Building structures employing coaxial-flow heat transfer structures for thermal regulation

A thermally-regulated building structure comprising:

• a foundation for supporting said thermally-regulated building structure on the surface of the Earth;
• and
• one or more coaxial-flow heat exchanging structures installed in said Earth, for facilitating the transfer of heat energy between (i) an heat energy exchanging system maintained within said thermally-regulated building structure and (ii) said Earth;
• wherein each said coaxial-flow heat exchanging structure includes:
• a proximal end and a distal end;
• an input port, provided at the proximal end, for receiving a heat exchanging fluid at a first temperature from said heat energy exchanging system, and an output port, provided at the proximal end, for outputting said heat transferring fluid at a second temperature to said heat energy exchanging system;
• an inner tube section having an outer wall surface extending between the proximal and distal ends, the inner tube section supporting an inner flow channel having a substantially uniform inner diameter along its length and along which the heat exchanging fluid can flow in a substantially laminar manner;
• a thermally conductive outer tube section, disposed coaxially around the inner tube section, and having an inner wall surface extending between said proximal and distal ends;
• wherein an outer flow channel capable of conducting heat exchanging fluid is provided between the outer wall surface of the inner tube section and the inner wall surface of the outer tube section;
• and
• wherein a turbulence generating structure is disposed along a portion of the length of the outer flow channel so as to introduce turbulence into the flow of said heat exchanging fluid flowing along the outer flow channel, thereby improving the transfer of heat energy between the heat exchanging fluid and said Earth along the length of the outer flow channel.