New Stimulus Package Geothermal Credits

What is Geothermal? - Residential Services - Commercial Services - Geothermal Photos

Great River Medical Center, The nation’s largest water-source geothermal system.
1,500-ton system with variable speed 150hp heat pumps designed by KJWW Engineering Consultants of Rock Island, Ill.

Geothermal systems are cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly way of heating and cooling buildings. The Department of Energy and The Environmental Protection Agency have endorsed geothermal technology. Geothermal technology provides both heat and air conditioning simultaneously in every season. The flexible design requirements make geothermal a good choice for schools, high-rises, government buildings, apartments, and restaurants--almost any commercial property.

Benefits:

• Simultaneously heat & cool different parts of the same building
• Very quiet--users do not know when the system is operating
• Can be set up in multiple zones, with each zone having an individual room control
• Greater freedoms in building design due to 50-80% less mechanical room space
• No outside equipment to hide, eliminating vandalism and roof top units
• Pipes have 50-year life expectancy
• All electric, which eliminates multiple utility services
• Expel boiler and chiller maintenance
• Ground heat exchanger is maintenance free and will last 40+ years

Great savings:

• Very competitive on initial costs and lower lifecycle costs than most HVAC systems.
• Savings of 25-50% on energy consumption
• Lower peak demand, lowering your operating costs
• Water heated with waste heat from air conditioning at no cost in the summer and at substantial savings in the winter
• Some utilities offer rebates or incentives to their customers who purchase geothermal systems. Click here to find savings and incentives for the state of North Carolina.

Environmentally friendly:

• Conserve natural resources by providing efficient climate control and thus lowering emissions
• Minimize ozone layer destruction by using sealed refrigeration systems, which seldom or never have to be recharged
• Use underground loops to transfer heat, with no external venting and no air pollution
• Very energy efficient, with the earth providing over 70% of the energy required to heat and cool

Many federal government buildings have even been fitted with geothermal systems, including the Department of Defense, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Veteran’s Administration, Environmental Protec-
tion Agency, U.S. Postal Service, and Housing and Urban Development.

Sources:  
International Ground Source Heat Source Association, http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/geothermal/commercial.htm#1 
Department of Energy, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/  
Waterfurnace, http://www.waterfurnace.com/  
Alliant Energy, http://www.alliantenergygeothermal.com