Industry
News
project and efforts by planners and communities to tackle energy and climate change
issues. The network will also feature an
online forum for discussion of energy and
climate issues. To join the network, please
email planning@eesi.org.
Geothermal Project to
Heat, Cool County Jail
Nebraska’s new Lincoln County jail will
go green with a geothermal heating and
cooling system, according to a May 4 article
in the Lincoln Journal Star. The system will
be built by District Energy Corp. (DEC), which
supplies utility services to 1. 5 million sq ft
of building space in local facilities owned by
the city, county and state. Both the geothermal system and the jail it will serve will
be completed in late 2011.
The geothermal system will be the
largest ever built for a U.S. jail. The DEC
will drill up to 725 geothermal wells on a
6.5-acre portion of the well field site, with
1. 25 acres available for future expansion.
The site has room for as many as 855 wells.
Total cost of the well field is estimated at
$2.5 million to $3 million. The DEC will also
construct an energy plant building and piping
network in conjunction with the project.
Since the jail will operate 24/7, it will
be a big energy user. To reduce its energy
costs, domestic hot water will be preheated
and recovered, the laundry will use an ozone
treatment that saves hot water, and other
energy-saving measures will be implemented.
The facility could also serve private businesses
in the area.
UNC Reclaimed Water
System Goes On Line
The University of North Carolina (UNC)
at Chapel Hill and OWASA (Orange Water
and Sewer Authority) announced May 6 that
the recently constructed reclaimed water
system serving facilities on the university’s
main campus went into operation. Reclaimed
water is being used in the cooling towers at
the Gary R. Tomkins Chilled Water Operations
Center and the South Chiller Plant.
The reclaimed water system provides
nonpotable water that has received advanced
treatment at OWASA’s Mason Farm Waste-water Treatment Plant, including filtration
and disinfection with ultraviolet light and
chlorine.
The new system will enable UNC to
reduce its use of drinking water for makeup
