County installs geothermal technology in a public library for cost savings
The Chatham County Commission in Georgia has made installing energy-efficient technologies a priority. Savannah News Now reports that the county council commissioned a $75,000 study of greenhouse gas emissions last fall. The study found that Chatham County’s emissions have grown by 7 percent from 2007 to 2011 due to an increase in population and resulting residential and commercial transportation. To combat the rising energy use and carbon emissions, officials have decided to use federal stimulus grant funds to create and work toward an ambitious reduction goal of 20 percent by 2020.
Under the purpose of reducing operational expenses, the county decided in 2009 to renovate the Tybee Island public library. According to the news source, a geothermal heating system was installed to limit the strain it was causing on the county budget. The right geothermal system can have a drastic, positive impact on a building’s operational expenses. For example, the geothermal heat pump by EarthLinked Technologies has been verified to improve energy savings by 75 percent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Installing geothermal heating pumps is growing in popularity as businesses and community buildings are encouraged to reduce energy costs. Chatham officials have found that the geothermal heating system they chose to include in the library in 2009 saved the county approximately $60,000 each year since its installation.
As property management companies or owners seek to gain control over future expenses, adopting sustainable practices like geothermal heating could provide the right solution. Because of the technologies flexibility, system capacities range from 2 to 6 tons (24,000 to 72,000 British Thermal Units an hour), which allows multiple buildings zones to be served – ideal for commercial properties.
Tags: Water Heating