With $525,000 in federal funding, Greenfield Community College could literally pump up its reputation as a renewable energy center in the region.<\/p>\n
The funding in a House bill announced this week would pay for planning, design and installation of a hybrid geo-thermal heat pump for the college's renovated main building.<\/p>\n
Such systems use the earth as a heat source in winter, or cooling source in summer to drastically reduce HVAC cost over a system that burns fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
Inclusion of the geothermal system in the coming year's Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, which passed in the House July 17, was announced by Rep. John W. Olver, D-Mass., a member of the House Appropriations Committee. It must still be approved in the Senate and a reconciled version will have to be signed by President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n
Although the $31.5 million GCC renovation funded through a $2 billion state higher education bill already includes two geothermal wells as part of a 16,000-square-foot entryway addition, the federal money would extend that system to provide a significant part of the cooling, heating and hot water for the 67,000 square-foot core, according to college spokeswoman Regina Curtis.<\/p>\n
The geothermal project will construct a pair of 1,500-foot-deep columns at the core's base, or a more horizontal ''open to-diffusion'' well system to provide better atmospheric condition control and increased energy conservation. The system would replace natural-gas boilers, which have provided hot water throughout the building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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