Skidmore College: A Case Study

Skidmore University has been using geothermal to heat about 35% of their campus already. Read below to find out more!

Skidmore College is a liberal arts school in Saratoga Springs, New York. Sustainability is a priority on Skidmore campus- 35% of its buildings are heated and cooled by geothermal energy, 20% of the campus's energy needs are provided by Skidmore's solar field and hydroelectric dam. They are in the midst of a new geothermal project for their new Center for Integrated Sciences (CIS). This new project will increase the number of geothermal heated buildings to 45%.

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This geothermal design helped the Parlor City Geo team understand why district geothermal heating is ideal for college campuses. District geothermal works best when there is variety in heating needs in an area. If all buildings in the geothermal loop had the same heating or cooling needs at the same time, that energy would just be drawn from the ground or dumped into the ground. This is how individual building geothermal systems work. The benefit of community geo loops is that the energy from one building can be transferred to another rather than into the ground, decreasing the need for extra energy to be used to manage those buildings.

Skidmore has opted to use a combination of district geothermal and individual geothermal systems. For residential buildings that have pretty similar temperature control needs to each other, they have implemented individual geothermal systems. Currently, Skidmore has three district geothermal fields. Only two are actively being used in buildings right now and the third is ready for future geothermal projects once their current (fossil fueled) systems need to be replaced.

Lessons we learned from Skidmore

- District geothermal can reduce the number of bore holes needed for a number of buildings.

- District geothermal peak efficiency relies on buildings having different heating and cooling needs.

- it is feasible to construct a bore field in advance of a new project and wait for current building systems to need replacing. This allows for more bore holes to be drilled at once, reducing overall time areas would be closed off for construction.

A big thank you to Ms. Jennifer Natyzak, the Sustainability Director at Skidmore College, for speaking with us!