'Science City' Campus In Switzerland Stores Warm Air Underground In Summer To Heat Buildings In Winter

Green Design Will Save the World:

Imagine if there were a way to save the summer's hot air and use it to heat buildings throughout the winter. Sounds like science fiction, right? Well one Swiss University has a plan to make that dream a reality with their campus, Science City.

Read the whole story: Green Design Will Save the World

Comments

[Matthew Harrold]

11:04 PM on 07/17/2010

See I can't work out from the article if it's groundsource heating, or a new variation on it. Either way it's nice to see it creeping into use on such a scale. Hopefully the more it gets used the more it will become a standard way of controling temperatues, without resorting to expensive and wasteful central heating.

[DrVeruju]

04:28 PM on 07/15/2010

Backed by the Canadian Federal Govt, the Drakes Landing Solar Community went live in 2007. The system stores solar heat underground and uses it to heat 50 homes in winter. www.dlsc.ca

[AlecG]

12:46 PM on 07/15/2010

It's an interesting try at new wrinkle on ground source heat pumps. Probably good in that climate, as it may prove to be in England. See http://www.icax.co.uk/

[quiviran]

09:17 AM on 07/15/2010

That system is OK. This system is great: http://www.dlsc.ca/index.htm

Ah, Canada. Beating us in Health Care and Energy both. And they are already energy independent. Luck for us they have some left over to sell to us.

[Bartel5]

11:50 PM on 07/14/2010

First of it's kind?? What bunk. Geothermal systems have been around for decades. Hupo reporting is really cutting edge today. Isn't it. Weather forecast: darker tonight. Lighter tomorrow.

[quiviran]

09:20 AM on 07/15/2010

A system has to be installed before it works. The ability to do something is meaningless if you don't do it.

[moose and squirrel]

07:36 PM on 07/14/2010

what a misleading article. this system is known as a ground source heat pump-- you pull air from the ground where temp is constant--- therefore cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter-- and use that air as your intake air for your HVAC sytem. its more efficient than typical systems because you dont pay to heat or cool air from extreme temperature ranges. Its not a cheap system to install, but definitely on the right track. i just wish reporting on green technologies would be more accurate and less sensationalistic, so that the public will understand it more and climb aboard faster

[Hans Meiser]

07:58 PM on 07/14/2010

I'm not sure you are correct.
The Swiss do actually have those ground source heat pumps -- for residential use. Expensive to install and very complex systems, but they exist and can be purchased. They provide heat from deep in the ground.
This seems to be somewhat different in that there's storage involved, which GSHP's don't. As far as any of this gaining foothold in the US, I hope but I don't expect it to happen. We do not have anywhere near the commitment to these technologies as the Swiss have.
I know Obama said we should generally go into this direction and it's good to start, but this will require more funding and commitment, and less interference from special interests.
This is actually an area where I am very interested to see what the Obama administration will do over time. So far I'm seeing half-hearted steps, hampered by the same big players that have had their say over the past decades.

[maverick77]

11:28 PM on 07/14/2010

After looking at the article it does sounds like HuffPo got it right, but I'm surprised they're not using the system you describe instead. I can't believe it would be worth it to try and insulate these fields to store heat until the winter rather than using the more constant underground temps to heat and cool the buildings. I've been to ETH and they're pretty progressive with their technologies, but this seems a bit out there... It would be interesting to see some of their calculations for sure.

[kdb7594102]

07:32 PM on 07/14/2010

Now if they could harness all of the hot air coming out of DC....

[TheSocialistTexan]

01:46 AM on 07/15/2010

Michelle Bachmann alone could likely keep her entire state warm during the winter.

[Smirnonn]

06:53 PM on 07/14/2010

This sounds very similar to the geothermal HVAC I've installed on my house except that instead of using the constant temperature below the frostline with a heat exchanger they're trying to sequester heat in the ground. Poorly written article, tho. An article about technology should have some technological facts, IMO.

[RAW666]

06:29 PM on 07/14/2010

The headline is very misleading. The article describes the common method of using underground water pipes to transfer heat to and from the ground. Although the article does not fully explain the process, heat pumps are used for heating and cooling the air in the buildings.

[Telemachus]

05:52 PM on 07/14/2010

Yeah, well, we use naturally occurring methane to melt our oil platforms. So there!

[MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL]

05:45 PM on 07/14/2010

Air is an absolutely RIDICULOUS medium in which to store heat. Are we sure this title is correct?

[Murphdogg]

05:58 PM on 07/14/2010

I do this every winter. I take cold air from outside and put it in my freezer in gallon milk jugs. In the summer, I take it out of the freezer and it is still cold. I'm telling you it works.

[MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL]

06:49 PM on 07/14/2010

I gotta try that. Maybe its in your technique....