February 6, 2024 | Neil Kolwey, Industrial Program Director & Building Electrification Specialist
Both air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) and ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) offer improved efficiencies and greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions for heating of residential and commercial buildings compared to gas or propane heating systems. Increasing the installations of these heat pump technologies is an important pathway for Colorado to achieve its climate goals for residential and commercial buildings.
GSHPs offer improved efficiencies compared to ASHPs, but at significantly greater upfront costs. Therefore, GSHPs will be most cost-effective and will achieve the greatest benefits for larger buildings or for networks of buildings, including these applications:
- Schools (K-12) and college/university buildings
- Medium-size and larger commercial buildings
- Geothermal networks for new home developments or a mix of residential and commercial buildings
Colorado has many examples of these types of applications, and we highlight several in the new report, “Ground source heat pumps: Opportunities and challenges.” With a focused effort among GSHP businesses, building owners, real estate professionals, and policymakers, there is great potential for expanding GSHP use in these types of building scenarios.
The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) anticipates that the residential GSHP market will remain a niche market for large single-family homes on the Front Range and in the high country. This market will continue to grow organically via small GSHP businesses, and Colorado can demonstrate GSHPs’ contribution to the path toward more sustainable and lower carbon buildings. In doing so, we can also set an example for other states.
