LoopLink PRO Now Included with IGSHPA Geothermal Design Course Top designers of commercial geothermal systems at some point become IGSHPA Certified GeoExchange Designers (CGD). The CGD course has always included video instruction and support from the author of the IGSHPA design manual, tools, exercises, and exam fees. Starting in… Continue reading “LoopLink PRO Now Included with IGSHPA Geothermal Design Course”
How to Take the IGSHPA Geothermal Certification Exam This is a short video explaining how the IGSHPA Geothermal Installer Certification exam works. The process has changed significantly in the past year – for the better – and we’re excited about how easy it is for students to take… Continue reading “How to Take the IGSHPA Geothermal Certification Exam”
Online IGSHPA Geothermal Certification Course Now Available Between 2007 and 2011, we helped certify several thousand geothermal installers at 3-day workshops around the country. Oil and gas were expensive, and the industry was going through a big growth spurt. Over the past several years that growth has… Continue reading “Online IGSHPA Geothermal Certification Course Now Available”
John Siegenthaler Reviews Heat Pumps In the article below, John Siegenthaler, Principal of Appropriate Designs, explains how air-to-water heat pumps offer new opportunities for hydronic pros. At the end of the article, John runs the numbers to answer the question: “How does the performance of… Continue reading “John Siegenthaler Reviews Heat Pumps”
Success Begets Success: Why Your Trip to Ball State’s GeoCon is a Great Investment in the Future of Your Business I’m not a fisherman, but I have plenty of stories about the one that got away. Big, fantastic opportunities don’t come along frequently, so they tend to catch us off guard. Ball State is the one that didn’t get away.… Continue reading “Success Begets Success: Why Your Trip to Ball State’s GeoCon is a Great Investment in the Future of Your Business”
Real Time Data on Actual Geothermal COPs – Part 2 of Lessons Learned from 100,000 Hours+ of Real Time Geothermal Monitoring Data This is a very nervous time for the geothermal industry and I can feel it when I’m on the phone with installers. There’s a lot of geothermal companies that have been around for 20+ years and now there’s a lot… Continue reading “Real Time Data on Actual Geothermal COPs – Part 2 of Lessons Learned from 100,000 Hours+ of Real Time Geothermal Monitoring Data”
Lessons Learned from 100,000 Hours+ of Real Time Geothermal Monitoring Data – Part 1 This is a guest article by Matt Davis, co-founder of Ground Energy Support (GES). GES provides a top quality real time monitoring package for monitoring geothermal heat pumps. Matt is an expert in geothermal monitoring. Matt has over 25 years of experience… Continue reading “Lessons Learned from 100,000 Hours+ of Real Time Geothermal Monitoring Data – Part 1”
ASHP vs GSHP and The Importance of SEER and EER in Utility Air Conditioning Demand Side Management Programs Update: this article does not include the new regional efficiency standards that took effect on Jan 1, 2015. See this article on furnacecompare.com for updated definitions. The following post is by Mark Faulkenberry, Manager Marketing & Communications and Kalun Kelley,… Continue reading “ASHP vs GSHP and The Importance of SEER and EER in Utility Air Conditioning Demand Side Management Programs”
Performance Based Contracting is the Future of the Residential Geothermal Business. Prove Me Wrong (Screen shot of the Ground Energy Support Geothermal Monitoring dashboard) If you’re serious about geothermal, you need to be monitoring your projects in real time. Click here to buy a Ground Energy Support monitoring package. Note, I advise Ground Energy… Continue reading “Performance Based Contracting is the Future of the Residential Geothermal Business. Prove Me Wrong”
How New England Can Eliminate Oil Use For Single Family Homes for Less Than We’re Spending on Solar PV I first published this post in Renewable Energy World and it received a lot of comments, mostly getting into all the silly technical details of geothermal and not addressing how to implement policy to eliminate oil use. My hope is… Continue reading “How New England Can Eliminate Oil Use For Single Family Homes for Less Than We’re Spending on Solar PV”
The Most Complete List of Commercial Geothermal Cost Data This is a list of the best resources I’ve been able to find for commercial and public geothermal projects. We need to be creating more case studies in order to reduce risk for property owners. By showing property owners, specifically… Continue reading “The Most Complete List of Commercial Geothermal Cost Data”
Geothermal and Solar Installers: Get to Know Your Municipal Utility (It’s not a Waste of Time) “Municipal utilities are more open to trying new things than investor-owned utilities.” This is the lesson I took away from my visit to the Wyandotte Municipal Services as part of a delegation from the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. They’ve… Continue reading “Geothermal and Solar Installers: Get to Know Your Municipal Utility (It’s not a Waste of Time)”
State-by-State Comparison of Geothermal Heat Pump Legislation I want to thank John Rhyner, Greg Mueller and LI Geo for putting together this report. If you’re new to legislation around renewable thermal technologies this article will provide you a great overview and direction for where you can get… Continue reading “State-by-State Comparison of Geothermal Heat Pump Legislation”
A Guaranteed 5 Year, $100/MWh FIT For Renewable Thermal Sources Could Eliminate Oil Use for Single Family Homes in Vermont “A Simple Plan for Eliminating Oil Usage for Single Family Homes in Vermont” was the message of my talk at Renewable Energy Vermont 2012 last Monday. If you’re working in the renewable energy industry in Vermont, you should join REV.… Continue reading “A Guaranteed 5 Year, $100/MWh FIT For Renewable Thermal Sources Could Eliminate Oil Use for Single Family Homes in Vermont”
Two Things I Learned at the 2012 IGSHPA Conference On Tuesday October 2nd we hosted an evening program titled, “How to Make Money in Renewable Energy” for 45 brave souls who traveled to Indianapolis for the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) Conference. These were the panelists: Allan… Continue reading “Two Things I Learned at the 2012 IGSHPA Conference”
Inside Implementing the New Hampshire Thermal REC Program This post is part of a series to do a state by state in-depth analysis of current research, policy and other legislation in New England that is impacting, or has the ability to impact the geothermal industry. An in-depth analysis… Continue reading “Inside Implementing the New Hampshire Thermal REC Program”
New England Geothermal Policy Update, Review, and Next Steps: Massachusetts This is the first piece on geothermal lobbying efforts that I’m completing in addition to other industry communications and research efforts. In the next few weeks, I’ll be publishing information on the current state of policy and next steps in… Continue reading “New England Geothermal Policy Update, Review, and Next Steps: Massachusetts”
11 Reasons to Attend the Colorado Geothermal Heat Pump Conference Generation Geo 2012 Conference & Expo is the only event in the Rocky Mountain region to examine the most critical elements influencing the adoption of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) into today’s built environment. Generation Geo, Sept 27 – 28, will explore… Continue reading “11 Reasons to Attend the Colorado Geothermal Heat Pump Conference”
Taking Geothermal to the Next Level –> First Steps to Building A Lobbying, Research and Communications Juggernaut The geothermal industry has reached a point where technical competence is no longer a bottleneck to the growth of the industry. WE KNOW how to design projects that work. Now, there are a few more items that are holding us… Continue reading “Taking Geothermal to the Next Level –> First Steps to Building A Lobbying, Research and Communications Juggernaut”
“How To Make Money in Renewable Energy” Meet-Up at the 2012 IGSHPA Conference Going to the IGSHPA conference in Indy? If so, let us buy you a drink. HeatSpring Learning Institute, GeoConnections, and ClimateMaster are hosting a meet-up for business owners in town for the IGSHPA Conference. Tuesday October 2nd – 7-9pm – Cost: Free… Continue reading ““How To Make Money in Renewable Energy” Meet-Up at the 2012 IGSHPA Conference”