Analysis of the effect of global climate change on ground source heat pump systems in different climate categories

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems exhibit high thermal performance. Consequently, they are increasingly used to heat and cool buildings. The thermal performance of GSHP systems strongly depends on the operation ground temperature and thermal quality of the building envelope (TQBE). The operation ground temperature is a function of mean annual air temperature and annual thermal load of the building. The thermal load depends on the TQBE and outside temperature. Given that ongoing global climate change (GCC) affects air temperatures, it also affects the performance of GSHP systems. The magnitude of this impact on a given GSHP system strongly depends on local weather conditions and the TQBE.