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District Geothermal Energy Systems with Seasonal Underground Thermal Storage: Load Profiles, Modeling Workflow, and Techno-Economic Results for U.S. Screening

Published by National Laboratory of the Rockies | Department of Energy | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 01:04 AM | Dataset Last Updated: June 05, 2026 at 04:37 PM
This dataset accompanies the paper "Geothermal district energy systems coupled with seasonal underground thermal energy storage: a U.S. techno-economic screening by climate and geology." It contains the data and scripts required to reproduce the study's results across ten U.S. cities, where ground heat exchangers (GHEs_ and underground thermal energy storage (UTES) were modeled to assess district-scale heating and cooling performance. The dataset includes Python scripts implementing the workflow described in the paper, county-level building load profiles derived from ComStock data, SUTRA inputs and outputs for aquifer and reservoir thermal energy storage simulations, and a comprehensive technical and cost results summary. The workflow integrates standardized load aggregation, GHE sizing with GHEDesigner, subsurface thermal storage modeling using SUTRA, and economic assessment through unified cost modeling. The specific configuration modeled here has the GHE supplying district heating and an equal share of cooling, with the UTES system (either Aquifer- or Reservoir- TES) supplying the remaining cooling load. Intermediate and final outputs are structured so that the workflow can be rerun or modified for different cities, system configurations, or parameter assumptions. The dataset also links to a supporting U.S. Geological Survey data release that documents the SUTRA framework and provides additional model files and reference simulations.

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
bureauCode 
[
  "019:20"
]
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "Scott Mello",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:scott.mello@nlr.gov"
}
dataQuality 
true
description This dataset accompanies the paper "Geothermal district energy systems coupled with seasonal underground thermal energy storage: a U.S. techno-economic screening by climate and geology." It contains the data and scripts required to reproduce the study's results across ten U.S. cities, where ground heat exchangers (GHEs_ and underground thermal energy storage (UTES) were modeled to assess district-scale heating and cooling performance. The dataset includes Python scripts implementing the workflow described in the paper, county-level building load profiles derived from ComStock data, SUTRA inputs and outputs for aquifer and reservoir thermal energy storage simulations, and a comprehensive technical and cost results summary. The workflow integrates standardized load aggregation, GHE sizing with GHEDesigner, subsurface thermal storage modeling using SUTRA, and economic assessment through unified cost modeling. The specific configuration modeled here has the GHE supplying district heating and an equal share of cooling, with the UTES system (either Aquifer- or Reservoir- TES) supplying the remaining cooling load. Intermediate and final outputs are structured so that the workflow can be rerun or modified for different cities, system configurations, or parameter assumptions. The dataset also links to a supporting U.S. Geological Survey data release that documents the SUTRA framework and provides additional model files and reference simulations.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Associated Publication",
    "format": "125540",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2026.125540",
    "mediaType": "application/octet-stream",
    "description": "This is a link to the publication that this data supports. The paper details each step, including the heating and cooling load profile generation, closed-loop borehole sizing, ATES/RTES simulations, and techno-economic analyses and results."
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "SUTRA Model",
    "format": "HTML",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.5066/P138XVEG",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "External reference data release that documents SUTRA simulation methodology, provides model files and example results, and offers detailed guidance for interpreting and reusing the UTES modeling framework employed in this study. Information here details all files found in the adjacent "SUTRA Inputs Outputs" folder."
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "SUTRA Inputs Outputs.zip",
    "format": "zip",
    "accessURL": "https://gdr.openei.org/files/1795/SUTRA_inputs_outputs.zip",
    "mediaType": "application/zip",
    "description": "Provides input and output files for weekly SUTRA subsurface simulations of UTES (ATES and RTES) across each case studied, initial and time-series inputs, well-level flow/temperature/pressure outputs, thermal energy budgets, and in some cases reservoir cross-section animations."
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Technical and Economic Results.xlsx",
    "format": "xlsx",
    "accessURL": "https://gdr.openei.org/files/1795/city_utes_summary.xlsx",
    "mediaType": "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet",
    "description": "A comprehensive results table compiling technical, energy, and cost metrics for every city and UTES type studied, with detailed parameters for borefield sizing, drilling and equipment capital costs, electricity use, and levelized cost of energy. See associated publication for methodology and results discussion."
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "District Load Profiles.zip",
    "format": "zip",
    "accessURL": "https://gdr.openei.org/files/1795/loads.zip",
    "mediaType": "application/zip",
    "description": "Contains county-level heating and cooling load profiles derived from ComStock for each district, formatted as 15-minute interval time series (kWh) for seven representative commercial buildings plus district totals."
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Workflow Scripts.zip",
    "format": "zip",
    "accessURL": "https://gdr.openei.org/files/1795/workflow_scripts.zip",
    "mediaType": "application/zip",
    "description": "Contains the full Python-based workflow for the study, including scripts, and city-specific run folders; covers load aggregation, GHE sizing with GHEDesigner, SUTRA input preparation, and techno-economic cost analysis, with a complete Albuquerque case as an example. See associated publication, included README, and script headers for more information."
  }
]
identifier https://data.openei.org/submissions/8667
issued 2025-09-27T06:00:00Z
keyword 
[
  "ATES",
  "ComStock",
  "GHE",
  "GeoTES",
  "LCOE",
  "Python",
  "RTES",
  "SUTRA",
  "U.S. cities",
  "UTES",
  "aquifer storage",
  "building load profiles",
  "district energy systems",
  "energy",
  "energy modeling",
  "geothermal",
  "ground heat exchanger",
  "model",
  "model data",
  "scripts",
  "seasonal storage",
  "subsurface simulation",
  "techo-economic analysis",
  "underground thermal energy storage"
]
landingPage https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1795
license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
modified 2026-06-05T16:37:15Z
programCode 
[
  "019:006"
]
projectLead Arlene Anderson
projectNumber FY25 AOP 4.1.3.3
projectTitle FLXenabler - Flexible heating and cooling and geothermal energy storage as an enabler for decarbonized integrated energy systems
publisher 
{
  "name": "National Laboratory of the Rockies",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
spatial 
"{"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-125.4514,24.5873],[-66.5318,24.5873],[-66.5318,49.2637],[-125.4514,49.2637],[-125.4514,24.5873]]]}"
title District Geothermal Energy Systems with Seasonal Underground Thermal Storage: Load Profiles, Modeling Workflow, and Techno-Economic Results for U.S. Screening

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