7 Horizontal Ground Heat Exchangers

We will now extend our knowledge of vertical GHXs to horizontal ones. As we shall see, there are many similarities, but also some significant differences. Thus, the focus of this chapter is the design and dimensioning of horizontal ground heat exchangers (GHXs) coupled to heat pump applications in buildings. We will also examine so-called Earth tubes, which is an old idea receiving new attention. Earth tubes are buried, open-ended pipes used to introduce tempered ventilation air into buildings, specifically low-energy and passive buildings.