Indiana Campus to Get Largest U.S. Geothermal Heating and Cooling System
4,000 boreholes for 40 buildings
June 2009
U.S. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana and Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora stand before equipment that will drill boreholes for the campus geothermal system.
Credit: Ball State University
Construction is scheduled to start in June 2009 on the nation's largest geothermal heating and cooling system, when drilling begins on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
The project, which is expected to be complete within 10 years, will require up to 4,000 boreholes and will eventually heat and cool more than 40 buildings on the campus. It will replace four aging, coal-fired boilers.
When fully operational, the geothermal system will save the university roughly $2 million a year and reduce its annual carbon emissions by about 50%, or 80,000 tons. Cost is estimated at $65–$70 million, which is slightly more than the cost of an upgrade for the existing boilers.
The first phase of the project, which could be finished within three years, will replace one or more of the old boilers. The remaining boilers will be taken offline during later phases of the project.
The university worked with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to determine that geothermal was feasible in Indiana.
For more information, read the May 4 news release issued by the Ball State University News Center on May 4, 2009 or read the May 12 story posted on Sustainable Business.com. You can read about geothermal energy basics on the Learning About Renewable Energy Web page published by NREL.
See more Indiana project descriptions published in Conservation Update.
Read recent Indiana news stories about state involvement in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects published on the EERE Web site.