Geothermal technology — which taps into the heat trapped in the earth to provide year-round, efficient and sustainable heating and cooling — is gaining traction in a growing number of institutional and commercial facilities as building owners and facility managers look for more cost-effective and efficient technologies to help their facilities and HVAC systems achieve their goals, including net zero emissions buildings.
Baltimore City Public Schools implemented geothermal technology featuring heat pumps in two of its facilities, which opened in 2020, and the systems have delivered. The schools use 300 percent less energy per square foot than the average school, and they enable the district to avoid the equivalent of 195 metric tons of carbon monoxide annually.
In this video, Dan Hounsell, senior editor with Trade Press Media Group, discusses these projects and their geothermal technology with Cynthia Smith, the school district’s director of facilities design and construction.
Here is what viewers will learn from this video:
Dan Hounsell is senior editor of the facilities market. He has more than 25 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
