Celsius Energy completes first installation of innovative building heating

Celsius Energy completed the first installation of its building heating and cooling solution in December 2020.

Located in the Schlumberger Riboud Product Center in Clamart, France, the Celsius solution has been effectively providing building occupants with low-carbon thermal heating and cooling since construction was completed last December. So far, this first installation has resulted in a 90 per cent reduction of CO2 emissions, and a 40 per cent reduction of operational costs.

The Celsius Energy building and heating solution utilizes geoenergy, which is powered by the Earth. Essentially, the solution aims to plug buildings into the Earth’s continuous and resilient energy resources to deliver heating and cooling, while reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 90 per cent.

“We are excited to see our vision for Celsius Energy take shape,” said Cindy Demichel, CEO, Celsius Energy. “With the completion of this first solution we are seeing our solution actively provide building occupants with low-carbon thermal comfort. We are now putting focus on our second installation for a commercial building in Burgundy where construction is already underway, and it will be operational within the next few months.”

The innovative Celsius Energy building heating and cooling solution is comprised of the following:

• small surface footprint from which closed-loop wells are drilled in a pyramid design in the subsurface to enable heat transfer
• surface heat pump that allows calories to be transferred from underground to the building. These calories can provide heat, cooling, or both simultaneously
• advanced digital control that optimizes the system’s performance by monitoring and regulating the use of the exchanger and the heat pump in real time. It reduces maintenance and provides full efficiency reporting.

The Celsius Energy technology utilises a geoenergy exchanger, which requires a reduced footprint at surface. This unique design helps to increase real estate value, while also making it a viable solution for new building constructions or existing construction renovation projects.

“Generating heat and cooling from the same system reduces the number of wells required, thus minimizing overall investment,” said Demichel. “Our solution will enable a new industry for geoenergy deployment for building heating and cooling, particularly in high-density urban areas.”

For this first installation, the Celsius Energy solution is actively providing heating and cooling for a 60-year old commercial building construction that is 3,000 square meters in space and four floors high. The total surface installation of the solution is approximately 20 square meters, or just smaller than two parking spots. The entire construction, from feasibility study to delivery, was completed in six months. Further, the construction did not disrupt regular activity throughout the building, which often sees up to 200 employees per day.