PGW explores heating, cooling a Philly school and city rec center with geothermal energy

Philadelphia Gas Works said Monday that it is exploring the use of geothermal energy to heat and cool a Philadelphia School District building and city recreation center as a foray into using renewable energy sources.

The city-owned gas utility is seeking a firm to study how to install a closed-loop, geothermal system capable of powering heat pumps for John F. McCloskey Elementary School and Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Center next door in East Mount Airy.

PGW, the nation’s largest municipally owned gas utility, has been under pressure in recent years to explore other energy sources.

The study “is a critical step in the near term to identify strategies to help diversify the revenue of PGW, sustain jobs, reduce emissions, and offer customers a variety of cost-saving energy efficiency options,” Seth Shapiro, PGW’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

In 2021, Philadelphia released a study that identified ways PGW could diversity its business model to lower carbon emissions. Establishing geothermal networks was one of the suggestions.

Further, groups such as the nonprofit POWER Interfaith, a group of 50 area congregations, has also been pushing PGW to adopt geothermal energy as a way of addressing climate change.

Any new air-cooling system would be welcome relief in Philadelphia, where many schools swelter without conventional air-conditioning when temperatures rise.

“We have been advocating for PGW to conduct a networked geothermal pilot project for several years,” said Mitch Chanin, a member of POWER Interfaith. “We’re glad to see PGW taking this step.”

Most geothermal systems circulate water or an antifreeze solution through copper or plastic tubing buried in the ground, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Geothermal systems take advantage of steady, mild underground temperatures. In winter, water running through the loop absorbs the earth’s heat and carries it into the heat pump. It does the reverse in summer by capturing the building’s heat and bringing it underground.

Geothermal systems, which are considered renewable energy, are more efficient than traditional heating and cooling systems and require less maintenance.

PGW did not provide estimates for cost or timing for installation.

The $500,000 study is part of PGW’s effort to look at how to tap clean energy in the future. Potential firms to conduct the study have until April 15 to submit proposals on how they will examine the geology of the area, where they would place underground borings, and how they would design the system.

If installed, the geothermal network would serve as a pilot for PGW to explore additional networks.

An exploration of geothermal energy comes at a crucial time for the school district, which operates 300 buildings and educates about 114,000 students in traditional public schools and nearly 200,000 including in charters. But the district has an estimated $8 billion in unmet facilities needs and is in the midst of its first comprehensive facilities-planning process in years.

The average age of a district building is 74. The oldest building, Francis Scott Key Elementary in South Philadelphia, was built in 1891.

Many schools have significant heating needs. Further, 63 buildings do not have air-conditioning. Most that are considered adequately cooled still don’t have air-conditioning in large common spaces like gyms, hallways, and cafeterias.

“By partnering with Philadelphia Gas Works to explore innovative energy solutions within our schools, we aim to provide clean and efficient heating and cooling options, enhance our school environment, reduce costs, and be part of a key initiative that helps pave the way for equitable, sustainable energy strategies that benefit all Philadelphians,” said Oz Hill, the district’s deputy superintendent of operations.

McCloskey is one of the schools without air-conditioning; when temperatures soar, students there are dismissed early or must learn remotely, while students in air-conditioned buildings remain in class.

PGW said it met with representatives from the city and other experts involved in previous geothermal projects to determine what locations work best for geothermal. It and the school district focused on systems that are aged and inefficient, with older boilers, within environmental justice communities, and that lack air-conditioning.

It settled on the McCloskey school for those reasons and because it had nearby open space for geothermal wells. The agreement between PGW and the district also authorizes another school, Lankenau High School in Roxborough, to be evaluated “only if deemed necessary.”

Victoria Flemming, interim executive director of the Office of Environmental Management and Services for the school district, said that PGW approached the district with the pilot idea and that officials were keen to join in an effort to pursue clean energy sources.

McCloskey, built in 1956, uses oil heating.

”We’ll see the largest benefit if we switch to a geothermal system as far as reduction of greenhouse gases,” Flemming said. “It aligns with just having a healthier, safer learning environment and improved air quality, and energy savings. ”The plan is evaluate the data once the geothermal system is up and running.”

“This kind of pilot lays the footwork for being more-informed, to see how it works, and then to be able to expand or scale up if it makes sense,” Flemming said.

McCloskey wouldn’t be the first school in the district using geothermal energy: Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, built in 2010, has geothermal heating and cooling. Although PGW supplies gas to the school, it was not involved with the geothermal system.