Version 3.0Ground source heat pump simulation and ground loop sizing
GHE Analysis is ground source heat pump simulation software: it sizes the ground loop and simulates the entering fluid temperature hour by hour, over a design horizon of one to fifty years and up to 625 boreholes. Drag a borehole across the site map and the g-function of the field is recomputed before you let go.
Windows 10 or later and macOS 26 or later. Nothing runs in the cloud.
Design by moving boreholes on the site map
A borehole field has to fit the site. Import the site map, georeference it on four points, and place the boreholes where the parking, the foundations and the future building leave room. Select a group with the mouse and move it, rotate it, stretch it. Double-click to add one, Backspace to remove a selection.
Each of these gestures recomputes the g-function of the field in a fraction of a second, while the mouse button is still down. The g-function is computed for the field exactly as drawn, irregular spacing included, instead of being taken from a catalogue of predefined configurations.
Groundwater flow, inside the g-function
Most design tools assume the groundwater is still. GHE Analysis includes groundwater flow in the whole simulation, set by its direction and Darcy flux. The mouse wheel turns the flow direction in five-degree steps, and the plume shows which boreholes end up downstream.
One tool, every GSHP configuration.
GHE Analysis models the ground loop as one part of the mechanical system. Water-to-air zone units, water-to-water zone units, and a central water-to-water plant with integer staging are carried as three distinct archetypes, each with its own dispatch: which units run, at what part load, and how an oversized or undersized field affects the entering fluid temperature and the COP over the life of the plant.
Geocooling, also called free or passive cooling, takes the building heat straight to the ground with the compressors off — often the largest efficiency gain available in a cooling-dominant building. Domestic hot water is supplied only up to the heat available. Heat pump COP and capacity are evaluated at each hour's entering fluid temperature, with a part-load degradation coefficient.
Hybrid systems are simulated the same way, hour by hour. Cap the field at the smaller of the heating and cooling loads, and let a fluid cooler or an auxiliary heater carry the peak of the other: GHE Analysis dispatches this auxiliary equipment hour by hour alongside the heat pumps, so you can see how much borehole length the hybrid strategy saves and move part of the budget from drilling to equipment that can be inspected, serviced and replaced.
Specifications
The main capabilities, grouped by panel. Each panel has its own chapter in the manual. See the full feature table.
Layout and geometry
- Import a site map, georeference it on four points, and place boreholes directly on it
- Move, rotate and stretch a group of boreholes; azimuth and dip set per borehole
- 3D borehole viewer and 2D thermal plume viewer, with a temperature probe at any point
Ground heat exchanger models
- Single and double U-loop, adjacent and diagonal inlet
- Coaxial borehole heat exchanger
- Inclined boreholes, and standing column well with bleed control
Loads, equipment and system
- Building or ground thermal loads, hourly and monthly
- Temperature-dependent COP and capacity, with part-load degradation
- Geocooling and domestic hot water, across three system archetypes
Simulation and sizing
- Hourly entering fluid temperature over the full design horizon
- Regional groundwater flow, by direction and Darcy flux
- Borehole resistance re-evaluated at every operating point, for temperature and flow rate
Energy and cost
- Operating-energy cost with a flexible tariff engine, and capital cost of the project
- Circulating pump and auxiliary loads carried in the energy balance
- Annual energy balance as a Sankey diagram
Results and export
- Seven chart views, from fluid temperature to the g-function
- Automatic CSV export on save, hourly simulation results included
- Python API for scripted and parametric studies
- Self-contained .ghe project file, and context help on every panel
Sizing, broken down by cause
The sizing tool applies the ASHRAE alternative method and breaks the required length into four contributions: the annual pulse, the monthly pulse of the peak month, the hourly peak, and the borehole resistance.
Together, the four columns show what determines the length of the field. A tall first column indicates an unbalanced annual load, which extra drilling will not correct. A tall last column indicates that improving the borehole resistance will do more than adding length.
Size here, carry the longer of the heating and cooling lengths into the field layout, then confirm with the full simulation.
Reading the result
- The Sankey diagram, new in 3.0, shows a year of operation in one figure: where the energy comes from and where it goes. The two bars to look at first are the demand the equipment could not meet and the annual surplus or deficit left in the ground.
