Deep Foundations on Bored and Auger Piles – Van Impe & Van Impe (eds)

© 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-47556-3

Energy piles in Scotland

D.J. Lennon
Stent Foundations Limited, Balmore, UK

E. Watt
Stent Foundations Limited, Balmore, UK

T.P. Suckling
Stent Foundations Limited, Basingstoke, UK

ABSTRACT: Comparative thermal conductivity testing of piles and a borehole are described. The results of
installation and testing of both precast concrete and steel driven energy piles are presented. There is currently
no standard UK specification for thermal conductivity testing and the three tests de-scribed were all undertaken
using different procedures. It is demonstrated that piles can be used to measure the thermal properties of the
ground. Foundation piles which incorporate a ground source pipe can offer a cost effective sustainable method
of providing heat energy for a wide range of construction developments. Procurement and the construction
sequence must be properly planned and managed to give the Client the best value for money.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 GROUND SOURCE ENERGY SYSTEMS

The sustainable use of resources is now an impor-
tant part of the construction process. In the United
Kingdom (UK) statutory requirements currently
require a proportion of the energy usage of any new
building to be provided from a renewable source. In
the future the proportion required is likely to increase
and when at levels above 10% ground source energy
storage systems are likely to become viable in many
cases.
Designers of piles have the opportunity to spec-
ify energy piles whenever piles are required to pro-
vide structural support to any building. However,
it is currently very difficult to ensure that energy
piles are compatible with the architectural, struc-
tural and energy design requirements unless intro-
duced into the building design concept at an early
stage.
Full scale thermal testing of in-situ piles is unfor-
tunately still rare in the UK. Comparative tests are
described on a driven concrete pile, a driven steel pile
and on a pushed-in plastic coaxial pipe, all installed
on a test site in Balmore, Scotland. This is the first
time ever worldwide that side-by-side thermal tests on
piles and a pushed-in coaxial pipe have been under-
taken, and also the first time that such tests have been
carried out on piles in Scotland.
The heat pump for the extraction of ground source
energy was invented in the 19th Century. In Europe
ground temperature is reasonably constant below
about 8 m depth. This phenomenon can be used in
the design of seasonal thermal ground storage, with
excess energy transferred between a building and the
ground throughout the year as the seasons and the
building’s energy requirements change.
The available energy capacity from the ground
beneath or surrounding any building depends on factors
including geometry, geology, groundwater and ground-
water flow. Other aspects such as whether the ground
surface is covered and thus not able to receive replen-
ishing solar energy also influence the available ground
source energy. Every project will thus be different and a
calculation is essential for each and every building.
3 ENERGY PILES
Energy piles can be either bored or driven piles, nor-
mally comprising reinforced concrete. The piles con-
tain plastic pipes which transport a heat transfer fluid.
From the pile heads these pipes are connected to a
network of pipes leading to the heat exchanger within
the building. The double use of piles to provide both

349
structural support and to realise ground source energy
has been successfully employed in central Europe
since the 1980s. The first such use of piles in the UK
did not take place until the 21st Century.
An important component of the economic viability
of energy piles is that the length of pile appropriate
for structural and geotechnical capacity is then used
to provide the energy, i.e. piles should not be length-
ened purely for energy purposes.
4 BALMORE TEST SITE GEOLOGY
Balmore lies in the valley of the River Kelvin to the
north of Glasgow, a short distance west of the town
of Torrance. The area is underlain by Drift deposits
comprising glacial till and glaciofluvial sands and
gravels, with alluvium in the Kelvin Valley. Beneath
the Drift deposits is Carboniferous (Namurian) bed-
rock. Groundwater is encountered 0.75 m below
ground level, flowing downhill towards the river.
Figure 3.
Figure 1. Precast energy pile before casting concrete.
Figure 2. Heads of precast energy piles before casting.
350
5 TEST PILE DETAILS
Two 12 m long precast concrete piles were manufac-
tured with a plastic U-tube embedded in the centre
of the pile (Figure 1). The 270 mm square piles were
fabricated in the normal way, but with the plastic
tube held in position using a cross piece shear link
reinforcing bar.
Piles were manufactured with 32 mm diameter
HDPE plastic pipe cast inside with the top of the pipes
200 mm from the pile head in one pile and 500 mm
from the pile head in a second pile (Figure 2). This
was to investigate whether there was any difference in
the handling and driving characteristics of the piles,
compared to a standard pile.
Driving of precast concrete energy piles.
Figure 4. Driven steel energy pile.
 An 18 m standard pile (i.e. without pipes) was
pitched and driven into the ground. This was achieved
by a 6 m length driven in first, followed by joining a
12 m length on top. Second and third piles were then
driven, similarly with a 6 m standard section but fol-
lowed by a 12 m energy pile section attached to the
top (Figure 3). All piles had a driven length of about
17 m with approximately 1 m pile left upstanding.
All piles withstood pitch and drive conditions for
the different configurations of plastic tube location,
and for loose and hard driving, and no differences
were observed between the standard pile and the two
energy piles.
In addition to the three precast concrete piles, a
steel tubular pile of 244 mm diameter with a welded
closed end steel shoe was also driven 17 m into the
ground. A plastic U-tube, similar to before, was
installed full depth and a standard cementitious grout
was used to fill the pile (Figure 4).
All of the above test piles were driven during
June 2007.

