Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction has been using a campus-wide heat book pump system for soil sources for 18 years and has saved the school since 2008 more than $ 15.9 million in heating and cooling costs for its 1.2 million square meter campus.
According to the US Ministry of Energy Technology, the extensive geothermal network of the university is one of the largest geothermal energy heat pumping systems in North America with more than 2.5 miles in its central loop.
“We have been doing this since 2007,” Kent Marsh, Vice President for Capital Planning, Sustainability and Campus operations, told Denver Gazette. “If she remembered a country music song, Barbara Mandrell, she was a country before Country was cool, right? We were Geo before Geo was cool.”
In the state capital, the political decision -makers have started to seriously take the geothermal energy into account in order to pursue the decarbonization goals. Geothermal energy is widespread worldwide. In absolute terms, the United States is one of its largest producers, although Pro Head other countries such as Iceland, the Philippines, use more.
Only 0.4% of the electricity of America are generated by geothermal energy.
Under democratic control of the head of the regional capitol, Colorado tries to quickly remove fossil energy. Followers argued that the transition to the transition he recognized that he could be painful at short notice-Colorado for a more sustainable and more energy-efficient future. You said it would help wean the country before dependency on foreign oil. Ultimately, she added, the transition to green energy is good for the environment and the health of people.
Critics claimed that the quick transition protects American consumers, especially residents with low incomes that are already fighting with increasing inflation, and that the unique focus on alternative energy is short -sighted, since America is rich in all forms of energy and that nuclear power can provide the state a sustainable, sustainable and “green” baseline.
In the past few weeks, Colorado has added the list of “clean” sources alongside wind, solar and geothermal energy, a step that the changing attitude of political decision -makers over this energy source and the knowledge – some said – said that “renewable” sources are insufficient in order to provide sustainable and affordable energy, and at the same time to achieve the carbon destinations of the Democrats.
The university campus, founded in 1925, comprises 141 tomorrow in the heart of Grand Junction and has more than 60 buildings. Marsh said about two thirds of the buildings on campus are currently associated with the “geo -exchange” system, which the school installed from 2007, which will continue to be upgraded when the funds are available.
Marsh strives to put all campus buildings on the loop, but said that the financing is a serious problem, even though he has some hopes for federal grants to conclude the system.
“We want to do this as soon as possible, but what that means is that we have another third of our campus buildings that have to be retrofitted and renovated. Therefore there is a lot of money that is needed to pull out an existing HLK system and replace it with new shiny heat pumps,” said Marsh.
So far, around 450 heat exchange fountains have been planned deep and more in 500 feet.
Marsh could only suspect that the changeover of all campus buildings could cost 70 to 100 US dollars per square foot or about 24 million US dollars.
“It's a bunch,” said Marsh.
He said that the majority of the university's cash and capital construction funds come, but a few months ago the Colorado Energy Office offered a “very, very, very very small part of the costs” to connect the building of the fine arts to the network.
“We will take money from everyone who exists, but the only thing we are currently doing is that the inflation reduction law of the treasury, also for tax -exempt companies such as a university, provides cash payments,” said Marsh. “And we hope to submit our first request for this fund for our thermal energy networks in the next four to six, eight months or so.”
He said that they are trying to get their first submission for these grants as soon as possible and hopes that the Trump administration will not change the rules before they can submit them.
“This is not The Reason why we do the work, “said Marsh.
The thermal transmission system circulates water between the buildings and injects water into the wells to either heat or cool it down depending on the season.
In addition to moving the thermal energy into the underground well system, it also moves heat within buildings to compensate for the temperatures in all rooms.
For example, said Marsh, if a classroom on the south side of a building gets too hot, the system transfers the heat to a heat pump on the opposite side of the building to heat a cold space.
The campus swimming pool is also used as a heat sink for excess thermal energy, which holds the pool for swimmers at a comfortable temperature.
The central loop of the system moves water into the fountain, where they exchange heat with the floor and increase or reduce the temperature of the soil yourself if necessary, causing long -term thermal storage. The soil heating in summer is used to heat buildings in winter by moving the energy back and forth in the fountain system.
Marsh could not deliver any total costs for the systems because the system changes so often. They are drilling a new heat exchange field on the rugby pitch of the campus. Marsh said he prefers to look at the financial picture of the time it takes to pay the upgrades.
“So what I prefer to think is related to the repayment,” said Marsh.
“And if you believe that we spend approximately 9 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity and a building that is heated and cooled with geo, energy consumption intensity between 10 and 12 kilowatt hours per square foot per year has a building that is traditionally heated between 20 and 22 kilowatts per square meter per square foot if you are with a multiplik. Multiply-multiply-multiply-multiply-multiply multiplicity of 12-kiln-kilitated.