New European guidelines to unlock shallow geothermal energy resources via energy geostructures

Energy geostructures offer an alternative way to access shallow geothermal energy. Heat transfer pipes for a closed loop ground heat exchange system are embedded within the foundation or support elements of structures or other buried infrastructure, such as tunnels. These pipes can then be connected via manifolds and header pipes to individual ground source heat pump systems, or even connected into heating and cooling networks. However, there is significantly less practical experience of construction and operation of energy geostructures compared with traditional ground source heat pump systems. Therefore, building and infrastructure clients may seek assurance that the primary function of the structure is not compromised, and designers may not know how to assess the full capacity of these systems. Consequently, there is a need for better guidance and knowledge sharing around the energy geostructure technology to accelerate uptake of these solutions. A Working Group of the European Large Geotechnical Institutes Platform has collaborated with participants of past COST Action GABI TU1405 and the current Cost Action FOLIAGE (FOstering Large-scale Implementation of energy GEostructure) to produce a set of guidelines for the design and construction of energy geostructures. The document, to be published in 2026, will cover feasibility, outline and detailed design for energy piles, walls and tunnels, as well as execution of energy geostructures. Recommendations are made to ensure integrity of the heat exchange pipework, and for monitoring and environmental impacts assessment.