We conducted numerical simulations of a heat pump system connected to a horizontal ground heat exchanger (HGHX), using a coupling of the hygro-thermal simulation software DELPHIN with Modelica. The aim was to study the influence of different HGHX sizes and assemblies as well as the impact of passive cooling on the systems efficiency. We found that the required ground area could be reduced by up to 70 % compared to the recommendation of German standard when the pipes are placed in multiple layers. Passive cooling is possible but has a negligible effect on the systems efficiency.