Colorado’s Capitol building earned LEED EBOM (Existing Building Operations and Maintenance) certification in 2008, and now it’s getting greener by adding geothermal.
The geothermal ground source heat pump system comes online this week to provide heating and cooling for the building. Idaho’s capitol is the only other to run on geothermal energy, but it only provides heat by tapping into hot springs.
Chevron Energy Solutions installed an open-loop system and drilled two 865-foot wells under the building to reach the aquifer below. They also added a new, efficient HVAC system to run the system under an energy performance contract (no upfront costs, the government pays based on energy savings).
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The project is revenue-neutral because it pays for itself. The government expects to save $100,000 in the first year alone on heating and cooling costs, rising 3% a year, and about $900,000 by not having to upgrade outdated equipment that dates back to the 1940s.
Colorado is paying $1.3 million for the $5.5 million cost-shared project, thanks to a $4.7 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).
DOE’s Oak Ridge National Lab was recently honored for a collaboration with ClimateMaster to develop a geothermal heat pump that also provides hot water.
"Colorado has been a national trend-setter in deploying clean energy technologies, which will be critical to ensuring America’s global competitiveness," says Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary for DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy division. "Retrofitting public facilities to operate with renewable energy helps strengthen our economy, saves taxpayers money over the long term and helps reduce pollution. This project serves as a good example of how communities across the country can improve the energy performance of their state and government buildings."
It is one of three states that strengthened its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) this year. This is the third time Colorado raised the threshold as it’s come close to being met. Requiring 30% renewable energy by 2020, Only California has a higher RPS (33% by 2020).
The state is also being besieged by natural gas fracking activity, and the governor is making it near impossible for towns and cities that want to ban it by threatening lawsuits.
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