IGSHPA Intern work 2012-2013

National Driller Magazine Article

By BreAnna Morris

The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association’s (IGSPHA) Technical Conference and

Expo is Oct. 3-4 in Indianapolis, Ind. This annual conference is the nation’s largest and oldest convention

dedicated to the ground source heat pump industry.

Ground source heat pumps are electrically powered systems that tap into the relatively constant

temperature of the earth to provide heating, cooling and hot water for homes and commercial buildings.

The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency consider harnessing geothermal

energy one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly heating and cooling systems available.

The 2012 IGSHPA Conference at the Indiana Convention Center will host cutting edge ground

source heat pump products and technology, including new methods of drilling as well as information on

opportunities to expand this market. Drilling product manufacturers and distributors will be on site,

giving drillers the chance to network with geothermal professionals from around the world.

IGSHPA recognizes drilling as an integral part of geothermal heat pump technology. At the 2011

IGSHPA Technical Conference and Expo, about 25 percent of the nearly 100 exhibitors were directly

related to drilling systems, tools and technologies. The exhibit hall is open to the public free of charge

during conference hours Wednesday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Some exhibitors such as Vermeer, Schramm and GEFCO will set up drilling rigs on the expo

floor. For more information regarding space for drilling equipment on the expo floor, email

igshpa@okstate.edu or call 800-626-4747.

IGSHPA will have a driller workshop and forum during the fall conference featuring topics such

as health and safety for drillers on jobsites as well as updates from this past year. Other educational

seminars regarding new industry technology, best practices, installation techniques, design issues,

equipment performance information, research and marketing are available at the conference. More details

regarding the driller workshop and forum to be held during the convention will be available in the

conference brochure in early August.

This annual conference provides an excellent way for drillers to expand their horizons by delving

into the geothermal industry. IGSHPA will hold the Accredited Driller Workshop and Conference

beginning Oct. 1 and continuing through the conference to provide training for drillers to learn

geothermal technology and become accredited. The course focuses on geothermal system layout basics,

system materials, thermal conductivity, drilling processes and pipe joining techniques.

Drilling contractors who wish to penetrate the market in geothermal drilling must attend a full

Accredited Installer workshop. Some topics covered in the Accredited Installer course do not pertain to

drilling contractors, so IGSHPA has formed this training course to provide drillers with information

specific to their work on a geothermal jobsite.

Greg Wells is a sales engineer for Jackson Geothermal based in Mansfield, Ohio, with more than

20 years of experience in geothermal technology. He helped develop the curriculum taught in the driller

accreditation training at the IGSHPA conference. Wells said the course is designed for any active drillers

and driller contractors who already have equipment and do different kinds of drilling work but need

training to infiltrate the geothermal market.

“Typically the people taking the course are water well drillers,” Wells said. “Water well drilling

is not geothermal drilling, so they need the training to understand the differences. Training covers both

installation as well as the business side of geothermal.”

Even current geothermal drillers take the course to become accredited. “It’s basically to shift

drilling business,” Wells said. “This course is not about running a drilling rig, but it’s taking your

equipment and using it in geothermal.”

IGSHPA’s drilling course is taught by highly experienced professionals in the industry. Upon

successful completion of the training, participants become Accredited Vertical Drilling Installers and

receive a fusion certificate.

The workshop and conference event is an excellent opportunity for drillers to receive necessary

training to become accredited and to gain insight into the industry.

For more information regarding registration for the 2012 IGSHPA Technical Conference and

Expo or the Accredited Driller Workshop, visit www.igshpaconference.com.

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Geothermal cost effective choice in Columbia River Gorge

By John Geyer and BreAnna Morris

When Certified Geothermal Designer John Geyer of Vancouver, Washington, sought

comparisons of geothermal systems versus other more conventional systems, his query turned up short.

Geyer’s business, John Geyer & Associates, Inc., receives calls every month from potential customers

seeking actual operating costs of geothermal heating systems as well as percentage savings and

comparisons to other systems.

Experienced geothermal system installer John Farlow who has worked with Geyer and has seen

many types of configurations, says geothermal is more prevalent than ever before.

“Generally, homeowners and builders are a lot more knowledgeable and aware of geothermal

than they were 20 years ago,” Farlow said. “It’s become more popular.”

