Two years on from the installation of the innovative BODYHEAT system at SWG3 in Glasgow, we thought it would be a great opportunity to provide an insight on how the system is working, using data collected over the last two years.
What is BODYHEAT?
BODYHEAT is an innovative geothermal heating and cooling system, installed at SWG3 in the west end of Glasgow. SWG3 is a multi-disciplinary arts space that hosts large music events of up to 1250 partygoers. The BODYHEAT system captures heat generated by dancers and event-goers and stores it in boreholes. The stored heat can be recovered from the ground later and used to heat the venue, when required.
How does it work?
BODYHEAT supplies cooling to indoor event spaces using air conditioning units. The rejected heat, instead of being released into the atmosphere, is captured and stored in 12 closed-loop boreholes. The heat can be recovered from the same boreholes and used to provide heating to the venue days, weeks or months later.
SWG3 has a high cooling demand, which means there is a good potential to store heat in the subsurface. The highest cooling demand periods occur during large events when there is a high occupancy and activity (i.e. lots of dancing!). Where partygoers are expending more energy dancing, more energy is therefore captured by the system and available for use in the future.
Heat capture in Action
During installation, the system was fitted with temperature sensors which monitor the temperature of each of the boreholes, and the temperature of the main flow and return headers. With this data, we can see the system working with heat stored during periods with large events (e.g. summer), and then extracted for heating during winter months.
We can also see temperature changes associated with dancing at specific events! These events over the summer period have charged the ground up with heat, ready to be used over the upcoming winter months.
What are the plans for the future?
TRE have recently installed more instrumentation which will help quantify how much heat is actually being stored in the ground, and to understand the efficiency and CO2 savings from the BODYHEAT system compared to the previous heating and cooling system.
There are also exciting plans for an innovative new “hotel for music lovers”, adjacent to the venue and BODYHEAT system. As part of SWG3 commitment to sustainability, TRE will be investigating the feasibility of using the BODYHEAT system to supply the hotel with heat (captured from dancers at SWG3 events!), in addition to the other low-carbon heating and cooling solutions currently proposed. Watch this space…