H 23°, L 4° | Tomorrow: 
H 21°, L 6°Part of a national push on college campuses for use of geothermal technology, one University of Wisconsin building is being outfitted with the first geothermal energy system on campus, aiming to improve UW’s energy efficiency and put a small dent in the $50 million it pays each year in energy costs.
The geothermal system, which is part of the public-private Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery currently under construction on University Avenue, will save approximately $120,000 annually in energy costs.
“I think it will probably save us more energy than what we’ve predicted,” said Mark Prince, a mechanical engineer for Affiliated Engineers, adding the cost savings are dependent upon how the building is occupied and used.
WID, slated to open in December 2010, is a joint venture between the Morgridge Institute for Research and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery aimed at conducting interdisciplinary biomedical research.
UW will recoup the costs of installing the geothermal system within 10 years, said Pete Heaslett, engineering supervisor at UW’s Facilities, Planning and Management.
After construction is complete, the building will be one of the greenest buildings on campus, featuring energy monitoring systems, a water reclamation system to reuse water and solar panels on the roof. The building is currently certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver for its sustainable construction.
“We have very high sustainability goals for this project and early on in the project we put on the table every (sustainability) idea anyone could come up with,” Heaslett said.
Geothermal energy is frequently discussed as an energy alternative during the planning stages of many campus buildings, Heaslett said, but this is the first time the idea has gained traction and become implemented.
The geothermal system functions through 75 wells drilled 300 feet into the ground around the perimeter of the building, facilitating heat exchange between the building and the earth. In the winter, the warmth from the ground circulates in the building through a system of pipes. In the summer, the process is reversed and heat from the building is transferred to the ground.
When the weather is more temperate, the geothermal system will likely be sufficient to heat and cool the WID alone, said Mike McCain, an engineer at Mortenson Construction. During periods of more extreme weather, the campus central heating and cooling system will supplement the geothermal system.
Compared with other renewable sources, like solar and wind energy, geothermal provides more reliability because the earth’s ground temperature remains relatively stagnant, Heaslett said. However, the tradeoff is that the geothermal ground-source system in WID requires electricity to operate.
“Geothermal in and of itself isn’t a completely renewable source,” Heaslett said. “It’s a little bit of a hybrid.”
UW is among a growing number of universities and institutions across the country looking to geothermal energy for more sustainable energy production.
In late October, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $338 million to institutions across the country to expand geothermal energy use, including four projects in Wisconsin. WID’s geothermal system is not part of the DOE’s grant.
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“When the weather is more temperate, the geothermal system will likely be sufficient to heat and cool the WID alone…”
Last time I checked, generated electricity was required to circulate the water through the wells and building heating/cooling system. Also, water and ground temperatures 300 ft down are unlikely to exceed 55F. As such, the well water is ineffective for direct cooling use and counter productive to use for heating. To extract energy from the ground water, a refrigerant compressor and heat exchanger system (aka “heat pump”) is required to extract useable heating or cooling benefits. This also requires sizable generated electricity capacity to power the heat pump and circulating systems. The more heating or cooling required, the harder the heat pump and circulating pumps must work and the more generated electricity you need.
You still need that big coal, natural gas, oil, or nuclear fueled power plant to provide the peak generated electricity requirements of a geothermal system. You also need them even more on those really cold, clear Wisconsin winter nights, when the heavily tax subsidized solar and wind generation systems are completely ineffective and they leave their customers powerless.
There is no free lunch. You still need the big power plant on the edge of town to meet your peak power needs when the weather is really cold or really hot. Otherwise, the heat pumps, geothermal systems, lights, circulating pumps, fans, recharging of electrical cars, and all of the other electrical energy consuming appliances become worthless. And your left in the subzero cold… and in the dark… freezing and powerless.
On another note of reality, how’s that Man Made CO2 Global Warming thing working for you so far this winter, Badger fans? Hot enough for you?
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Bitter asshole.