Left to right: Students Morgan Wood, Kenyatta Torrence, Director of Sponsored Programs Shelli Cordisco, Student Trustee Tom Flynn, student Sohaid Reid
Initial work will begin Thursday and Friday on SUNY Broome’s new geothermal heating system, which will be installed under the Quad and heat the Mechanical Building and the Business Building.
Contractors will be drilling a geotechnical test well in the Quad, which will ultimately become one of the more than 30 wells used in the geothermal system. Heavy equipment will be located in the Quad area near the Mechanical and Business buildings. Please avoid this area while work is being done.
A contractor will also be on site Jan. 17 to drill a geothermal test well. Large-scale drilling for the remainder of the wells is slated to begin in May.
Last year, the college received a $1 million grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to build a Geothermal Learning Laboratory that will not only show students how the underground system harnesses energy stored in the earth, but save a surprising amount of money – an estimated $200,000 to $300,000 a year in energy costs.
The project, which is part of the complete renovation of the Mechanical Building slated to take place this year, is expected to result in the avoidance of 135 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
