Synergy of geothermal heat pumps and PV plant for buildings block

Geothermal heat pumps (GSHPs), using ground as thermal source in summer and winter period, can reach high energy and economical advantages for heating and cooling of residential and commercial buildings compared with others systems. The recast Directive EPBD underlines the objective to achieve nearly zero energy building first in the public sector. GSHP needs initial investment higher than other solutions but it is possible to verify that it has relevant energy saving in short term and economical reduction of management costs in long term period. In the renovation of a buildings block in Milan, Italy, GSHP is scrutinized as the heating and cooling alternatives to others technological solutions. In this study we investigate different plant solutions to provide heating and cooling for the buildings block and we show the economical feasibility and profitability of this system. GSHP is efficiently coupled to PV system that use building surface for integration. This system obtain a zero impact on term of C02 emissions and exploits feed-in tariff from Italian government. The objective of this study is to present the cost effectiveness of different system to provide energy to buildings block. In comparison results, the sum of the operating costs of GSHP system show the cost-effectiveness of this solutions and the optimization of the synergy providing heating and cooling loads.