The objective of this project is to provide comprehensive design documents (10-30% schematic design) for a geothermal energy network (G-TEN) at U.S. Army Garrison – Detroit Arsenal (DTA). DTA faces significant maintenance, repair, and operational costs for the existing natural gas boilers and steam distribution system serving the installation. Central steam heating systems are common throughout the Department of Defense (DoD) and many installations face similar maintenance challenges and excessive energy and water consumption costs of those systems. The design will build upon previous work funded by the Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies Office, which produced a preliminary feasibility assessment for a G-TEN serving select administrative facilities at DTA with a payback period as low as six years. 

This design project will develop detailed engineering designs for the three buildings included in the feasibility study that can be readily expanded to a network connecting the other campus buildings over time. The project will develop design documents for an optimized G-TEN configuration that can be implemented as a follow-on demonstration project, providing the installation with energy and water savings, increased energy security, reduced maintenance burden, and a template for future expansion.

The project will design a G-TEN consisting of a low-temperature geothermal heat pump system connected to ground heat exchanger (GHX) arrays to serve existing office building heating, cooling, and domestic hot water loads. The project will couple the unparalleled design expertise of Salas O'Brien with the cutting-edge capabilities from the national labs and academia. The team will use industry leading software for the modeling and design of the system, including Integrated Energy Solutions Virtual Environment software and TRNSYS. The GHX will be designed and optimized with widely used GHX design software tools developed by the project team: GLHEPro and GHEDesigner.

The project will provide 10-30% design documents for a G-TEN at DTA that will deliver multiple benefits to the installation: energy and water use reduction and associated cost savings; increased energy security by modernizing the steam-based central heating system; reduced maintenance, rehabilitation, and repair burden; and improved grid-responsiveness allowing for optimal energy usage patterns. In addition to these installation-level benefits, the design will serve as a template for low-temperature geothermal systems and G-TENs that could be replicated at other DoD installations across the country, not limited to locations with high geothermal activity. The project will focus on processes for transitioning projects from feasibility studies to actual construction projects with secured funding, providing a roadmap for other installations to follow. G-TENs provide a secure, reliable, and affordable option for serving the energy needs of DoD installations throughout the country by harnessing the energy beneath our feet. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2028)