Natural ventilation has long been used as a sustainable (and cheap) form of temperature control. But the industry is only just starting to catch on to the potential power of the ground below our feet. Engineers have the next best thing to a free source of heating and cooling right beneath their feet. Yet the uptake of techniques for actively harnessing the thermal storage capacity of the ground are often neglected. Ground coupling using air is a case in point. The thermal storage capacity of soil and rock is such that ground temperatures at depths of 2 m and below are relatively consistent all year round. As such during the summer temperatures in the ground are always below those of the ambient air, and conversely in winter they are generally warmer.
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