Mars Hill College going green

An excerpt from a recent press release from Mars Hill College:

One of the most innovative aspects of the newest building at Mars Hill College hides deep underground, and will never be seen. Almost 300 feet below the surface, 96 closed loops of water gurgle upward to flow into the ducts of the Ferguson Math and Science Center, then through the building and down again in an endless cycle.

This continuous circulation of the same water may seem at first like an exercise in futility. In reality, it is part of a cutting-edge method of heating and cooling called geothermal engineering.
Depending on latitude, the temperature underground remains stable year-round at around 52 to 56 degrees. A geothermal system sends water in endless loops underground, then through the heating and cooling system of the building. The system uses the stable temperature underground to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool the building. That in turn means less negative impact on the environment from the use of fossil fuels, with the added bonus of saving money over the long-term.

"It's really just a fancy heat pump," said Mars Hill College Director of Facilities Management Bill Lovins. "In the summer, when it's 80 degrees outside, instead of using 80 degree air to transfer heat, our system is using 52 degree water, and when it is 30 degrees outside we are still using the 52 degree water. This constant supply of 52 degree water makes this system much more efficient than a conventional one."

The geothermal heating and cooling system in Ferguson Math and Science Center is one of the more ground-breaking steps taken at Mars HillCollege recently to move toward more environmentally-friendly materials and practices. But according to Dr. Dan Lunsford, president of the college, it is only one of several ways in which the college has tackled the issue of moving toward a "greener" campus.

"We have done a number of things on campus over the past year or two designed to use energy more efficiently, to decrease our overall energy consumption, to reduce waste, and to reduce our effect on the green spaces on campus. And we have done this while increasing the square footage of space devoted to education," Lunsford said.