Application of geothermal energy in buildings has been gaining popularity as it provides the benefits of both heating and cooling a building. Among the various types of geothermal energy systems, ground-coupled heat pump system is the most commonly applied one in South Korea. A ground heat exchanger plays an important role as a heat source in winter and a heat sink in summer. For the stable operation of a ground-coupled heat pump system, a ground heat exchanger should be sized so that it provides sufficient heating and cooling energy. Heating and cooling energies generated in ground heat exchangers mainly depend on the temperature difference between the heating medium in ground heat exchangers and the surrounding ground. In addition, the performance of ground heat exchangers influences the change in ground temperature. Therefore, it is necessary to consider this interrelation between the change in the ground temperature and the performance of ground heat exchanger for an accurate estimation of its performance. However, previous thermal analysis models for ground heat exchangers are not competent enough to allow a complete understanding of this interrelation. Therefore, this study proposes a three-dimensional equivalent, transient ground heat exchanger analysis model. First, a previous thermal analysis model for ground heat exchangers, including an analytical model, a g-function, and a numerical model are analyzed. Next, to overcome the limitations of the previous models, a three-dimensional equivalent, transient ground heat exchanger model is proposed. Finally, this study validated the proposed model with the measurement data of the thermal response test, sandbox test, and TRNSYS DST model. All validation results showed a good agreement. These findings helped us to investigate the thermal performance of ground heat exchangers more accurately than the analytical models, and faster than the numerical models. Furthermore, the proposed model contributes to the design of ground heat exchangers by considering the different operation conditions of buildings.