GHE Analysis — Interactive simulation and design

Interactive simulation of ground heat exchangers

User manual
3.0
Version
October 2026
www.gheanalysis.com

Table of Contents

  1. Chapter 1Foreword — Why another design tool?GHE Analysis was created in 2021 to bridge geothermal design theory and practice, combining a professor's research with a consultant's field experience.
  2. Chapter 2How to citeHow to cite GHE Analysis and its manual: the reference with its Zenodo concept DOI, which always resolves to the latest version, and the methods behind it.
  3. Chapter 3Feature overviewGHE Analysis version 3.0 covers the whole design workflow of a ground-source heat pump system, from the building loads to the energy consumption of the…
  4. Chapter 4Quick startGHE Analysis is one of the three modules of the Analysis Suite, which are installed together and share a single window.
  5. Chapter 5Saving, loading and exportingGHE Analysis stores each project in a single file that captures the complete design state: inputs, loads, borehole layout and heat pump curves.
  6. Chapter 6Project descriptionThe Project description panel of GHE Analysis: project identity, site location, client and design notes, saved in the project file with the results.
  7. Chapter 7Building thermal loadsEntering building or ground thermal loads in GHE Analysis: manual input, clipboard or CSV import, the hourly load profile and the demand duration curve.
  8. Chapter 8GSHP systemThe GSHP System panel sets how heat pumps connect to the building and ground loop, and the flow rates and pumping power that set parasitic energy use.
  9. Chapter 9Heat pump performanceThe coefficient of performance (COP) and capacity (CAP) of GSHPs are highly influenced by the entering fluid temperature (EFT).
  10. Chapter 10Heat carrier fluidThe Heat carrier fluid panel compares how fluid type and concentration affect flow regime, heat transfer and pumping energy of the ground loop.
  11. Chapter 11Borehole designerThe Borehole designer panel computes the effective borehole resistance (Rb*) from pipe diameter, shank spacing and grout conductivity.
  12. Chapter 12Ground heat exchangerGHE Analysis simulates the ground heat exchanger accounting for burial depth, groundwater flow direction and magnitude, and borehole interactions.
  13. Chapter 13Sizing toolSizing tools have historically been widely used to determine the number and active length of the boreholes of a GSHP system.
  14. Chapter 14Console & dashboardThe console gathers the design-level indicators of the system and the convergence of the simulation.
  15. Chapter 15ChartsThe Charts panel displays interactive time-series plots of all simulation outputs over the full design horizon.
  16. Chapter 16ReferencesThe scientific publications behind the models of GHE Analysis, from the ASHRAE sizing method to the multipole calculation of borehole thermal resistance.