installing a cooling-only ground source heat pump in a tropical country. The study is based on an existing university building at Universidad Centroamericana in El Salvador. The building was modeled using an energy simulation program in order to characterize its energy performance and compare the energy efficiency of the proposed ground source heat pump system to a conventional direct expansion system. In addition to standard energy modeling, a finite-element model was also developed in order to determine ground temperature distribution and heat island effects due to the ground source heat pump system. Modeling results predicted that the proposed system would reduce energy consumption by 23% annually, compared to a conventional system. Additional cost savings, associated with a reduction in maintenance and replacement costs, reduce operational costs by 37% over the life of the project. The proposed design was also optimized using energy modeling and a first cost estimate was obtained. An economic analysis predicted that the simple payback period of the system would be on the order of six years. The paper analyzes the technical, economic and environmental advantages of the concept and the potential barriers for implementation.