Despite the growing interest and knowledge in geothermal, many people still believe geothermal

heating and cooling is not cost effective, regardless of the geographical area. This view persists even

though there are 15,000 to 20,000 operating geothermal units in the U.S. Pacific Northwest service areas

and perhaps half as many more in California.

Seeing the need for more research on geothermal costs, Geyer compared operating costs for four

homes of similar size in one neighborhood in Stevenson, Washington. With cooperation from customers

and neighbors, multi-year operating cost data was compiled for two geothermal systems, one propane

system and one air-source heat pump system on the same street. All residences were similar in age, size,

construction quality and occupancy.

Both of the geothermal heat pumps studied provide space heating and cooling and domestic water

heating without auxiliary backup. The propane home uses propane for space and water heating, and

electricity for air conditioning. The air-source heat pump heats and cools while domestic water is warmed

by an electric water heater. Both propane and electric costs were evaluated in the propane home.

Geyer analyzed the gross utility bills of each home to isolate HVAC energy costs spanning four

and seven years for the geothermal homes, five years for the propane home with electric air conditioning

and six years for the air-source heat pump home. Annual HVAC cost for each home is expressed as the

average of all years.

Geyer considers the impact of having only one or two residents per home when determining

water heating costs. The cost is minor compared to the energy used for space conditioning, so water-

heating expense is not isolated or excluded during Geyer’s heating cost analysis.

Each of the four homes in the case study overlooks a panoramic view of the Bonneville Dam and

features expansive windows on the south side. Some ventilation aspects include range hoods, indoor spa

tubs, fireplace flues, vaulted ceilings, whole house fans and vacuum systems.

Local climate conditions provide warm days with modest cooling during summer afternoons.

Relative humidity is not an issue, so all four residential HVAC systems are sized for heating needs. Hot

and dry or freezing winds from the Columbia River Gorge cause seasonal weather extremes in the

Portland, Ore. area and equalize pressure and temperatures between dry, continental air east of the

mountains and wet, marine conditions on the west side.

Both geothermal homes are new construction intended for retirement. Geyer and Farlow worked

together on one of the geothermal homes in 2006. Geyer designed the heat pump and ground loops, and

Farlow worked as the inside installer. They worked together during the weeklong installation, and the

homeowners helped with most of the physical labor.

Homeowner and retired engineer Tom Lannen is handy around the house and had been curious

about geothermal technology for years. He researched and read about it in building magazines, wondering

about the cost benefits and economic impacts. Geyer encouraged the Lannens to pursue geothermal when

they built their new home in 2006.

The Lannen home is 5,100 square feet with 3,586 square feet of conditioned space. The two-car

garage and carpentry shop are not heated. First floor walls are Insulating Concrete Form blocks and their

construction quality is superior. Geyer helped the Lannens choose 5,800 feet of 0.75 inch HDPE piping to

form a slinky mat loop system for the 6-ton Hydron Module heat pump and de-super heater that serves

the home. The loop system has two layers of slinky-style pipe coils at five feet and nine feet below grade

in a 30 by 70 foot pit.

At the time, Geyer and the Lannens were not aware of any tax breaks or rebates for choosing

geothermal. “The Lannens made the determination to use geothermal on pure economics rather than

incentives,” Geyer said. “Numerous energy efficiency choices of the house focused on results, as there

were no artificial incentives driving decisions. For example, they used concrete insulated forms at the

basement level, and they used cost effective windows.”

After the house was completed, the Lannens learned of a few federal tax breaks for geothermal

systems and were able to break even on their investment in less than five years.

“We were capable of doing more than we thought we could do,” Lannen said. “These systems are

straight forward and the savings were better than what we expected. They’re very clean systems.”

Results from Geyer’s case study proved geothermal to be the most economic system, with energy

cost savings upwards of 80 percent possible in some instances. A home’s building envelope will also play

a part in energy efficiencies. As the technology continues to develop, more homeowners are realizing the

cost-saving benefits of investing in geothermal. Farlow has seen increased interest in the field in recent

years.

