Wellington College Ground Sourced Heat Pump
What they did.
In 2024, Wellington College switched on one of Berkshire’s most forward‑looking and low‑carbon heating systems: a ground source heat pump (GSHP) network buried beneath the Armoury Field of the college.
This technology now provides renewable heating and hot water to the new RIBA award winning Woodland Quad development — a 70‑bed boarding house, three staff homes, and a day house for 85 pupils.
At the heart of the system lies an impressive underground array. The College drilled 32 boreholes, each 180 metres deep, fitted with 40 mm U‑pipes, giving a total of 5,760 metres of collector pipework.
The system draws on “stored solar energy, energy from rainfall and (in some circumstances) energy from migrating groundwater,” captured in the stable temperatures below ground. Even in winter, the soil sits between 6–12°C, providing a reliable, renewable heat source year‑round.
The process is simple. A mixture of water and biodegradable antifreeze circulates through the boreholes, absorbing low‑grade heat. This warmed fluid passes into the heat pumps, where it transfers energy to a refrigerant that vaporises at low temperatures. When compressed, the refrigerant reaches around 50°C, releasing heat into the buildings’ radiators, underfloor heating, and hot water systems.
To meet the Woodland Quad’s 270 kW peak load, the installation uses four 90 kW heat pumps, with one held in reserve for resilience.
At full output, the system requires just 70 kW of electricity to deliver 270 kW of heat, achieving a Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 4 — “one unit of electricity for every 4 units of heat delivered.” Compared with a gas boiler’s typical COP of 0.9, the efficiency gains are over 420% and the heat pump lowers total energy use by 76%.
Wellington College’s Woodland Quad GSHP system is a great example of how to reduce building energy use, cut carbon, reduce energy costs as well as create healthier, more resilient buildings for the future.
The new energy centre created as part of the development will be upgrade to allow the rest of the college to move over to renewable heating and hotwater in the future.
If you want to find out more about the Wellington College GSHP, please contact bfcca@outlook.com. We will be happy to help you get in touch with the Wellington team.