I attended a class/discussion on geothermal energy today. The room was full of architects, engineers, installers, drillers, manufacturers, politicians and people just interested in the ideas. The morning outlined the many benefits. The EPA says it is the best way to heat and cool a space. They said that back in 1993. I am concerned that our government has not started to provide incentives or education about this topic. My paper is on green design and the cost or lack of education behind it. For this specific topic of green design, the cost and the lack of education are major factors. The morning consisted of installers, drillers, and manufacturers showing us the cost comparison. The payback time can be five years. (Solar can take a lot longer in many applications.) It was very encouraging. After lunch, the politicians started. People from Pulte homes gave their two cents on why they never incorporate it into their 500,000 plus homes they have built. They said if people can't see it, they don't want to pay for it. The code experts for the New England states explained the regulations. The federal tax credit for this type of energy is $300. What does that cover? The cost to fill out the paperwork? The regulations are almost non-existent yet vary immensely from state to state. For a technology that has been around as long as I have been alive, I would have thought there would be some consistency in regulations. Solar and wind power provide tax incentives to people that install them. Why has geothermal energy been left out? So, essentially, I just wanted to see what anyone else was experiencing in their states. I had never seen the data to back up the use of geothermal energy before today. I would love to advocate it to clients but the current regulations and lack of tax incentives make the higher cost a hard sell. Anyone with experience?
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4 comments:
Annie,
In Nebraska the local public power company offers lease (to own) options for installing geothermal systems. If you put one in, they will basically give you a low interest loan. They do give an actual rebate for using heat pumps and that is given on a per ton amount. I don't recall the amount. I will try to find that if you need it, let me know.
In Iowa, they are a little more agreesive about promoting sustainability. The largest power company there will give about 50 cents per sq.ft for using a heat pump system and then another 50 cents can be gained by using energy saving equipment such as lights, sensors co2 detectors and etc.
For example we completed a 72,000 sq.ft. fitness center in Nebraska. It had geothermal wells and heat pumps. The owner received about $20,000 back in rebates. But if it would have been in Iowa, they could of received about $72,000 back.
Both of these are for commercial construction, I don't know anything about residential.
Hope this helps.
David
Thanks David. It sounds like Nebraska and Iowa are doing more about it than the New England states. It is interesting how much it varies by state! I would think everyone would be on the same page.
Annie
We studied a geothermal system for a retirement community. The project had a lake adjacent and one heat sink in the lake was worth a couple hundred wells. The temperature of the water is a constant temperature (mid-50 degrees) at a depth of 12 feet. In the end, the rebates and long term payback weren't enough to convince the owner to utilize this system. This would have eliminated our cooling tower. I was so disappointed. Hopefully, the current rebates and costs are allowing more projects to take advantage of this system.
Annie
While driving to work this morning, there was a news story on the radio about a guy who built and lives in a 140 sq. ft. house. I don't want to waste your time, as it is getting closer to the end, but thought there might be something here to argue for or against some of your points, plus it is interesting.
http://realestate.msn.com/buying/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=1238491
David
(I sent this to Matt as well.)
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