“It’s become a more and more competitive business and a lot less specialized than years past,”

Farlow said. “It’s more affordable for the average homeowner than it used to be. HVAC contractors are in

the game now. Fifteen years ago, a lot of the heating contractors told homeowners that geothermal was

too expensive, wouldn’t last, wouldn’t work. Now those same contractors are installing geothermal.”

The Lannen’s ground loops and heat pump were installed July 2006, before their house

construction began in August of the same year. The weather and other construction projects did not

complicate the geothermal installation. Geyer and Farlow both said the installation process for geothermal

is fairly simple.

“If done right, there aren’t any challenges,” Geyer said. “We did encounter a small buried spring

which added moisture to the loop area after construction. That was a good thing. Water is your friend

when you’re a ground loop.”

“The average geothermal installation like that doesn’t have to be such a difficult and complicated

task,” Farlow said. “It can go in pretty fast. It doesn’t have to be rocket science.”

While each homeowner provided full or nearly complete records of utility payments, data gaps

were filled by payment histories from the district. Kilowatt and cost data were complete for each of the

four homes studied, with exception of three missing entries that Geyer filled with the averages of same-

month payments in other years. While actual costs were computed for the smaller air-source heat pump

home, costs were inflated to represent a 3,000-square-foot structure for comparative purposes.

Geyer’s results compare total cost for heating, showing the geothermal homes pay significantly

less in a year for heating and cooling than the other systems studied.

Lannen is pleased with his geothermal system as well as with the results of the study.

“My first thought was ‘how am I doing relative to the rest of the world,’ and the results of the

case study definitely made us feel like we made the right decision. Secondly, I thought it was a nice

opportunity to share about this technology,” Lannen said.

“Compared to all the electric systems we’ve had, the home feels more comfortable, and it’s good

for the environment,” he said. “The system itself has been practically maintenance-free. We had it

checked last year, but other than that, you almost forget about it. You don’t have to worry about pilot

lights or anything.” Lannen said he has had to get used to the home not having a chimney.

“The lack of traction that geothermal has been able to get in the marketplace is astounding. It’s

an existing technology. It’s nothing far out,” Lannen says. “You have to have a heat source, so it’s not

that strange to get it from somewhere else.”

The Lannen’s personal account and the results of Geyer’s four-home case study show the

significant difference in cost and energy savings between geothermal and traditional HVAC systems.

Contractors and installers can use the results to promote the technology by proving the cost benefits and

energy savings of choosing geothermal.

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Missouri S&T Replaces Coal Plant with Geothermal

By BreAnna Morris

With increased interest in geothermal, universities all over the United States are looking to take

advantage of this energy efficient and progressive technology.

Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri, will build a comprehensive

geothermal system to service 15 of its campus buildings as well as the campus chilled-water system,

which serves much of the university. Geothermal will replace the current coal-powered system built in

1945. The school hopes to reduce its energy bills by half as well as decrease its carbon footprint by

25,000 metric tons per year and cut its water usage by 10 percent, or nearly eight million gallons per year.

Initial savings are projected at more than $1 million in energy and operational costs annually with

an expected growth to $2.8 million annually in future years. The new system will also eliminate close to

$26 million in deferred maintenance costs for the aging coal plant. Those costs include the replacement of

boilers, steam lines and other antiquated infrastructure. The system will allow energy to be stored in and

reclaimed from well fields around campus. The project will be funded through the sale of $32.4 million in

revenue bonds, approved by the university’s curators in November 2010. The university plans to repay

the debt over 30 years through savings from the project.

Ted Ruth, director of design and construction management for Missouri S&T, explains details

regarding the project.

“The bottom line of the project is that the campus is installing a geothermal loop that will provide

heating and cooling to 15 of our buildings on campus to replace our current coal-fired boiler plant,” Ruth

said.

In deciding what kind of HVAC system to include in the upgrade, the Department of Facilities

Operation researched and discussed several options.

“We did research on alternative opportunities over the last several years. The idea was to provide

background information and evaluations for an energy source and evaluate our use of coal. We started

looking into a geothermal application because it’s becoming more popular. We also looked at natural gas.

Geothermal, in our opinion, became the appropriate application. Facilities Operation decided geothermal

was the right choice for Missouri S&T,” Ruth said.

Once the team decided on geothermal, more research, planning and designing began in earnest.

