Mr Wayne Tobeck, Director of Southrim Group (SRG), sponsored this 2013 MEM Project titled; A Technical and Economic Feasibility Study for the Integration of GSHP Technology in the Christchurch Rebuild. Following the recent Christchurch earthquakes, a significant amount of land has become too unstable to support traditional building foundations. This creates an opportunity to implement new and unique foundation designs previously unconsidered due to high costs compared to traditional methods. One such design proposes that an Injection Micro-Piling technique could be used. This can also be coupled with HVAC technology to create a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) arrangement in both new buildings and as retrofits for building requiring foundation repair. The purpose of this study was to complete a feasibility study on the merits of SRG pursuing this proposed product. A significant market for such a product was found to exist, while the product was also found to be technically and legally feasible. However, the proposed product was found to not be economically feasible with respect to Air Source Heat Pumps due to the significantly higher capital and installation costs required. Further analysis suggests GSHPs may become more economically attractive in operating temperatures lower than -9oC, though the existence of markets with this climate in NZ has not been studied. It is therefore suggested that SRG do not proceed with plans to develop a GSHP coupled foundation solution for the Christchurch rebuild.
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A photograph of a sewage pumping truck on Avonside Drive.
A photograph of a damaged pumping station on Avonside Drive.
A photograph of a pumping station on the Avon River.
A photograph of a sewage pumping truck on Avonside Drive.
A photograph of a sewage pumping truck on Avonside Drive.
A photograph of a worker pumping sewage on Avonside Drive.
A photograph of a pumping station on the Avon River.
A photograph of a damaged pumping station on Avonside Drive.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Unmanned diesel pump working on Avonside drive".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Unmanned diesel pump working on Avonside drive".
A machine pumping sewage into the Avon River on Avonside Drive.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Kingsford Street".
A pdf copy of a PowerPoint presentation prepared for the Australia New Zealand Geotechnical Engineering Conference.
A paper prepared for the Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 44, no. 4, December 2011.
A paper prepared for the Ozwater 2013 conference detailing the story of the damage to, and subsequent repair of, Huntsbury Reservoir.
Cones and fencing along River Road in Avonside.
Cones and fencing along River Road in Avonside.
A pdf copy of a PowerPoint presentation prepared for the Ozwater 2013 conference detailing the story of the damage to, and subsequent repair of, Huntsbury Reservoir.
Building emediation equipment on the ground of The Pump House in Linwood.
Parts of diggers lying on ground of The Pump House in Linwood.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Sewerage pumping in Kingsford Street, Horseshoe Lake".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Trucks pumping out the sewers along Ashgrove Terrace".
A photograph of the Avon River. On the far bank is a temporary pump.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch Earthquake. Damage in Redcliffs. Damage to a water pumping station".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A truck pumping out the sewers along Ashgrove Terrace".
Sewage continues to be pumped into the river while the damaged sewerage system is repaired.
A photograph captioned by Paul Corliss, "River Road, Avonside".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "A unit of about 15 New Zealand Territorial Army soldiers prepare to sandbag a broken pumping station in New Brighton to stop water pouring into neighbouring properties. The pumping station on the corner of Palmers Road and New Brighton Road was badly damaged and water was pouring onto both streets".