Feature overview
GHE Analysis version 3.0 covers the whole design workflow of a ground-source heat pump system, from the building loads to the annual operating cost. Its modelling capabilities include geocooling (also known as passive or free cooling), domestic hot water (DHW) simulation, an energy cost module, a full set of chart views up to the Sankey energy-flow diagram, and a deep integration between all design steps. The table below summarises the principal features available in this release.
GHE Analysis
Feature overview
| Design & Modelling | |
| Interactive borehole designer | ✓ |
| Interactive GHE designer | ✓ |
| Regular grid and irregular GHE layouts | ✓ |
| Site background image import and georeferencing | ✓ |
| 3D borehole viewer | ✓ |
| 2D thermal plume viewer | ✓ |
| Ground Heat Exchanger Models | |
| Single U-Loop | ✓ |
| Double U-Loop (adjacent & diagonal) | ✓ |
| Coaxial BHE (Intermediate tier and above) | ✓ |
| Inclined boreholes | ✓ |
| Standing column well (max. 1 SCW × 500 m; Intermediate tier and above) | ✓ |
| Maximum borehole depth | 500 m |
| Simulation | |
| Hourly fluid temperature simulation | ✓ |
| Maximum simulation period | 50 years |
| Regional groundwater flow | ✓ |
| Building & ground thermal loads (monthly at every tier; hourly from Intermediate) | ✓ |
| GSHP COP & CAP | ✓ |
| Part-load degradation coefficient (Cd) applied to the GSHP COP | ✓ |
| Geocooling (also known as free or passive cooling; Intermediate tier and above) | ✓ |
| Domestic hot water (DHW) | ✓ |
| Heat-carrier fluid database | ✓ |
| Sizing — ASHRAE alternative method (1 to 50 years) | ✓ |
| Energy & peak-power breakdown (HP, pumps, auxiliary) | ✓ |
| Operating-energy cost with flexible tariff engine | ✓ |
| Borehole resistance re-evaluated at each temperature and flow rate | ✓ |
| Circulating pump and auxiliary loads in the energy balance | ✓ |
| Maximum number of boreholes (>625 boreholes on request) | 625 |
| Numerical Methods | |
| Fast interactive g-function computation by successive flux estimation method | ✓ |
| Spectral convolution of the load history (FFT) | ✓ |
| Effective borehole resistance computed by multipole method | ✓ |
| Fast parallel evaluation of the borehole-to-borehole responses | ✓ |
| Verification | |
| Verification scenarios runnable inside the application | 100+ |
| Checked against published reference values | ✓ |
| Results & Export | |
| Guided analysis-tree workflow | ✓ |
| Chart views (EFT, loads, COP, Rb*, g-function, energy cost, Sankey) | 7 |
| Automatic CSV export on save, hourly simulation results included | ✓ |
| Self-contained project file | .ghe |
| Analysis Suite | |
| Modules in one application (TRT interpretation, GHE design, GLN hydraulics) | 3 |
| Parameters carried from one module to the next (TRT → GHE → GLN, choosing which technique's value travels) | ✓ |
| Documentation | |
| Illustrated user manual written for this module (20 figures) | 14 000 words |
| Read inside the application, as a PDF, and online (no registration) | ✓ |
| Context help on every panel, opened from the panel itself | ✓ |
| Quick-start walkthrough of a complete analysis | ✓ |
| Linked reference section — every method traced to its publication | ✓ |
| Specifications | |
| Operating system | Windows 10+, macOS 14+ |