Geothermal Heating and Cooling

Friends Center’s geothermal system uses the consistent temperature of water below ground to heat and cool our building.

In summer, excess heat is drawn from the building, put through the underground wells, and absorbed by the earth.  In the colder months, the system works to compress the warmth of the water and release it inside the building.

The system at Friends Center is relatively unique.  The well field of most geothermal systems requires a large area that is not available on our constrained urban site.  With the help of a grant from the state of Pennsylvania, Friends Center became a demonstration site for “deep standing column wells.” Instead of 90 of relatively shallow wells, Friends Center went deep, with only six wells varying in depth from 1000-1500 feet.  These deep standing column wells produce up to 40 tons of exchange capacity per well.  More conventional wells, which are 200-400 feet deep, offer 2-3 tons of capacity per well.

Use of geothermal energy for heating and cooling has dramatically reduced Friends Center’s costs and eliminated carbon emissions for heating and cooling our buildings.

Download Case study on Friends Center’s Geothermal System (Word Document)

Click here to see an illustrated version of Friends Center’s geothermal.

Get more information on geothermal heat exchange:

International Ground Source Heat Pump Association

GeoExchange