Support member with dual use rebar for geothermal underground loop

摘要

A support member for a man-made structure includes a poured filler and at least two hollow rebars embedded within the filler displacing a volume of filler equal to the volume of the embedded rebars, a first hollow rebar being a downward flow geothermal underground loop segment, and a second hollow rebar being an upward flow geothermal underground loop segment, the two hollow rebars being connected to each other by a hollow connector to establish a geothermal underground loop, the rebars having structural design support sufficient to support load in excess of displaced filler.

主权项

1. A support member for a man-made structure, the support member with a dual use rebars to function as both structural rebars and as geothermal underground loop segments, which comprises:
said support member being at least partially underground and including a poured filler and at least two hollow rebars embedded within said poured filler thereby displacing a volume of said poured filler equal to the volume of said embedded at least two hollow rebars, a first hollow rebar of said at least two hollow rebars being a downward flow geothermal underground loop segment and having an inlet at its top, and a second hollow rebar of said at least two hollow rebars being an upward flow geothermal underground loop segment and having an outlet at its top, said at least two hollow rebars being connected to each other at their bottoms by a hollow connector to establish a geothermal underground loop, and said at least two hollow rebars having structural design support sufficient to support load in excess of poured filler which they displace.