Parkway South High School To Power Some Of Its Energy From Underground Heat

Parkway South High School in Manchester this year will use geothermal energy, an uncommonly used form of renewable energy, to power its heating and cooling systems.

Parkway School District plans will soon install the geothermal units, which use heat from the earth. The $2.4 million system, which will replace the school’s aging chillers, was largely funded by a recent bond issue.

Replacing the chillers with cooling towers would have been less expensive than the geothermal units. But the geothermal units would save the school district $1.9 million over 30 years, said Erik Leuders, director of purchasing and sustainability at the Parkway School District.

“[Cooling towers] wouldn’t yield nearly as much the energy savings and on top of that, a conventional system needs to be replaced much more frequently,” Leuders said.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/parkway-south-high-school-power-some-its-energy-underground-heat