Smart Cities Dive
Summary
Geothermal systems leverage the relatively stable temperatures underground to transfer heat into buildings in the winter and out of them in the summer through a distribution network of underground pipes. Some systems can supply buildings with hot water as well, the DOE says.
In Duluth, Minnesota, community members have been pressuring the city to look into geothermal systems for years, and the $700,000 in DOE funding will allow it to finally do so, Duluth Sustainability Officer Mindy Granley said. Duluth plans to design a system that uses waste heat from a nearby wastewater and solid waste service provider to cover all heating loads in the disadvantaged neighborhood of Lincoln Park, Granley said.
Preliminary calculations show there could be enough additional heat available in the system to bring it to more than 100 downtown buildings already on a district energy system, Granley said. The city will also study the system’s potential to heat 215 public housing units in two buildings and a 15,000-square-foot community center, as well as its potential to melt ice and snow at bus stops and on sidewalks, she said.
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