Among the largest investments the Davenport (Iowa) Community School District has made to improve the energy efficiency of its facilities involves replacing aging, poorly performing HVAC systems with geothermal systems, according to an article from Facility Maintenance Decisions on the FacilitiesNet website.
Geothermal systems provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.
Savings from the geothermal installations vary by building, with total energy savings in geothermal buildings of 35-50 percent.
A facility’s age — and, more importantly, the condition of its HVAC system — were important factors in deciding which facilities would receive geothermal technology.