NY-GEO Top Jobs 2024 Presented by GeoStar
The objective of the GEOSTAR Top Job Competition is to highlight and recognize the incredible talent, creativity and imagination that geothermal system designers and installers are bringing to the market. Additionally, these excellent case studies communicate to those outside the industry the variety of ways that geothermal heat pump technology can be applied. This year’s awardees have met the challenge!
Top Job Committee Chair:
- Joanne Coons / NY-GEO Volunteer
TOP JOB AWARD RECIPIENTS
TOP JOB AWARD RECIPIENTS
555 GREENWICH
555 Greenwich, located in Manhattan's Hudson Square neighborhood, is a prime example of such innovation. This 270,000 square-foot, 17-story all-electric office building, rated LEED Platinum, uses 40% less electricity than comparable Class A office buildings and saves 800,000gallons of water per year by not using evaporative cooling. Built on a formerly contaminated industrial site, it incorporates advanced energy systems to create a highly sustainable workspace. One of the project's unique challenges was designing a seamless structural and mechanical connection to the adjacent building at 345 Hudson Street, while also integrating a deep caisson foundation system for thermal energy storage and delivery. The foundation system, part of a hybrid GSHP and ASHP setup, contributes significantly to the building’s energy efficiency.
SMITH RESIDENCE
Built in 1910 as the home of the Jackson Perkins family, this 6,000 sqft home was once family home and the rose capital of the world. Hal Smith chose to embrace whole house electrification and heat pump ready process by insulation and air sealing the house and installing a commercial grade VRF heat recovery GSHP. This allows for each room and guest to have independent controls of their space to ensure desired comfort. Additionally, the same VRF system supplies all of the domestic hot water to the house and the 18 bathrooms. It boasts two 10-ton heat pumps and 30 duct free wall units as well as a hydro kit for domestic hot water. The 20-ton ground loop is actually 3 separate loop systems consisting of 9,000 of HDPE, stacked and fit into a tight space. Making a 114-year large historical home heat pump ready and to serve it with a ground source system was a large and complex undertaking, but in the end, Halco with our partners at VP Supply, have done just that, taken an old home headed by an old inefficient steam boiler and no air conditioning.
A NEIGHBORHOOD in FRAMINGHAM, MA
Committed to advancing New England's clean energy future, Eversource Energy is leading a groundbreaking geothermal pilot project in Framingham, Massachusetts. This initiative aims to test the feasibility of utility-operated, community-scale geothermal networks to affordably heat and cool homes and businesses. If successful, the project could accelerate our nation's shift to renewable energy, offering a blueprint for utility companies nationwide to provide clean energy through geothermal solutions to all communities.
The pilot covers a section of Framingham with a one-mile loop of main pipes and 88 geothermal boreholes in 3 borefields. Serving 36 buildings including a community college, four commercial buildings, 10 multifamily, and 22 single-family homes, the system will benefit 140 utility customers. The conditioned space serviced by the system amounts to approximately 1.78 million cubic feet, with a planned heating and cooling capacity of 375 tons. This configuration will offer valuable insights into the relationship between bore field design and conditioned space, helping to establish metrics for future projects.