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A L S O I N S PA C E : 61 Water, Water Everywhere The new Herring Run Watershed Center saves both water and money
65 The Drawing Board Fred Scharmen reinvents the waterfront
Journey to the Center of the
EARTH
BY SCOTT CARLSON
P HO TO GRAP HY BY DANI E L SHE A
geothermal systems tap the energy in the earth to heat and cool homes
E
d Hord gives the faintest wry grin as he gestures to his driveway. “So,” he says, “what do you think of the geothermal?” He’s joking, of course, because there is nothing to see. Far beneath the crushed gravel of his car pad, loops of high-density polyethylene pipes containing a water-and-alcohol mixture extend down some three hundred feet through dirt and rock, where temperatures stay a constant 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Hord’s geothermal system uses that constant temperature to heat and cool his house, saving up to 70 percent of the energy used by a conventional furnace or air conditioner. But outside Hord’s house, there is no wacky gizmo making a statement about energy efficiency or environmental sensibility—no solar panels or wind-powered turbines. With nothing to see or hear, it’s no wonder most people aren’t familiar with geothermal, even though it is generating a lot of buzz in green-building circles. Hord was familiar with geothermal technology from his work as an architect and principal in the Baltimore firm Hord Coplan Macht. But after he decided to install it in his own home, he got puzzled inquiries about it from friends and neighbors. “People would say to me, ‘Are you plugging into the magma?’” he says, chuckling. “It’s surprising how little people know about it.” Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have said that geothermal represents a huge untapped energy source for the country. China recently passed the United States in geothermal installations, mainly because of its size. Austria and Sweden lead the world in per capita geothermal installations; in Sweden, most
What lies beneath: Installing the underground pipes of a residential geothermal system can be expensive, but over time, the investment can pay off.
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