| Title | "Geothermal Heat with Every Beat" - The BODYHEAT Project Three Years into Operation |
|---|---|
| Authors | David H Townsend, Leah V Swan, James J Bowman, John D A Naismith |
| Year | 2026 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | |
| Abstract | BODYHEAT is an innovative geothermal cooling and heating system built at SWG3, an events venue in Glasgow which hosts large music events of up to 1250 partygoers. It was co-funded by the Scottish Government and principal advisors were TownRock and Harley Haddow. BODYHEAT supplies cooling to event spaces using indoor refrigeration units. The rejected heat, instead of being vented to the atmosphere, is stored in closed loop boreholes which can be recovered later to supply heating and hot water. The most intense demands on the system occur during large events when there is high occupancy and activity, requiring maximum cooling capacity. During these times, the more energy that partygoers expend dancing, the more energy is captured by the system. As a result, BODYHEAT has gained considerable traction in the media, raising awareness of the potential of geothermal heating, cooling and storage. The project faced multiple challenges, including uncertain future cooling and heating loads; boreholes close to busy commuter train lines and co-location of a planned community garden above the boreholes. This piece will give an overview of the project, describe the steps taken to overcome these challenges, and then present the latest operational data with preliminary analysis of the system. |