R


The operating costs for a


esidents in the 36 apartments located at Mountain View Terrace are benefiting from geothermal heating and cooling, installed when it opened in 2015.


Geothermal energy is produced by accessing hot water deep below the earth’s surface. Geothermal power plants use the steam from hot water to produce electricity. Steam creates energy that rotates a turbine. Te turbine activates a generator producing electricity with only water vapor as a waste product.


geothermal system are considerably


less expensive than the cost of natural gas, propane, or a


traditional heat pump’s compressor.


Dave Albright, Director of Project Management at EGStoltzus, explains the benefits of this kind of system. “A ground source heating system is beneficial because it utilizes the constant temperature underground for heating and cooling, rather than burning fossil fuels for heat, or human-made refrigerants and compressors for cooling. As a result, the operating costs for a geothermal system are considerably less expensive than the cost of natural gas, propane, or a traditional heat pump’s compressor.”


He adds, “Geothermal is not the only “green” technology used at Mountain View Terrace. Photovoltaic solar panels also provide some of the electricity used in the building. In addition, we were intentional about using recycled construction materials where possible and 15% of the wood products used were engineered materials.”


Eric Hess from Sharpe Engineering helped provide mechanical, plumbing, and electrical drawings for the project. He notes that when installing geothermal systems, it is not unusual to go down 400 feet or more to get the right amounts of pressure and temperature. While a single-family home might only need one or two wells, this effort took 16. He also remarks, “Because the equipment is located underground and indoors, it lasts longer. And the compressors are not working as hard since the source of temperature doesn’t fluctuate wildly like traditional systems.”


Ed Kaminski, Director of Landis Quality Living, said, “Te use of these greener technologies also assisted in the application process for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. With the award process being very competitive, the use of renewable energy gave an extra boost to the application.”


Mountain View Terrace is a partnership between Welsh Mountain Home, Landis Communities and HDC MidAtlantic bringing affordable housing to seniors 62 and older with lower than median income.


Landis.org | FLOURISH | Summer 2023 • 5


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