Deep heat: Virginia Beach schools transfers underground temperatures into classrooms, saving energy – Virginian-Pilot

VIRGINIA BEACH

I've been seeing a lot of digging at Centerville Elementary School. Do you know whats happening there? - Walt Anderson

Geothermal wells are being installed at Centerville the first of four elementary schools that will be switched to a new heating and cooling system this year.

We are removing the older mechanical equipment and installing a more energy-efficient system, including a geothermal well field and new HVAC equipment, said Eileen Cox, schools spokeswoman. The work will be completed by September 2017.

The 220 geothermal wells each drilled 300 feet deep will use the nearly constant undergroundtemperature to heat and cool the school. The energy savings at Centerville will be equivalent to removing 142 cars from the road annually, according to Virginia Beach Public Schools.

Noresco, one of the nations largest energy service companies, is the contractor on-site at Centerville. The $6.4 million project also calls for Parkway, Ocean Lakes and John B. Dey elementary schools to switch to geothermal heating and cooling - among other energy-saving measures across the school system.

Sewell's Point Elementary in Norfolk was the first school in the area to install geothermal heating, according to a Virginian-Pilot story published Aug. 25, 2008. Soon afterward, Providence Elementary in Virginia Beach went geothermal.

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Deep heat: Virginia Beach schools transfers underground temperatures into classrooms, saving energy - Virginian-Pilot