Indian River High School plans to switch to geothermal power – WatertownDailyTimes.com

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PHILADELPHIA The Indian River Central School District is embracing clean energy with its planned installation of a geothermal heating system.

District Business Administrator Joseph A. Dougherty said he anticipates that the oil tanks will be removed from the high school as soon as they are shut off.

Weve actually had geothermal power at the intermediate school since it was constructed in 2002, Mr. Dougherty said.

The Indian River Intermediate School is also home to the districts solar panel array, with its construction being completed in Oct. 2016.

Mr. Dougherty said the district anticipates that the funds originally intended for fuel oil, $250,000 according to current budget documents, will cover any increased electricity costs.

Geothermal power involves heating and cooling water underground and then using that water to either heat or cool the air. The steam is also sometimes used to power electricity.

Noah A. Prior Jr., Facilities Director at Indian River, said that the high school is already partially powered by geothermal energy and the final 140 wells have been installed nearly 500 feet into the ground.

The last step now is to install the pipes and remove the conventional heating system. Youre dealing with equipment thats probably 30 or 40 years old, he said.

In order to make sure the high schools final push to green energy is the right choice, the facilities department first reported its energy costs at the intermediate school to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

We sent them our bills for about a year and they determined that our geothermal system there was 99 percent more efficient than a conventional one, Mr. Prior said.

The improvements at the Indian River High School are part of a Capital Project in partnership with NYSERDA.

Other buildings within the district use geothermal power: Theresa Primary School installed their systems in 2002, and Calcium Primary has gotten half its power from geothermals since 2010.

The district hopes to continue its environmental stewardship by using renewable energies in its other buildings.

Were excited about this move to green energy, Mr. Dougherty said, This has been a Board of Education priority for at least five years.

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