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Shaping a sustainable community using district geoexchange and thermal energy networks

City of Ann Arbor District Geothermal

As part of their A2ZERO Plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, the City of Ann Arbor initiated a study to explore district geoexchange and thermal energy networks. To help make this happen, our team developed a feasibility study, heat mapping tool, concept design, and guidelines for geoexchange energy systems.

The feasibility study includes developing energy and thermal profiles using open-source data and prototype building energy models. These profiles, organized into typical building use archetypes, were scaled using city-wide building information and augmented with potential energy conservation measures to understand current and future energy demands.

To visualize community energy use, we created a heat mapping tool. This tool overlays building energy use and potential energy sources with city owned land to promote environmental justice for disadvantaged communities. It helps us identify areas for focused study on energy transition projects. The tool aided in decision making for district energy, energy generation centers, and routing for energy network piping while considering the environment, societal factors, and future growth. Building on the study, our concept design will include three geographic areas with detailed thermal energy modeling to determine overall network loads and energy generation.

The project will have profound impact to the community, contributing to carbon neutrality, while also creating sustainable and affordable energy for citizens. As the City embarks on building a sustainable community, our framework will outline economic outputs with options analysis, noting lifetime costs, energy production, and resilience measures to support energy transition.

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