“When the funding was approved, then we went in and reconfirmed – we spent about nine

months confirming the project and the programming. We found it to be beneficial to continue research

and planning,” Ruth said.

The project has encountered few problems, but Ruth describes some smaller issues.

“Problem is a big word. There have been challenges. We’ve run into unexpected issues below

ground. We’ve had some water underground, but other than that, it’s gone fairly smoothly. Normal

logistics issues are always to be expected,” Ruth said.

Construction Manager at Risk Dwight Davis from J.E. Dunn Construction explains some of the

other unusual challenges the project has encountered underground.

“Probably the most unique thing we’ve run into is the geology. The well fields are 20-foot

spacing with varying geology under the ground. We’ve run into aquifers, gravel and all different kinds of

rock. The drillers have done a good job dealing with it. In this part of Missouri, there is not a lot of

consistency in the ground,” Davis said.

Ground was broken on April 17 of this year with a ceremonial golden drill and the requisite local

dignitaries. This summer provided the first opportunity for major construction, but the project is still in

early phases.

“We just recently started drilling wells and hired a construction manager. We took advantage of

the summer by doing the major drilling when school was out. We completed 268 wells out of 640 total,”

Ruth said.

The 640 boreholes have two sets of depths, 440-feet and 420-feet. There will also be some

horizontal branch piping to connect the vertical wells. The well piping is 1¼ inch thick, and the

refrigerant is R 134 A. McClure Engineering Associates is the designer. Some other subcontractors have

worked with McClure and with J.E. Dunn Construction for part of the drilling and design work.

“It’s kind of interesting; the campus had some existing chillers that will be utilized. But we

bought nine new chillers; there are three in each plant, in two sizes. The larger chillers have a heating

capacity of 2,500-mbh and a cooling capacity of 150 tons. The smaller units have a heating capacity of

1,300-mbh and a cooling capacity of 75 tons,” Davis said.

There were no other major alternative energy systems used, but the overall design of the new

system capitalizes on existing resources to produce the most energy at the lowest cost.

“I think it is a really smart approach – the way McClure Engineering designed the system. The

university will use the system the majority of the year, so the approach to the design is unique in that they

intentionally made the size of the geothermal system to work in tandem under peak loading times with the

existing mechanical equipment,” Davis said.

The bulk of the work on the project right now involves planning and designing the details of the

system to power the campus. Pipes will eventually be installed in the 640 wells and connected to create

closed geothermal loops. Water will be circulated through the loops from three geothermal plants, two of

which will be housed in existing buildings and the third will be in a new chemical and biological

engineering building.

“There will be those three regional plants to provide heating and cooling to the majority of the

buildings. We should finish designing in October, and then bid it out. Major construction will start in

December or January. It’s projected to be completed in June 2014,” Ruth said. Progress on the project

can be checked on the school’s website at http://geothermal.mst.edu.

Renee Earley, Civil Engineering graduate student at Missouri S&T, commented that the

construction hasn’t inhibited pedestrian traffic flow on campus.

“They have done a good job with the geothermal project in terms of staying within the

construction site boundaries. The parking lots, grassy areas and any more frequently traversed parts of

campus were mostly completed during the summer when fewer people were here. All of the work so far

has been on the edges of campus, which is nice because they have not needed to restrict which campus

sidewalks are open,” Earley said

“It’s been a great project for us, and everyone out here has been a good part of the team all the

way from the university staff to the sub-contractors,” Davis said.

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Indy Hosts IGSHPA’s 25th Anniversary Conference

By BreAnna Morris

No national racing events took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 1-4, but the International

Ground Source Heat Pump Association held its annual conference at the downtown Indianapolis

Convention Center in the Indy 500 city.

Every year, IGSHPA hosts a technical conference and exposition featuring the latest technology

in the geothermal industry. This October marked the 25th year of the event. Drillers, contractors,

manufacturers, distributors, and geothermal industry leaders from all over the world attended the 2012

conference. This annual conference is the nation’s largest and oldest convention dedicated to the ground

source heat pump industry.

IGSHPA hosts accredited geothermal driller and installer workshops throughout the year at its

headquarters in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Each year they provide the same training courses before the

conference starts in its destination city. This year, the driller and installer training was October 1-2, while

the conference began October 3 and concluded October 4.

