Calculation Tool for Earth Heat Exchangers GAEA

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Earth heat exchangers are advantageous features to reduce energy consumption in residential buildings. In winter they pre-heat ventilation air with minimal operation costs- necessary for low energy architecture-, in summer they help to prevent passive houses with relevant solar gains from overheating by pre-cooling ventilation air. The goal of GAEA (Graphische Auslegung von ErdwärmeAustauschern, German for Graphical Design of Earth Heat Exchangers) is to provide an easily usable calculation tool for to match earth heat exchangers and buildings. This may work well as a stand-alone tool but is also projected to be part of detailed building simulations to evaluate the potential of earth heat exchangers within the whole heating and ventilation system of houses. KEY WORDS: earth heat exchanger, low energy architecture, passive solar architecture, buildin