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Courses and Training

HolyMoor Consultancy Ltd. offers training in a variety of hydrogeological, geochemical and thermogeological topics. These are provided both as commercial CPD short courses, as internal training and as integrated components of university modules.

“An Introduction to Ground Source Heating and Cooling”

HolyMoor, in conjunction with Geowarmth Heat Pumps Ltd. and Carbon Zero Consulting offers this 1-day introductory course on the topic of ground source heating and cooling. The course is accredited as a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) event by the Geological Society.

Geol Soc CPD

The course has been designed primarily for engineers, environmental and engineering geologists, hydrogeologists and architects who have maybe heard of "Ground Source Heat" and are aiming for better understanding and improved capacity in this exciting new area. Amongst those who may wish to attend are:

Environmental, geological, energy, buildings services, HVAC and engineering consultants,
Regulators (e.g. Environment Agency),
Academics
Development Agencies, Local Authorities, property developers.

The course aims to familiarise participants with the concept of ground source heat. Although ground source heat pump systems require an integrated understanding of many different disciplines, this course will focus on the concept of heat pump technology and the use of the geological environment as a heat reservoir. It will not primarily focus on the "rude mechanics" of heat pumps or on HVAC engineering. At the end of the course, we hope that each participant:

Will gain a conceptual understanding of how ground source heat pumps function.
Will appreciate the economic and environmental arguments for and against heat pumps.
Will appreciate the opportunities that ground source heat pumps offer and their potential limitations.
Will gain an understanding of the main design factors for open-loop and closed-loop ground source heat pump systems.
Will be introduced to the physics of subsurface heat flow (and its analogies with groundwater flow)

Course Content

The subsurface as a heat reservoir
Ground source heat: historical and international perspective.
What is a ground source heat pump?
Options and applications for ground source heat pumps.
Installation: practical considerations.
The physics of subsurface heat flow, an introduction.
Open loop systems: introduction to design aspects.
Closed loop systems: an introduction to design aspects.
Thermal response testing.
The UK experience: supply, demand and economics.
The regulatory framework

The course has been run by Holymoor Consultancy Ltd (and its predecessor business - David Banks t/a Holymoor Consultancy) seven times in the UK, once in Italy, once in Norway and once in Denmark:

on 21st October 2005, at the Dunston Innovation Centre, Chesterfield
on 10th March 2006, at Treloar College, Alton, Hampshire
on 20th October 2006, at the Eco-Centre, Hebburn, Tyneside
On 29th November 2006 as a "Corso Breve di Termogeologia" at the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense in association with ESI (Italia) srl.
on 11th May 2007, at the Dunston Innovation Centre, Chesterfield
on 2nd November 2007, at the Dunston Innovation Centre, Chesterfield
on 10th March 2008 as “Introduksjon Geo-energi – Varme og kjøling fra grunnen" at the Knut S Heier Conference Centre at the Geological Survey of Norway in Trondheim
on 20th May 2008, at the Dunston Innovation Centre, Chesterfield
on 13th October 2009, at the Dunston Innovation Centre, Chesterfield
on 26th January 2010 as "Introduktion to Jordvarme" at VIA University College, Horsens, Denmark.

"Intermediate Thermogeology: Ground Loop Design and Simulation"

Having trained in excess of 200 practitioners via the course "An Introduction to Ground Source Heating and Cooling" and via internal training programs with several organisations, Holymoor Consultancy Ltd has now developed the next step "Intermediate Thermogeology: Ground Loop Design and Simulation".

On Tuesday 20th October 2009, Holymoor Consultancy Ltd., in association with Carbon Zero Consulting, ran a 1-day hands-on course on the software assisted design of ground loops in a computer lab at Stephenson College in Coalville, Leicestershire.

The course is accredited as a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) event by the Geological Society.

The course primarily considers the design of vertical, borehole-based heat exchange systems (although it touches also on horizontal loops) and much of the day is given over to solving practical exercises using spreadsheet-based algorithms and the professional design tool "Earth Energy Designer version 3", produced by Blocon of Lund, Sweden. The course content is as follows:
- Recap - thermogeological concepts and "closed loop" boreholes - lecture
- Heat transfer to a borehole - the physics - lecture
- Heat transfer to a borehole - spreadsheet-based exercise
- Multiple borehole arrays - an introduction to simulation - lecture
- Multiple borehole arrays - practical simulation with Earth Energy Designer
- Borehole thermal resistance - important factors
- Borehole thermal resistance - exploratory analysis with Earth Energy Designer
- Ground loop hydraulics - theory
- Ground loop hydraulics - spreadsheet-based exercise
- Heating and cooling with borehole arrays - practical simulation with Earth Energy Designer
- Horizontal loops - lecture and demonstration
- Geohazards - the practical importance of the geological dimension
The course is intended to enable all participants:
- to gain experience of the significance and sensitivity of various engineering and geological factors in ground loop design
- to be able to use simple spreadsheet-based algorithms and Earth Energy Designer (and similar models) to provide input to the design process of vertical ground loops
- to appreciate the importance of fluid hydraulics and geology in ground loop design, as will as subsurface heat transfer.
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Internal Training

HolyMoor Consultancy (David Banks, sole trader)* has provided internal training to:

The Environment Agency on the topics of:
- Hard rock hydrogeology (3-5 days) at Exeter and Shrewsbury
- An Introduction to Ground Source Heating and Cooling (1 day) at York
- Borehole Construction. 1 of 2 days at Bournville, Birmingham and Warwick University (Coventry).
- An Introduction to Ground Source Heating and Cooling (1 day) at Peterborough
- An Introduction to Ground Source Heating and Cooling (1 day) at the Quaker Central Meeting Rooms in Birmingham
The Coal Authority on the topics of:
- Mine water sampling (0.5 day) at Mansfield and Houghton-le-Spring
- Mine water chemistry, sampling and treatment (1 day) at Mansfield
Bosch Thermotechnology on the topic of:
- An Introduction to Ground Source Heating and Cooling at Worcester
AWN Consulting on the topic of:
- An Introduction to Ground Source Heating and Cooling in Dublin
* Holmoor Consultancy (David Banks sole trader) was transferred to Holymoor Consultancy Ltd. on 1/12/08
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Raising water from a shallow dug well in beach dunes at the fishing village of Labad, near Hobyo, on the southern Mudug coastal region of Somalia (Photo by Dave Banks)

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Holymoor Consultancy Ltd.,
Registered as a limited company from 12/11/2008,
Company registration number 06747725,
Registered office: 8 Heaton Street, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S40 3AQ, UK.

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