{"id":31324,"date":"2025-07-13T18:43:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T01:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/chicago-area-school-district-deploys-geothermal-system-thats-a-us-first\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T18:43:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T01:43:05","slug":"chicago-area-school-district-deploys-geothermal-system-thats-a-us-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/chicago-area-school-district-deploys-geothermal-system-thats-a-us-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago-area school district deploys geothermal system that\u2019s a US first"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">4 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dmgi9movl\/video\/upload\/q_1\/v1752079266\/news\/text_to_speech\/chicago-area-school-district-deploys-geothermal-system-Trane-North-Shore-112_vjd8fc.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>A novel geothermal heating and cooling system will keep approximately 68,000 square feet of building space comfortable while significantly reducing energy costs at a 130-year-old elementary school in the Chicago suburbs, Trane Technologies <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trane.com\/commercial\/north-america\/us\/en\/about-us\/newsroom\/press-releases\/trane-north-shore-school-district-112-dcl-geothermal-system.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>said June 30<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>The dynamic closed loop geothermal system in Highland Park, Illinois, which taps \u201cthe superior heat transfer properties of flowing water,\u201d has a much smaller surface footprint than some other geothermal designs, making it ideal for suburban schools, Trane says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>North Shore School District 112 combined local, state and federal incentives to offset as much as 50% of the $6.7 million project cost. The system should reduce the facility\u2019s carbon emissions by about 30% while trimming operations and maintenance costs, Trane says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Education institutions are increasingly interested in geothermal systems, with <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facilitiesdive.com\/news\/higher-education-college-university-geothermal-projects-heating-cooling-energy\/721239\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>colleges and universities from Colorado to Vermont<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> studying or actively building infrastructure to more efficiently heat and cool campus buildings.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>North Shore School District 112\u2019s DCL system at Ravinia Elementary School is the first of its kind to be deployed in the United States, Trane says.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>DCL systems absorb and reject heat into subsurface water. That water\u2019s depth and flow rate varies from place to place, thus any facility owner considering a DCL system should conduct a geological study to confirm that the local resource is adequate, Trane Technologies Turnkey Project Developer Andy O\u2019Fallon said in an email.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>If it\u2019s not, traditional dry-rock geothermal could be more cost-effective. But those systems typically require <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facilitiesdive.com\/news\/grountwater-geothermal-heat-pump-energy-efficiency-heating-cooling\/712192\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>more boreholes and have a larger physical footprint<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cThe decision to pursue either option depends primarily on the available land area and hydrogeology,\u201d O\u2019Fallon said. \u201cThis site does not have land area to accommodate the traditional geothermal option.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Whereas a similarly sized traditional geothermal system might need 50 wells, the system at Ravinia has just three wells drilled down 10-inch boreholes, O\u2019Fallon said. If the aquifer\u2019s flow rates match \u201cthe ideal predicted design,\u201d each well could produce up to 150 tons of cooling and 50 tons of heating at full capacity, O\u2019Fallon added.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Above ground, the system has more than 50 water-source heat pumps, plus a single-cell cooling tower for backup cooling and an electric boiler for backup heating if needed. The heat pumps exchange thermal energy with a building water loop that runs between 40 degrees and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, O\u2019Fallon said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The school district already had a working relationship with Trane, which helped overcome officials\u2019 initial hesitation about deploying an unfamiliar technology, James Bock, the district\u2019s director of operations, facilities and transportation, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ShRAXAuRAyU\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>says in a video<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> describing the project.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWe knew, because of our relationship with Trane, [that] they were bringing us something that was definitely worth taking a look at,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>School District 112 deployed the DCL system as part of a bigger renovation project, according to O\u2019Fallon. Other district facilities have had retrofits to improve their sustainability recently, including roof-mounted solar panels and building automation upgrades, he added.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Trane worked with the district\u2019s accounting firm to provide technical documentation it needed to support its application for federal clean energy tax credits, O\u2019Fallon added.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d President Trump <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.utilitydive.com\/news\/house-passes-senate-megabill-trump-ira-tax-credit\/752276\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>signed on July 4<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> significantly shortens the eligibility window for those credits and adds new restrictions that experts say could make them all but impossible to qualify for.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/chicago-area-school-district-deploys-geothermal-system-Trane-North-Shore-112\/752593\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 4 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive &#8230; <a title=\"Chicago-area school district deploys geothermal system that\u2019s a US first\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/chicago-area-school-district-deploys-geothermal-system-thats-a-us-first\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Chicago-area school district deploys geothermal system that\u2019s a US first\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}