Voters appropriated over $800,000 for a geothermal project at the Town Campus at a special town meeting held near the end of 2023. According to town officials, the appropriation is being made in anticipation of the Town receiving more than $1 million in green energy rebates to reduce the overall project cost.

Residents approved the $810,783 appropriation at a Nov. 29 meeting for the project, which seeks to install a geothermal system at Town Hall to improve efficiency. According to First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons, the current system has a reputation for unreliable environmental control, and the new system is expected to resolve that.

According to town officials, a new upgraded HVAC system will have to be undertaken due to the inadequate heating and cooling of the current system that the town hall utilizes, and the geothermal makes the most sense both fiscally and environmentally. The E.C. Scranton Memorial Library installed a geothermal system during a 2021 renovation, and officials say that it operates at a lower cost per kilowatt hour than its previous standard heating and cooling system.

“Every building is different on whether geothermal makes sense. Although it’s appropriate for many sites, some areas simply do not conform to geothermal systems,” said Lyons. “For Town Hall, this was determined quite a long time ago. This came out of the discussions when geothermal was installed at the library; there was also a push to do this at Town Campus.

According to Lyons, the Town Campus building dates back to the 1970s, and the HVAC system was updated in the early '90s when the Town purchased the building.

"So we are talking 30-plus years since the system has been here, and it has simply been failing a lot,” Lyons said. “As someone who lives in this building on a day-to-day basis, the temperature management is impossible. On top of that, it breaks down frequently. We did not have air conditioning in the Clerk’s office for several months, and we had times where we didn’t have heat for two weeks at a time."

What is geothermal technology? The science underlying geothermal is relatively simple; according to experts, when ambient temperatures are colder than the ground, a geothermal heat pump removes heat via collection devices filled with fluid and transfers it to the particular structure. Conversely, when ambient temperatures are warmer than the ground, the system’s heat pump removes heat from the building and transfers it underground.

In essence, geothermal is a relatively low-tech heat transfer system with little in the way of polluting off-gasses and is often more reliable than other methods. Traditional systems have harmful environmental emissions and require either fuels or electricity that requires fuels to function.

However, geothermal systems have critics who claim the systems require diligent maintenance and hands-on monitoring to ensure they are functioning at maximum proficiency, as well as greater startup/installation costs than traditional systems.

According to Lyons, the efficiency and federal funding potential make now a great time to take advantage and install the technology.

“The benefits to geothermal are the reduction in fossil fuel reliance by the Town. They are so much more efficient and more cost-effective for the Town. There are also a lot of incentives coming from the federal government that offset any additional costs for a geothermal system. That is why we are looking at this as an option with all of these renovation projects that are occurring in town,” Lyons said. “I am glad we got here finally. We have the budget in place, we have the money, we have used ARPA funds and also town money in CIP [Capital Improvement Projects].”

According to town documents, the full projected project expense that factors in “soft costs” is $2,410,783. Officials state that the project is currently funded to the tune of $1,600,000, leaving an additional $810,783 to cover the full project cost.

Lyons said there are still several potential sources for project rebates that would be awarded following the full project completion of the installation. Those include an IRS rebate potential of $860,000-900,000, as well as an Eversource rebate potential of $200,000 to $258,000, making potential project rebate estimates of up to $1,158,000.

“Even though we have appropriated the $800,000, the expectation is that we are going to get more than that back after all of the utility’s and federal funding,” Lyons said. “That will probably be 18 months or so until that funding comes through, as you have to complete the project, spend the money, and then you have to file for the funding through Eversource and the federal government. Our advisers are saying that other towns have been successful in doing this, so the expectation is that we will be able to receive this funding,” Lyons said.

The Town Campus includes four buildings; however, this project’s scope is limited to the Town Hall building only. Lyons said the construction start is estimated for some time this coming spring.

“The design has been finalized, and right now, we are just laying out how all of the various elements of the construction are going to work and be planned. From a public standpoint, there may be some disruptions here at town hall where some departments may have to work out of temporary spaces as we go through the system upgrades,” Lyons said. “It is quite an undertaking, and unfortunately, it will be disruptive to some of the departments, and so part of the planning process is scheduling and planning all of that. The good thing is it will be very efficient and hopefully reduce our energy bills, and it will be a better work environment for staff.”