BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – While looking at the grand architecture of the early 1900s, many people see stoic red brick or sweeping lines of sculpture carved into stone. Illinois Wesleyan University Director of the Physical Plant Bud Jorgensen sees missed opportunities.
“When this building was constructed about 80 years ago, they were practically giving energy away,” said Jorgensen as he walked past Presser Hall on the edge of the University’s Eckley Quadrangle. “It was built without any insulation. And why not? It was cheaper to pay for the energy than it was to install insulation.”
Nearly a century has passed, and now the University faces a world of soaring energy prices, and a dawning global awareness of the environmental impact of decades of unchecked energy consumption. “The United States is six percent of the world’s population, which uses 30 percent of the world’s energy, and it is taking a toll,” said Jorgensen, who is one of the people helping oversee the construction of the Minor Myers jr. Welcome Center, scheduled to open this fall. “We know something has to change.”
As part of Illinois Wesleyan’s continuing efforts to create a more ecologically friendly or “sustainable” campus, the University leaders decided to install geothermal heating and cooling units in the Welcome Center. The units are just one of many sustainable features planned for the new Center, which leaders expect will be certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be the first LEED-certified building on campus and in the city of Bloomington.
What is geothermal?
Geothermal technology has been around in some form since the Roman Empire, but has only recently emerged into prominence for modern builders over the last few decades. “The whole idea is taking advantage of heat stored in the ground and using it like a large solar battery,” said Jorgensen, who noted the earth absorbs about 47 percent of solar radiation, keeping the planet’s crust at a relatively constant temperature of 55 degrees.
The geothermal system will consist of a series of pipes and small pumps, which push an antifreeze solution through the pipes and circulate it throughout the building. The Welcome Center will have 18 “wells,” or series of pipes descending 250 feet into the earth. Compressors will help regulate the building’s temperature at 72 degrees.