Distance Learning Coordinator Gerald McClain said the instructors for the driller and installer

training workshops came from all over the United States to teach at the conference.

“The training that we provide at the conference is the same course material from the training in

Stillwater, but the people taking the course at the conference have a neat opportunity to learn from some

of the best instructors from all over the United States – from Minnesota, from the East Coast; people

come from all over,” McClain said. “It’s the perfect storm of people to come in and do a really great job.”

Training Program Manager Roshan Revankar has already begun working on next year’s

conference training workshops.

“This year, the conference went smoothly,” Revankar said. “The classrooms, the seminars, and

the expo were all really close together, which made it easy on all of the participants. I’m hoping it’s the

same for next year. We held three courses: the Accredited Installers course, the Accredited Drillers

course, and the Certified Geoexchange Designer course. Next year, we should have the same three

courses, and we’re expecting larger class sizes. We are still working on increasing enrollment in the

OSHA training for next year.”

Participants in the conference accreditation received excellent instruction.

“I was overly impressed with the instructors that we had this year,” McClain said. “They were all

very good. The installers training specifically – we had about eight different instructors for that class with

all kinds of experience. This is some of the best instruction people could really get at a training session.

That’s why our conference is so special; the training that we provide brings in the best instructors.”

IGSHPA Executive Director Dr. Jim Bose has attended every conference for the past 25 years.

“This was the biggest and the best in quality and quantity,” Bose said. “We had an outstanding

week. We learned a lot, we had really good committee meetings, and everybody seemed to be in good

spirits. We’re expecting a bigger program next year in Las Vegas.”

In addition to the training courses, the days leading up to the conference included meetings where

IGSHPA members have the opportunity to serve on a committee within the association. The committee

meetings are a way for members to help IGSHPA operations such as marketing, membership, and

standards to run smoothly.

“People who would like to serve on these committees are invited to contact IGSHPA to say

which committee they want to join, and we would love to have them,” Bose said.

The conference started with the kick-off, opening session at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Dr. Bose and

members of the advisory council gave reports and updates regarding membership and training aspects of

IGSHPA. Following the welcoming remarks and updates, Michael Mansuetti, president of Robert Bosch

LLC gave the keynote presentation, “Invented for Life,” where he reflected on geothermal technology.

“As consumers seek to find the most environmentally-friendly solution to heat their homes or

office buildings in the winter and to cool them in the summer, perhaps the greenest solution of all is right

outside their door and just a few hundred feet below them,” Mansuetti said.

“Our industry has one of the best kept secrets,” Mansuetti continued. “If the average consumer

understood the power of consistency and longevity of this technology overall, our share of the HVAC

market would substantially increase. If consumers knew that by installing a geothermal system, they

could save immediately up to 70 percent on their energy bill, it would appreciate that being green can also

mean saving money. If consumers put into context that while an upfront investment for a geothermal

system is a bit higher than a traditional HVAC system, but they realize that they could achieve a payback

in just five to seven years that can last up to 50 years, our jobs would be much simpler. Our challenge

would then be, quite frankly, ‘How do we meet the demand?’”

After the opening session, the exhibition opened and meetings commenced. The exhibit hall

housed 83 exhibitors including three media partners, and the technical conference held more than 20

workshops and presentations featuring a variety of industry-related topics such as health and safety on

jobsites as well as updates from the past year. Other educational seminars discussed new industry

technology, best practices, installation techniques, design issues, equipment performance information, and

research and marketing. The conference hosted cutting-edge ground source heat pump products and

technology, including information on opportunities to expand the market.

Being the largest and oldest conference dedicated to the geothermal industry, this event provides

a unique opportunity to network with other professionals in the industry. The expo hall showcased

exciting innovations and creative displays including full-sized drilling rigs and miniature jobsite

simulations.

Josh List, the Commercial Project Manager and Safety Director of Indiana Geothermal

showcased in the exhibit hall.

“The networking at this conference is amazing in that we can get with drillers, and we can get

with anyone in the geothermal industry and talk with them,” List said. “Really, everybody in the

geothermal business works together. We are dependent on each other. At some point, we will work for

them, and at some point they will work for us, and yet all the time we are competing and promoting the

industry together. But as far as the networking facilitation of this conference, it’s just amazing.”

