Page 11 - Analysis and Design of Energy Geostructures

Preface

Urban systems present an enormous demand for innovative solutions to meet human
activity needs. In many situations, these needs require built environments and are
associated with substantial amounts of energy requirements. While it is a critical chal-
lenge to develop buildings and infrastructures whose energy requirements are sup-
plied with a limited impact on the environment, employing renewable energy
sources is essential for this purpose. So-called energy geostructures represent a break-
through multifunctional technology for the sustainable development of present and
future urban systems.
A substantial amount of renewable geothermal energy is readily available in the
ground. Geostructures, including foundations and general earth-contact structures, are
essential means for the structural support of built environments through the ground.
By leveraging the previous concepts, energy geostructures represent integrated earth-
contact structures and thermal energy carriers for all built environments. Energy geos-
tructures particularly explicate a multifunctional role for buildings and infrastructures:
reinforce soils and rocks for their structural support and, at the same time, extract or
store thermal energy from or in the subsurface for the supply of their heating and
cooling energy requirements.
An extraordinary interest has risen over the past 20 years in both the scientific and
practitioner communities about energy geostructures. The capabilities of this technol-
ogy are unique in serving the structural support and renewable energy supply of built
environments. However, the analysis and design of energy geostructures can be daunt-
ing, inappropriate or even unsuccessful without a sound understanding of their behav-
iour and performance by means of the relevant theoretical essentials and the appropriate
practical application.
Many and complex are the phenomena associated with the multifunctional opera-
tion of energy geostructures that need to be considered in analysis and design (e.g.,
energy, geotechnical and structural). The competence required for such purpose is
strongly multidisciplinary, gathering theoretical essentials that govern heat and mass
transfers, and the mechanics of geomaterials and structures, as well as practical knowl-
edge about performance-based design and detailing. Some competence on the previ-
ous subjects may be acquired through educational paths that include energy
engineering, civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering and archi-
tecture. More advanced yet fragmented competence addressing unique features that
characterise energy geostructures may be acquired through the scientific literature.
However, at the present time, the competence required to develop the analysis and

xi