Figure 5. Coaxial pipe being installed.

6 PUSHED-IN PIPE DETAILS

During August 2007, Lankelma Ltd were employed

to install a pushed-in coaxial pipe (Figure 5). The
borehole was advanced by cone-penetrometer push-
ing techniques and the 40 mm/25 mm outside diam-
eter HDPE plastic pipe was installed to 15.8 m depth.
It is presumed that after installation the soils have
collapsed against the outer wall of the coaxial pipe.
There is no borehole backfilling or grouting between
the closed coaxial pipe and the borehole wall.

7 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY TESTING

The testing procedure for a thermal conductivity test

needs to be able to differentiate between the thermal
resistance of the pile or borehole and the thermal con-
ductivity of the ground. The general arrangement of
the testing apparatus is shown in Figure 6.
The procedure is to inject heat at a constant flow
rate into the pile or borehole, whilst measuring the
change with time of the inlet and outlet water tem- Figure 6. General arrangement for a thermal conductivity
test.
perature. After sufficient time the effects of thermal
storage in the plastic tube and in the pile or borehole
will be overcome, and after this any temperature rise
will be due only to the conductivity of the ground. 8 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY TEST RESULTS
The most common approach is then to plot the mean FOR THE PILES
of the inlet and outlet temperatures against log time,
and when the plot becomes linear the slope of this A testing company was employed to undertake testing
portion is used to estimate the thermal conductivity of the piles. Only one of the concrete energy piles, the
of the ground. It should be noted that there is cur- one manufactured with the pipe cast 200 mm from
rently no standard UK procedure or specification for the pile head, was tested (Figures 7 and 8) plus the
thermal conductivity testing. steel pile (Figures 9 and 10).

351
Figure 7. Thermal test on concrete pile.
Figure 9. Thermal test on steel pile.

Figure 8. Test result for concrete pile.

Figure 10. Test result for steel pile.

For the test on the concrete pile, the testing com-

pany quoted that the ground thermal conductivity is
2.56 Wm-1K-1 with the thermal resistance of the
pile being 0.17KmW-1. For the test on the steel pile,
quoted values for the ground thermal conductivity
are 2.37 Wm-1K-1 and the thermal resistance of the
pile 0.11 KmW-1.

9 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY TEST

RESULTS FOR THE PUSHED-IN PIPE

Another testing company was employed to undertake

testing of the borehole (Figures 11 and 12), which
was located 10 m from the nearest pile.
For the test on the borehole, this testing company
quoted that the ground thermal conductivity is 2.1 ±
0.5 Wm-1K-1 with the thermal resistance of the Figure 11. Thermal test on pushed-in pipe.