Several exhibitors have already registered their booths for next year’s conference which will

convene in Las Vegas October 9 and 10. For more information regarding the 2013 conference, visit

www.igshpaconference.com.

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Industry Professional Spotlight: Lynn Vick

By BreAnna Morris

Since its beginning, the ground-source heat pump industry has made huge strides. Lynn Vick,

owner and president of Air-O Heat & Air Conditioning Inc. in Stillwater, Oklahoma, has installed a

variety of HVAC systems in Oklahoma and has seen the industry grow from its first experimental stages

to current interests and innovations.

“I got started in geothermal because of demand from other people,” Vick said. “I used to work for

a guy here in town, and we used to build the systems here. I worked for him, and then when he left, I

opened up my own business. People just needed someone to work on the geothermal systems, and no one

knew anything about them except for me and the guys that worked for me 30 years ago.”

Vick’s involvement with IGSHPA and its Director Dr. Jim Bose was integral in his incorporating

ground-source heat pump systems into his repertoire of HVAC installations.

“I was the guinea pig. They came up with the ideas, and I tried them,” Vick said. “There were no

books to pick up like they have now days. Now, you can virtually find out anything you want to about

ground-source systems. Thirty years ago, there was no information out there. The only information

available was in Jim’s head or out at IGSHPA. That’s where all the research was taking place. It’s

evolved from the experiment that it was. You can put these systems in and walk away, knowing they will

operate almost perfectly.”

Bose and Vick have known each other since IGSHPA started in 1987.

“I got involved with IGSHPA because they were here in Stillwater,” Vick said. “I grew up with

IGSHPA. They were the go-to people. They were doing all the research, so if you wanted to know

something, you came to them.”

In 30 years, Vick has seen engineers, drillers and installers all become significantly more

knowledgeable about geothermal systems.

“A long time ago, when you went to do a job, there were no engineers to lay out a ground-source

system design,” Vick said. “The engineers didn’t know anything about it, and they weren’t trained to do

it. So when we did a job, we pretty much had to rely on IGSHPA or someone in that organization to tell

us what they thought was the best way to design and install geo systems.”

Industry professionals have grown more knowledgeable, and the technology has made major

advancements from its early days.

“Now days, you can buy units with the pumps built in,” Vick said. “You used to have to calculate

how many pumps you would need and put everything together yourself, but now you can just buy them

all in one piece. And they work. They’ve come a long way. You can virtually get any design you want in

a geothermal.”

Vick installed the geothermal system for IGSHPA’s headquarter building located at 1201 S

Innovation Way, Suite 400 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

“I don’t do much design unless it’s little stuff, so this particular building, the design was sent out

to an engineer, and all the wells are in the parking lot. Now days, when you do one of these systems, any

building like this is engineered out. They’ve learned how to do it.”

Geothermal has improved not only on the technological side with innovation and knowledge but

also has become more commonplace in HVAC installations. People are talking about it, and it shows in

the increased number of ground-source heat pump systems Vick is installing.

“When the industry started, we used to have to beg people to put geothermal in because it was

just an experiment,” Vick said. “Now they beg you to put it in because more people know about it and its

benefits. The industry has gone from an experiment to an engineered practice that works. It’s gone full

circle. When you all have these trade shows and conferences, a lot of the engineers come to them, and I

think that’s helped a lot.”

Vick said that in the air conditioning industry, the engineers play a significant part in determining

what kind of system will go in on new construction, and they’ve played a pivotal role in the growth of the

industry.

“The engineers are the people, who, if you convince them, and they know it’s going to work,

they’re the people who lay the construction out for geothermal design,” Vick said. “Once you get them on

board and they lay these buildings out this way, that’s helped more than anything. Engineers knowing

about geothermal has played a big role. If the engineer’s against it, it’s probably not going to happen.”

Vick and his company have installed a variety of systems in many different kinds of buildings

throughout Oklahoma.

