QC-06-006 - Geothermal Standing Column Wells: Ten Years in a New England School PDF

A public middle school located in the Massachusetts town of Westborough is the first fully heated and cooled public school in New England using standing column geothermal wells. This successful geothermal retrofit has been functional since 1996. This paper details the performance of the geothermal system, including the performance of the standing column wells, their maintenance, and their overall heating and cooling costs.

The 200 ton installation utilizes six standing column wells for earth coupling. Twenty 10 ton water-to-water geo heat pump modules supply existing unit ventilators (after modification) and large air handlers. The in-place unit ventilators were refitted with new hydronic coils. This paper describes the installation, its costs, and its performance for the period from 1996 to late 2005 and illustrates the long-term thermal stability of a standing column well system.

Management of the project was fully integrated. The design engineers and architects were also the construction managers.