Shallow geothermal potential and numerical modelling of the geo-exchange for a sustainable post-earthquake building reconstruction (Potenza River valley, Marche Region, Central Italy)

The southern part of the Marche Region (Italy) was hit in 2016 by dramatic seismic events that caused damages and fatalities. After these events, the national and local administrations started a development plan to improve the energy efficiency of the restored or reconstructed buildings. Shallow geothermal energy, consisting of closed-loop Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHEs) coupled with heat pumps, could represent a first-order renewable choice for indoor air conditioning (heating and cooling) systems. The feasibility and potential of the BHEs also match this technology's null visual outdoor impact which is paramount in preserving the landscape of the earthquake-affected areas. However, the exploitation, sustainability, and correct design of these systems require detailed knowledge of the ground's geological, hydrogeological, and thermophysical properties. In this framework, the present study was carried out to map and test, through the G.POT algorithm, the shallow geothermal potential and sustainability of the Potenza River valley through the publicly available data from the Italian Seismic Microzonation studies — an extensive database of geognostic drillings and other geological and geophysical surveys. This step allowed us to assign the main thermal parameters (thermal conductivity, volumetric heat capacity, specific heat extracted) to each geological layer and averaged them over the first 100 m (i.e., a typical depth for BHEs). All the data were then interpolated to produce geothermal thematic maps to visualize and compare the potential and adequacy of the territory for the installation of closed-loop BHEs. Finally, finite elements numerical models (FEFLOW® software) were developed in a balanced mode through the annual heating and cooling cycles to verify the sustainability of this renewable concerning the thermal impact induced to the ground by the BHEs during a long-term (20 years) operation.