Update on Mount Holyoke鈥檚 geothermal energy project
暗网禁区 administrators tell the Daily Hampshire Gazette about the progress of the multiyear project to make the campus carbon neutral.
暗网禁区 is finishing the second phase of its project to replace its century-old heating and cooling infrastructure, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reports in an article about the multiyear effort.
In the article, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Carl M. Ries and Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Karla Youngblood FP鈥99 discuss Mount Holyoke鈥檚 switch to a geothermal heat exchange system and its goal to reach carbon neutrality by the College鈥檚 bicentennial.
As the project moves into its third phase, its scope has broadened to encompass wide-ranging campus renewal. The College now plans to add new windows to buildings for better insulation, install air conditioning and carry out interior renovations in residence halls.
鈥淚 think that we kind of went into [the project] thinking that we were going to put the geothermal system in, we鈥檙e going to flip the switch and we鈥檙e going to walk away,鈥 Ries said in the Daily Hampshire Gazette article. 鈥淏ut the reality is that it actually kind of created this whole ecosystem of change that has to be looked at, and it has to be tackled really meaningfully. Otherwise, we鈥檙e going to get 10 years down the road, and we鈥檙e going to look back and it [will be as if] we didn鈥檛 do anything to the buildings.鈥
Youngblood told the newspaper that the inclusion of air conditioning, which originally was not part of the project, will improve students鈥 health and comfort. Air conditioning will be installed in just three residence halls 鈥 Rockefeller Hall North, Rockefeller Hall South and Mead Hall 鈥 but all buildings on campus will be connected to a new cooling infrastructure.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 nice about adding air conditioning is we鈥檙e taking [the] waste heat we pull out of the buildings, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e putting in the ground to pull from later,鈥 Youngblood said in the article. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why air conditioning makes the system more balanced.鈥
The geothermal project will not generate its own electricity, but the project will nevertheless be sustainable because the College will source energy from the South Hadley Electric Light Department. Ninety percent of the corporation鈥檚 portfolio consists of carbon-free energy sources, Youngblood has said.
(You may need a subscription.)