352

Figure 12. Test result for pushed-in pipe.
borehole being in the range 0.005 to 0.11 KmW-1.
It was stated that the latter portion of the test data
indicated that global thermal conductivity of the
ground could be as high as 7 Wm-1K-1, due to
advection with the flow of groundwater. This bore-
hole was expected to be able to exchange 1 kW of
heat with the ground over 3 days.
10 REVIEW OF RESULTS
Measured ground thermal conductivity values are;
• concrete pile; 2.56 Wm-1K-1
• steel pile; 2.37 Wm-1K-1
• borehole; 2.1 ± 0.5 Wm-1K-1.
Measured thermal resistances are;
• concrete pile; 0.17KmW-1
• steel pile; 0.11KmW-1
• borehole; 0.005 to 0.11KmW-1.
The values of ground thermal conductivity range
1.6 to 2.6 Wm-1K-1. Moisture content has a signifi-
cant influence on measured values and published data
can be summarised as;
saturated clay <2.5 Wm-1K-1
saturated sand <3.5 Wm-1K-1
concrete 1.3 Wm-1K-1
water 0.6 Wm-1K-1.
Thus the results from the three tests all appear to
be reasonable although it is not known which particu-
lar value would be most appropriate for design.
The borehole offers least resistance to the transfer
of heat between the fluid in the plastic pipe and the
ground. The concrete pile offers more resistance than
the grout filled steel tubular pile.
353
11 PROCUREMENT PROCESS AND
CO-ORDINATION OF SUBCONTRACTORS
The management of building works involving ground
source heating systems can quickly become complex
if the multiple specialist disciplines are not controlled
from one source. There are two project management
models developing in the UK at present and these are
described below;
(1) Led by the Engineer
Here a typical project organization would involve
a) the Client with a Quantity Surveyor, b) the Struc-
tural Engineer, c) the Mechanical and Electrical
Consultant, d) Main Contractor, e) Ground Source
Installation Contractor, f) Ground Source Designer,
g) Heat Exchanger Supplier, h) Foundations Contrac-
tor and i) Site investigation Contractor.
It is best if the Structural Engineer and the Mechan-
ical and Electrical Consultant are the same organisa-
tion. This organisation then needs to be capable of
managing the Ground Source Installation Contractor,
Heat Exchanger Supplier, Foundations Contractor
and the Site investigation Contractor. Interfaces of
responsibility reduce if the Mechanical and Electrical
Consultant is the designer for both internal heating
and cooling plant, including air-conditioning, and for
external ground source energy supply. Problems com-
monly arise in this model when one contractor cannot
provide the full range of services specified, or when
the specification is inconsistent or incomplete.
For example, the Site Investigation Contractor may
also be able to provide the services of Ground Source
Installation Contractor. Alternatively, the Foundations
Contractor may be able to provide the services of both
Site Investigation Contractor and Ground Source
Installation Contractor. Here the Foundations Contrac-
tor may claim that he can also provide the services of
Heat Exchanger Supplier, however in reality this will
be another supplier. It is clear that the Ground Source
Installation Contractor, Ground Source Designer and
Heat Exchanger Supplier require a very close work-
ing relationship. For example the flow rate and car-
rier fluid used, combined with the characteristics of
the ground and the ground-pipe contact material, will
all have a direct influence on the ability of the heat
exchanger to work at full capacity.
(2) Led by the Contractor
The second model is contractor led and here the
Main Contractor is responsible for the manage-
ment of design and build specialists. The ideal sce-
nario is once again that Structural Engineer and the
Mechanical and Electrical Consultant are the same
organisation. The Mechanical and Electrical Consult-
ant calculates and provides the heating and cooling
load requirements for the building and prepares ten-
der documents which require a heating, cooling and
ventilation solution. The clarity of these documents
is essential.
The Ground Source Installation Contractor could be
a single source design and installation service, incor-
porating Ground Source Designer and Heat Exchanger
Supplier. It would be possible for Ground Source
Installation Contractor, Ground Source Designer,
Heat Exchanger Supplier, Foundations Contractor and
the Site investigation Contractor to work together to
provide one package of works. It is also possible that
the Ground Source Installation Contractor can pro-
vide associated specialist construction services such
as underfloor heating pipe installation including the
screed and finishes.
In both project management models, it is criti-
cal that the overlap between the ground source sys-
tem installation and substructure construction is
planned. At tender stage in the Contractor led model,
the Ground Source Installation Contractor should
include written proposals for installation and connec-
