As the first year of operation closes for ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ University of Science and Technology’s , university officials announce that the system has exceeded its projected campus impact.
ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ S&T’s geothermal energy system, which allows energy to be stored in and reclaimed from well fields located throughout the campus, provides heating and cooling to 17 buildings on campus and chilled water to the majority of campus buildings. It consists of four separate plants that distribute energy from the system to different parts of campus.
“The results confirm that the system works as designed and will pay for itself over time from budgeted savings,” says James Packard, director of facilities operations at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ S&T. “This project and follow-on projects eliminated over $60 million in deferred maintenance, a more than 25 percent reduction in the $220 million deferred maintenance backlog the campus had before the project began.”
The geothermal system was expected to cut the university’s annual energy use by 50 percent. At the end of the first year of operation, ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ S&T saw a reduction of 57 percent in energy use.
Reviewed 2015-09-24