Local builders installing geothermal energy systems

John Welek, owner of Welek Construction.

Several local developers and the Columbia Public Schools are turning to geothermal energy to provide heating, cooling and hot water to homeowners and school children.

At the new Boulder Springs condominiums and The Vistas subdivision, they’re discovering that going green can also save some green.

“According to the EPA, each house that uses geothermal energy takes one car off the road each year as far as energy consumption goes,” said John John, RE/MAX realtor and former Columbia City Councilman.

“Another big benefit is the monetary savings. An average home of 1,000 square feet takes only $60-65 per month to heat and cool.”

This gift from the ground is energy generated from heat created by the sun. Geothermal energy is used to heat and cool homes, instead of fossil fuels or electricity, and heat water. It also reduces heating and cooling energy consumption and costs by up to two-thirds during the course of a typical year.

“This technology has been around since the first oil crisis in the 1970s,” John said. “People are just becoming more aware as there becomes a need.”

Geothermal energy is the second largest source of heat to the Earth after solar energy and is concentrated in underground reservoirs, usually in the forms of steam, high-temperature water and hot rocks. The three applicable technology categories include geothermal heat pumps (GHP), which use the earth near its surface as a heat sink and heat source for heating and cooling; direct-use applications, which utilize naturally occurring geothermally heated water for heating; and electric power plants, which use electric turbines fed by geysers to generate electricity.

John Welek, owner of Welek Construction, is incorporating geothermal energy into all 90 homes in his new development, The Vistas at Old Hawthorne. Welek, who has been building large homes for the past 15 years, has incorporated geothermal energy in past projects and found the benefits to be substantial.

“One of the reasons the electric companies want to give us rebates is that the electric grid is maxed,” Welek said. “With the rebates offered to us and the type of construction we already do with efficiency windows and insulation, we knew that using geothermal would enhance our product.”

Travis and Brenda Rehagen, owners of Rehagen Heating & Cooling Inc., sold Welek the geothermal systems.

“One of the largest benefits is the environmental impact. Every unit has the carbon footprint offset equivalent of planting 297 trees. Between the 90 units, that’s 2,700 trees,” said Travis Rehagen. “For the trees we’ve taken out, we’ve replaced them tenfold. It’s like we’re creating a forest out here.”

Another major benefit of geothermal energy is the quality of the air produced, Brenda Rehagen said.

“We hear from our clients all the time that the air conditioning has a crisp, cool feeling compared to a conventional A/C,” she said. “This is because a conventional air conditioner pulls in outside air, which brings in moisture, whereas our units use the ground.”

The Vistas units use a vertical loop method to obtain geothermal energy. These closed loops, made of high-density polyethylene pipe, are buried in the earth to transfer heat by circulating a solution of water and environmentally safe antifreeze.

“Anywhere in Mid-Missouri, no matter what time of year, when you’re 5-feet-deep, the ground is always 58 degrees,” Travis Rehagen said. “With geothermal, the water furnace only has to raise the 58 degree temperature 14 degrees to get your home to 72 degrees.”

Columbia Public Schools are using geothermal energy in the new high school to be located in northeast Columbia, as well as retrofitting it into some older schools.
“What I get excited about is that we can bring it to everybody. With the vertical system ,you could put it in the middle of downtown Columbia or under your driveway, and you wouldn’t even know it was there; you don’t see an old air conditioner rusting away,” Welek said. “In Mid-Missouri wind power is out of the question, and nobody can afford solar, but we can put geothermal in every home in Columbia. Stand outside in the yard, and we’re right on top of our heating and cooling system.”