- Thermal plume contours at any simulation time, with a temperature readout wherever you click.
- Entering fluid temperature, hourly, daily and monthly on one axis, with the heating and cooling limits drawn in. A profile that drifts from year to year indicates a field going out of thermal balance.
- The g-function, on a logarithmic time axis; its long-time value summarises the thermal performance of a layout better than any other single number.
- Effective borehole resistance against time, where the shift from laminar to turbulent flow shows up as a visible spike.
There are seven chart views in all. Saving the project also writes the hourly results to a CSV file beside it, so they can be used in a spreadsheet, a report or a script without running the simulation again. Every chart, in the manual.
One application, one download
TRT Analysis
GHE Analysis
GLN AnalysisGHE Analysis is one module of Analysis Suite. TRT Analysis interprets the thermal response test, GHE Analysis designs the ground loop, and GLN Analysis balances the network that connects it. They share the heat-carrier fluid, the project record and the console.
A parameter measured in one module can be carried into the next, and you choose which technique's value travels. A ground conductivity fitted from a response test does not have to be retyped to be used.
Licensing
GHE Analysis is in every Analysis Suite licence, from the smallest tier up. The tiers set only the size of the projects you may design. The calculation kernel is the same in all of them: a residential loop of a few boreholes is computed by the same kernel as a six-hundred-borehole institutional field.
Free for academic research and classroom use — see the academic licence.
Questions
What does GHE Analysis compute?▾
GHE Analysis sizes the ground loop and simulates the entering fluid temperature hour by hour, over a design horizon of one to fifty years and up to 625 boreholes. The g-function of the field you draw is recomputed automatically, rather than looked up from a catalogue of predefined layouts.
Can I move boreholes on the layout and see the result update live?▾
Yes. Moving a group of boreholes recomputes the field's g-function, the fluid temperature simulation and every chart while you drag.
Does GHE Analysis account for groundwater flow?▾
Yes. Regional groundwater flow, set by its direction and Darcy flux, is included in the g-function of the field, so it acts on every borehole over the whole design horizon. Among geothermal design tools, this native integration is unique to GHE Analysis.
Can it model hybrid or peak-shaving systems?▾
Yes — water-to-air, water-to-water and hybrid systems are all simulated hour by hour, with geocooling and domestic hot water integrated rather than left as manual adjustments, and heat pump COP and capacity interpolated from the entering fluid temperature the loop actually delivers, not read off a nameplate curve. A fluid cooler or auxiliary heater is dispatched alongside the heat pumps rather than sized by a rule-of-thumb margin, so you see exactly how much field the hybrid strategy buys back.
Is GHE Analysis hard to learn?▾
No. The analysis tree on the left takes you through a project in order, one panel at a time. Every panel opens its own help page, and each manual starts with a quick-start chapter that walks through a complete analysis. The manuals can be read in the application, online or as a PDF.
How many boreholes can it model?▾
GHE Analysis integrates up to 625 boreholes directly, at depths up to 500 m, in regular or fully irregular layouts — larger fields, up to 3,000 boreholes, are available on request. The g-function is computed for the field as drawn, never looked up from a catalogue of predefined configurations.
Can I script GHE Analysis from Python?▾
Yes. pyghe, the Python API of GHE Analysis, runs the same kernel from a script: simulation, sizing, borehole resistance, g-functions, thermal plumes and .ghe project files, for parametric studies, uncertainty analyses or the optimization of a layout. It covers the GHE module for now and comes with the 625-borehole level of the licence: Large, Enterprise and the free Academic licence. See the Python API page.
Have GHE Analysis's results been validated?▾
Yes. The application ships with 137 verification scenarios covering every stage of the calculation — borehole resistance, g-functions, sizing and fluid temperature — each checked against independent published methods and reference tools. Every scenario can be run from the Examples and verification menu.
Read further
- How to design an energy-efficient ground source heat pump systemThe decisions that actually move the efficiency, in the order they are made. →
- From sizing to simulationWhy a sized length is where the work starts, not where it ends. →
- Reducing borehole thermal resistanceWhat changes the resistance, and what only looks like it does. →
- The GHE Analysis manual, in full14,000 words and 20 figures, every method traced to its source. →