Method and system for controlling the heating and cooling requirements in a modular heat energy network

A method of controlling the heating and cooling requirement in a modular heat energy network, the method comprising the steps of:

• causing at least one sensor to measure a parameter associated with the at least one component in modular heat energy network in real-time and gather sensor data, the at least one component chosen from a group comprising a district pipe loop, heat source, heat sink, interconnection conduit, circulation pump, ground source heat pump (GSHP), valve, ground heat exchanger (GHX), and a meter;
• wherein the GHX is comprised of pipes with a working fluid, the pipes buried in the ground in vertical or horizontal boreholes;
• and wherein the GSHP transfers energy from a refrigerant to a working fluid within a conduit of the district pipe loop to a heat distribution mechanism within the plurality of buildings, or vice versa;
• at a controller, receiving at least one of sensor data, operational data from the at least one component, weather forecast data and current weather data;
• and
• at the controller generating a heating and/or cooling supply and demand forecast for each of the plurality of buildings for any time of day.

A district geo-exchange system associated with a plurality of buildings in a district module, the system comprising:

• the module comprising at least one component chosen from a group comprising a district pipe loop, heat source, heat sink, interconnection conduit, circulation pump, ground source heat pump (GSHP), valve, ground heat exchanger (GHX), and a meter;
• wherein the GHX is comprised of pipes with a working fluid, the pipes buried in the ground in vertical or horizontal boreholes;
• and wherein the GSHPs transfers energy from a refrigerant to a working fluid within a conduit of the district pipe loop to a heat distribution mechanism within the plurality of buildings, or vice versa;
• at least one sensor operable to measure a parameter associated with the at least one component in real-time and gather sensor data;
• a controller comprising a memory device with computer-readable program code stored thereon, a processing device operatively coupled to the memory device, wherein the processing device is configured to execute the computer-readable program code to:
• to receive at least one of sensor data, operational data from the at least one component, weather forecast data and current weather data to generate a heating and/or cooling supply and demand forecast for each of the plurality of buildings for any time of day;
• receive operational data from the building ground source heat pump (GSHP) including inlet and outlet temperature, runtime and liquid flow rate;
• receive operational data from at least one component chosen from the group comprising the district pipe loop, heat source, heat sink, interconnection conduit, circulation pump, valve, ground heat exchanger (GHX), and the meter;
• receive weather forecasts associated with a geographical area associated with the plurality of buildings;
• generate a heating and/or cooling supply and demand forecast for each of the plurality of buildings for any time of day, said heating and/or cooling supply and demand forecast based on historical operational data;
• generate a heat source and/or heat sink capacity forecast for each of the heat sources and heat sink demand forecast based on operational historical data;
• and generate a cost forecast associated with the heat source and/or heat sink capacity forecast;
• generate a net demand forecast for the district;
• determine whether accessing at least one ground heat exchanger is beneficial and cost-effective to meet the net demand forecast, and when accessing the ground heat exchanger is neither beneficial nor cost-effective, determine whether another adjacent district module can serve as a potential energy source;
• and
• adjust the temperature of the district pipe loop based on the forecasts and the operational data.