CARBONDALE - Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Library Storage annex is one of the largest geothermal energy projects in the state, thanks to a collaboration between the university and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.

The foundation, along with the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives, handed a $50,000 check to SIUC Plant Service Operations Director Phil Gatton last week to help pay for a 140-ton geothermal system centered in the basement of the campus' new temporary library storage facility on McLafferty Road. The system consists of 80 vertical liquid-filled tubes, reaching more than 300 feet into the ground, using the earth's natural geothermal heat to warm the building in winter and changing the heat into cool air in the summer.

The project is what AIEC Vice President of Operations John Freitag calls the cornerstone of the roughly 20 geothermal systems it has helped set up in Illinois.

Gatton said the system is a boon to the new building, which will house campus physical plant operations when it is no longer a temporary storage for materials during the Morris Library renovation.

"These are the types of projects we get pretty excited about," Gatton said.

Freitag said geothermal energy is the top of the line these days when one speaks about efficient and environmental heating and cooling systems. The best part of the project, he noted, is the roughly $21,000 SIUC should save each year to offset the initial higher costs of installing the system.

"The efficiencies are so high over time the costs of the system just pay for themselves," Freitag said.

Gatton estimated the university will recover costs from savings in a little less than five years.

Eight geothermal system dealers exist in the Jackson and Williamson county area, officials said. Typical four- or five-ton systems can be installed in residential homes for roughly $1,000 per ton.

"The systems tend to be pretty fool-proof, and not that much goes wrong with them," Freitag said. He has had a geothermal system in his home for the last five years.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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