DFI Magazine September/October 2020 - 125

GUEST

EDITORIAL

Incentives for Going Geothermal
COVID-19 has changed many things about
our daily lives. Most impactful for me has
been the reduction in all forms of travel and
a move to online meetings (Zoom? Teams?!
I'd never heard of them 6 months ago!). I
had always preferred face-to-face meetings,
but the realization that virtual sessions can
be very successful was a revelation.
With the decrease in travel, we are seeing
reductions in CO2 emissions; but the
question remains: Are we doing enough to
limit global warming? Recent press articles
continue to bring the climate message home.
Two in particular caught my attention:
* The European Space Agency reported
that Antarctic ice melt has reached
some 4,000 gigatons since 1994 -
enough meltwater to fill America's
Grand Canyon.
* The water level of Lake Michigan
reached 579.82 ft, or 176.73 m. This is
the highest level on record since July
1998! The result is erosion of banks and
loss of homes around the lakeshore.
Whatever your views of the scientific
evidence, our landscape and world is
changing at an ever-increasing pace in front
of our eyes.

Moving to the U.S. brought
the opportunity to oversee one of
the largest energy foundation
projects in the world on a tech
campus in California. For me, it
was a dream come true. Sadly,
there is still an 'old school
mentality' that suggests that the
way we have been designing our systems is
fine ... "Why should we change it?" some
ask. Well, as I've discovered, as with
adjusting to no travel and online meetings,
change is needed, and change can be good!
Currently, geothermal installation costs
are greater than a conventional heating and
cooling system. Paybacks typically take 8plus years. The true benefit of a geothermal
solution is that on its own, it can deliver a
60% to 65% carbon reduction to a
building. Integrate the geothermal solution
with solar photovoltaic (PV) device and
perhaps battery storage, and then you get
closer to being at zero carbon.
I understand the reluctance, but the
benefits are so important. Utilizing and
installing geothermal loops into building
foundations helps alleviate this additional

Tony Amis, Senior Vice President,
GIEnergy, Co-Chair, DFI Energy
Foundations Committee

cost when compared to the more
traditional geothermal approach of
purpose drilling 300 ft to 500 ft (91.4 m to
152.4 m) boreholes in and around the site.
There have been several times when I've
been told this approach is a no-brainer, but
then pursuing this solution gets tied up in a
frustrating fashion: hearing that "this is not
the way things are normally done," or that union
requirements would add additional costs.

Regulatory Developments
To drive renewable energy solutions in the
U.S., the federal government has put in
place tax incentives that would include
energy foundations and geothermal
solutions. These tax incentives help reduce
installation costs by 30% to 40%, and
extend to buildings' heating, ventilation
and cooling (HVAC) systems that are
connected to a geothermal solution.

Energy Piles Installed in the UK & Resultant Annual CO2 Savings to Date at Aug 2020

Energy Piles (cumulative)
Tonnes of CO2 Savings Annually

Tonnes of CO2 Being Saved Annually

Fifteen years ago, I moved out of managing
large foundation projects after 25 very
happy years in the industry, with the belief
that I could do my part to help save the
planet. I wanted to raise the profile of
carbon-reducing, ground-sourced heating
and cooling solutions, largely with a focus
on getting geothermal loops installed into
building foundations. To begin with, there
was significant traction and interest in the
U.K. market from developers, consultants
and contractors wanting to make a
statement and show out-of-the-box
thinking on bids and developments. By the
end of 2017, some 60 projects, including
many very prestigious buildings, had been
completed in the U.K. with energy
foundation solutions.

Total Energy Piles Installed to Date

Geothermal Benefits

DEEP FOUNDATIONS * SEPT/OCT 2020 * 125
DFI Magazine September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DFI Magazine September/October 2020