“I try to stay within a hundred-mile radius of Stillwater,” Vick said. “We’ve done 20 convenience

stores so far. We’ve got five convenience installations going right now, and they’re all geothermal. They

must like it. If it wasn’t working for them, they wouldn’t do it. Here in town, I’ve done most of the big

businesses with geothermal. But it’s taken a long time. It wasn’t easy. It took a long, long time to get

people on board. I’ve done pretty much all the banks in town and pretty much all the churches in town.”

Churches, and especially churches with daycare centers present a great opportunity for

geothermal. More than other places, churches can benefit from low monthly bills, and they usually have

at least one large space that takes a lot of energy to heat and cool. Vick said the First Presbyterian Church

in Stillwater was one of the most innovative projects he’s seen.

“All these churches now have daycare centers,” Vick said. “The Presbyterian Church, they were

running a 200-ton chiller at the daycare, for only 30 kids. All they needed was a 20-ton chiller. We put

geothermal in there, and that way, they just use what they need when they need it, and they paid for that

system in three years. In churches with daycares, geothermal saves a lot of money.”

Vick said he always presents ground source as an option when discussing projects with potential

clients. His home is geothermal, and he is a big proponent of its benefits and cost savings.

“The maintenance and the energy savings are the best things about geothermal. There’s virtually

no maintenance, and you will cut your energy bills in half. It’s that simple. The monthly bills are five

times cheaper than an electric furnace and three times cheaper than the best air-source. Plus the comfort is

a lot better in a geothermal.”

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Scholarship Contest Promotes Geothermal

By BreAnna Morris

What do Dorothy Goes Geo, The Fresh Prince of Geo and GoGoGeoGirls have in common?

As confusing as the titles may seem, the answer is simple. Touchstone Energy Cooperatives is

sponsoring a video scholarship contest for high school students in their service area. The students have an

opportunity to showcase their wit and talent by creating videos about geothermal technology. The titles

listed are only three of about 60 entries that were up on gogogeochallenge.com for preliminary voting

during the month of March.

Western Farmers Energy Cooperative Manager of Marketing and Communications Mark

Faulkenberry used his creative marketing skills to come up with this idea to promote the advances in

geothermal technology in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

“We could have gone out and produced a professional video ourselves,” Faulkenberry said. “Our

problem is trying to get people to see it and to listen to it. The students have the online social networks

that we don’t.”

The contest website gave seven topics that contestants could include in their video. The topics to

choose from were, Understanding how geothermal technology works, Savings achievable for going GEO,

Other benefits for going GEO, Everybody wins when you go GEO, Getting over traditional cost hurdles

of going GEO, Dealing with urgency issues when HVAC systems fail and need replaced and Going GEO

is going green. The students were provided with all the information, research and references they might

need to use actual facts and statistics in their videos.

“There are seven message themes. The kids were told up front to incorporate a minimum of three,

but for each one they did incorporate creatively, we gave them an additional five points,” Faulkenberry

explained.

Faulkenberry’s idea was for students to use their own creativity to include the key messages

about geothermal, so the contestants can use their own social media networks to get the videos

circulating.

“Although it’s costly, it wouldn’t be anything like what we would have to do for other major

programs and promotions, and it’s totally worth it to get kids talking about geothermal,” Faulkenberry

said.

The challenge has $60,000 in scholarship and grant money up for grabs, $10,000 being the

highest prize, so the students were motivated to produce strong entries.

“It couldn’t have happened unless we did it collectively because with this type of a program, you

have to offer enough scholarship dollars to get someone’s attention, and $10,000 seemed like the number

we thought would work,” Faulkenberry said.

The winning videos will potentially be used in promotional materials and different online

marketing endeavors through Touchstone Energy Cooperative.

“When the students signed up, they gave us the rights to use their video,” Faulkenberry said.

“They agreed to that when they submitted, so we can use their videos as promotional material for the co-

op. If they win their regional, they win $3000, second place is $2000, third is $1000.”

The videos were up for preliminary voting online, and the students promoted their own videos to

solicit votes from their friends and family through their social networks. The videos of the regional

winners will be judged at the state level, and a final winner will be decided then.

“There are four regions in Oklahoma, and then New Mexico is their own region,” Faulkenberry

said. “The top five vote-getters from each region move to the judging round, and then the judges will

determine a winner in each region. Those five will move to the statewide competition.”

