Review of groundwater cooling systems in London

The environmental impact of the UK building stock has increased the pressure on architects, engineers and building operators to reduce the use of air conditioning in favour of more passive cooling solutions. Good progress has been made in this direction but many passive solutions are limited to new-build projects. For existing buildings, and those for which mechanical air conditioning cannot be avoided, low energy cooling capability can be incorporated to improve significantly overall efficiency. This paper focuses on one such low energy capability – cooling using groundwater, which has gained popularity in recent years in the London area. Among the reasons for this are the excellent energy efficiency and the increasing viability of water extraction systems. The paper shows that groundwater cooling technology can be incorporated into newly-build and existing buildings to help reduce the environmental impact of the UK building stock.