An underutilized resource, geothermal systems provide a cost-effective, consistent and sustainable source of energy. Drawing from the 50° to 60° Fahrenheit temperatures found below the earth’s surface, geothermal heating systems can provide a building’s heat, cooling and hot water, while consuming energy four to five times more efficiently than the highest-efficiency natural gas furnaces. This is accomplished without creating CO2 or greenhouse gas emissions.

Ameresco finances, designs, builds, owns and operates geothermal energy heating and cooling systems for commercial, institutional, industrial, municipal and multi-residential buildings. As an independent energy services company (ESCO), we optimize the building’s overall energy performance and costs by objectively analyzing energy needs and engineering the most efficient geothermal or hybrid renewable energy systems to provide 100% of the heating, cooling and domestic hot water.

Our geothermal systems utilize specially designed geothermal piping, installed vertically or horizontally into the ground in a return closed-loop configuration that circulates water, extracting heat in the winter and shedding heat in the summer. Ameresco works with facilities’ mechanical and electrical engineers to incorporate ground-source heat pumps into a comprehensive energy management plan that can include other infrastructure improvements, such as lighting replacements, new energy controls and solar power or other forms of on-site renewable energy generation.

The advantages of a Geothermal System from Ameresco include the following:

• Operating costs are 40% to 75% less than conventional HVAC systems, which also carry the risk of fuel price volatility
• The project is completely budget-neutral when financed by an Ameresco Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC)
• Ameresco will identify federal and state incentives tied to energy savings, and assist with ENERGY STAR® and LEED® applications
• Development of a cost-effective and reliable source of energy that is environmentally friendly and independent from the power grid

FEATURED CASE STUDY:
BIG SPRING SCHOOL DISTRICT

In August of 2006, the Big Spring School District in Pennsylvania signed an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) with Ameresco to install over a hundred 415-foot wells in a geothermal well field and connect them to Mount Rock Elementary School and the Middle School to serve the heat pumps in each building. The project moved from a contract to selection to construction in less than three months, ensuring that the district did not lose capital funding from the state while financing the remaining construction costs through energy efficiency savings.

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