tion methods. The pile head preparation (for energy
piles) or the borehole head connection, together with
trenching, pipe-laying, backfill materials, timescales
and plant involved need to be described in detail.
Attendances required from the Main Contractor by
each party can then be identified.
12 PILE INSTALLATION AND CONNECTIONS
Typically the material used for a ground source system
is HDPE plastic pipe. The ground loop can be installed
in a borehole or cast into a pile, or it can be pushed
directly into the ground. When drilled boreholes are used
it is important to note that thermally enhanced grout is
required to improve thermal conductivity between the
pipework and the ground. A bentonite backfill will act
as an insulator and inhibit heat conduction.
When heat exchangers are operational they are
pumping the carrier fluid through a pipe network. The
pipe network requires to be sealed at all connections
and should be pressure tested continuously as part of
the installation works. The best and quickest method
of jointing the pipework is by fusion welding. This
process involves melting a collar onto two butt ended
sections of the pipe. Fusion welding is an electrical
technique which creates a full circumference seal if
used with purpose made equipment.
When carrier fluid in a closed pipe loop is likely to
be exposed to very low temperatures it will be neces-
sary to ensure that freezing does not occur. Antifreeze
is often included in the fluid to overcome this. Prop-
erly sealed pipework will provide efficient flow to the
heat pump and avoid any possible contamination of
groundwater. The use of antifreeze in the carrier fluid
raises the issue of ground contamination in the event
that pipes leak or burst. The Environment Agency in
354
the UK may restrict which types can be used in the
future. A future ban on standard antifreeze types may
mean that existing systems need to replace their fluid
which could be a large expense for industrial scale
systems currently in operation.
If boreholes or energy piles are to be adopted
within the footprint of a proposed building, there is
a large construction phase interface between the sub-
structure construction and the pipe laying and trench-
ing works. When pipework is within the building
footprint, the installation head manifold needs to be
constructed and the pipework should then be taken by
the shortest route into a single trench. This trench can
then be routed straight to the plant room. This is the
quickest method of clearing the substructure such that
pile caps can be constructed. This requires a clearly
defined order of responsibility for pile head prepara-
tion, trenching, pipelaying, backfilling and pile cap
construction including manifold protection.
Alternatively, if the borehole field or energy pile
array (where the piles are not to be loaded) is located
outside of the building footprint, the trenching and
pipe laying operation will have no interface with the
substructure and could be simultaneous to pile cap
construction. If an energy pile array is used, there is
no structural head preparation. The pipework can then
be placed and the pile head buried.
13 CONCLUSIONS
Comparative thermal conductivity testing of piles and
a borehole are described. The results of installation
and testing of both precast concrete and steel driven
energy piles are presented.
There is currently no standard UK specifica-
tion for thermal conductivity testing and the three
tests described were all undertaken using different
procedures.
It is demonstrated that piles can be used to measure
the thermal properties of the ground and this form of
testing could be considered in future to be included
as an additional part of any proposed programme of
pile load testing.
Foundation piles which incorporate a ground source
pipe can offer a cost effective sustainable method of
providing heat energy for a wide range of construc-
tion developments. However, procurement and the
construction sequence must be properly planned and
managed to give the Client the best value for money.
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Brandl, H., 1998, Energy piles for heating and cooling build-
ings, 7th International Conference on Piling and Deep
Foundations, Vienna, Austria.
Ennigkeit, A. and Katzenbach, R., 2001, The double use of
piles as foundation and heat exchanging elements, 15th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geo-
technical Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey.
Suckling, T.P. and Smith, P., 2002, Environmentally friendly
geothermal piles at Keble College, Oxford, UK, Deep
Foundations Institute Conference, Nice, France.
355
Suckling, T.P. and Cannon, R., 2004, Energy piles for Pallant
House Art Gallery, Chichester, UK, Ground Engineering,
July.
Lennon, D.J., Watt, E. and Suckling, T.P, 2009, Thermal
response tests on driven piles and a pushed-in pipe
at Balmore, Scotland, Thermal Characteristics of the
Ground, Geotechnique Symposium in Print.