American NGO awards grant for CO₂ heat pump development

A Pennsylvania-based NGO has awarded $80,000 to a project that will develop a CO₂ based ground-to-air heat pump. The project will be led by industry, with the participation of a University located in the state.

In its third round of awarding Product Innovation Grants, the Green Building Alliance (GBA), a Pennsylvania NGO that seeks to drive market demand for green buildings and green building products, has awarded $80,000 to a project that will develop a CO₂ based ground-to-air heat pump.

Like many previous projects funded by GBA, this project will foster collaboration between the private sector and academia, as it will be led by Thar Process, a private company experienced in supercritical fluid technology, in partnership with Pennsylvania-based Carnegie Mellon University.

The project

The project aims to develop a ground loop heat pump for air-conditioning use that will employ the natural refrigerant CO₂. It will be a large residential and light commercial system of up to 5 tons, though larger installations and retrofitting will also be possible.

The system’s novelty attributes are:

• Reduced electricity consumption: the energy efficient geothermal air conditioning system will consume substantially less electricity than conventional systems
   
• No direct emission from the refrigerant: the system will employ the natural refrigerant CO₂ with no global warming or ozone depletion impacts
   
• Use of energy from the ground: the traditional air-blown heat rejecter will be replaced with an underground geothermal loop
   
• Reduced use of resources: the system will require smaller diameters of pressurised metal pipe, reducing resource use and operational requirements

The project is further expected to foster the development of Pennsylvania-based industry catering to in-ground air conditioning systems, such as excavation and machining contractors, as it will provide them with useful know-how.

About the Green Building Alliance

The Green Building Alliance is a non-profit organization that advances economic prosperity and human well being in Western Pennsylvania by driving market demand for green buildings and green building products. Through its Green Building Products Initiative, it has until now awarded a total of $800,000 in three rounds of Product Innovation Grants. A fourth and final round of grants will be disbursed in June 2009.