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| | Earth Energy Systems Inc. has designed and
installed many commercial geoexchange systems in the past several years and has a number
of commercial projects underway. This web site features three commercial
projects of various types and sizes:
- Big Rock Ranch - the largest geoexchange system west of the
Rockies
- Calpine Visitor Center - a 10,000 square foot visitor center with audio
visual displays and conference rooms
- Silver Rose Winery - a winery and restaurant facility which uses
geoexchange to heat and cool the building as well as chill the
fermentation tanks for the winemaking process
Geoexchange Fact Sheet for Commercial Projects*
There are many advantages in using a geoexchange
system for a commercial building:
- Geoexchange systems have a lower life-cycle cost than conventional
systems, even in hot and humid regions where the demand for air-conditioning
is high.
- Energy costs with geoexchange typically are 25 to 50 percent less than
other HVAC systems.
- Surveys by utilities indicate a higher level of consumer satisfaction for
geoexchange heat pumps than for conventional systems. Polls show that
more than 95% of all geoexchange customers would recommend geoexchange
to a family member or friend.
- Geoexchange offers design flexibility because the roof and landscape are
free of chillers, air handlers and other outdoor equipment.
- Boiler rooms can be eliminated and the size of mechanical rooms can be
reduced.
- The elimination of outdoor or rooftop equipment means the geoexchange system is not exposed to temperature extremes, dirt, pollution or vandalism.
- Geoexchange systems do not require a flue or chimney. There is less risk of
fire, and no chance at all of carbon monoxide spilling back into the building
because geoexchange involves no on-site combustion.
- Geoexchange can reduce energy consumption--and corresponding
emissions--by over 40% compared to air source heat pumps, and by over
70% compared to electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment, according to the EPA. Combining geoexchange with other
energy-efficient measures, such as window or insulation upgrades, generates
additional savings
- Installing just 400,000 geoexchange systems each year could reduce US
greenhouse gas emissions by over 1 million metric tons of carbon annually.
This reduction in carbon emissions is equivalent to converting over half a
million cars to zero-emission vehicles, or planting over a million acres of trees.
- Sales of geoexchange systems over the past five years have grown an
average of over 22 percent per year, with a 33% growth in 1999 (latest year
for which data is available).
* Courtesy of IGSHPA (International Ground Source Heat Pump
Association)
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