The regional winners were Austin Branch from Norman High School North, Kailey Kelley from

Hinton High School, Casee Cole from Pond Creek-Hunter Junior-Senior High School, Ean Bonjour from

Stillwater High School, and Hayley Madden from Portales High School in New Mexico.

These regional winners went through an interview round with judges, and the winners were

announced at the awards banquet on April 22 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Ean Bonjour, a senior at Stillwater High School, was awarded a total of $10,000 in scholarships

by taking first place honors in the video challenge.

Bonjour’s award included a $3,000 scholarship from the regional round and $7,000 for the top

finish at the state level. For his first place finish, Stillwater High School will also receive a total of $5,000

in educational grant money from the two rounds of competition.

Second place went to Casee Cole, a junior at Pond Creek-Hunter Junior-Senior High School,

which included a $3,000 scholarship from the regional contest and $3,500 for the state finish.

Austin Branch, a senior at Norman High School North, received third place and received a total

of $5,000, including $3,000 for the regional finish and $2,000 for the state finals.

The other finalists, Kelley and Madden, each received $3,000 in scholarship money from the

regional round of the contest and an additional $1,000 from the state finals.

“We trained the judges for the Go Go GEO competition,” Faulkenberry said. “There are three

judges. We have the Oklahoma Secretary of Energy, Michael Ming; the Oklahoma Secretary for Science

and Technology, Stephen McKeever; and Miss Oklahoma 2011, Betty Thompson. We met to go through

and look at how they’re going to go online and judge the videos. We talked about judging criteria and

gave them a very rounded understanding of the technology.”

Some industry leaders involved with the Touchstone Energy Cooperative, including Director of

Marketing at Caddo Electric Boyd Lee and Director of Residential Market Development Paul Bony for

Climate Master, gathered at a reception on March 2.

“The scholarship challenge idea, that was Mark,” Lee said. “He comes up with some really crazy

ideas sometimes that work out pretty well, and this was one of them.”

Lee and Bony both said geothermal systems are becoming increasingly popular, especially now

that energy companies are forming cooperatives in several different states.

“Within another year, it’s really just going to go nuts,” Lee said. “A lot of co-ops are taking a

long time to get rolling, but once they do, it’s going to go crazy.”

The scholarship challenge was a way for Western Farmers Electric Cooperative to spread ground-

source heat pump systems through word-of-mouth. By getting high school students and their families to

compete for the scholarship money and promote their videos online, talk about geothermal systems has

been buzzing.

“What these guys are doing here in Oklahoma is absolutely huge!” Bony said. “Because it’s the

first time multiple co-ops with the support of a power supplier have worked together and taken it as a

statewide initiative.”

Faulkenberry explained the importance of the relationship between the energy cooperatives, the

ground-source heat pump industry and the students in Oklahoma.

“It’s really exciting,” Faulkenberry said. “We couldn’t advance this technology through the co-op

as much as we have without the industry supporting. What I love about it is that they’ve put competition

behind as much as possible for the benefit of the industry, and that’s what we have to do to grow the

industry. In addition, Western Farmers has great ties with the schools. Co-ops are very entrenched in the

rural communities, so we knew if we got the Go Go GEO scholarship challenge information to the

schools, they would deliver. We were very pleased with the turnout in the video competition.”

Lee added how he came to be involved with the scholarship challenge and how it’s been

important in promoting the industry.

“We got involved with the scholarship challenge through Western Farmers, our power supplier,”

Lee said. “Mark Faulkenberry and I have worked together now for 23 years. We were at the same

cooperative up in northern Oklahoma, and Mark was one of the first ones up there that had geothermal in

his home. He was faster than I was. He and I also went to Western Farmers at the same time and just

started implementing new ideas. We’re getting to a point now where we have power issues coming,

where we’re going to be short of energy than what generations had in the past, and geothermal is

definitely a way to reduce those energy problems. So, Mark started this competition off, and it’s really got

people talking. And since I’d already been involved in geothermal for 20-something years, it was just

natural for us to be involved.”

“I have to admit, we’re just really fired up about the quality of the videos,” Faulkenberry said.

“Kids never cease to amaze me with what they’ll put together.”

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