-Geoexhange project one of six in B.C.-

OSOYOOS TIMES-July 23, 2008-

By Chad IngramrnOsoyoos Times

When residents of the soon-to-be-built Indigo condominium development go to adjust their thermostats, they will be using heat taken from below the Earth's surface to warm their homes.
Indigo is one of a number of new developments in B.C. that is partnering with Terasen Energy Services to install what the utility calls geoexchange heating and cooling systems.
The systems rely on heat collected in the ground and use a series of long, interconnected pipes drilled into the earth to extract it.
The pipes can reach more than 100 metres below the surface.
A fluid then passes through the pipes, extracting the heat, said Kristin Mucha, a spokeswoman for the utility.
Mucha said the heat extracted from the ground is typically about 9 C and is then upgraded by a heat pump before passing into a building's ducts.
During the summer months, the systems work in a reverse fashion.
In the summer, heat is extracted from the building and placed below the ground, creating a cooling loop, Mucha said.
She added that the systems use about 75 per cent less energy than traditional heating and cooling systems.
There are wonderful environmental benefits, she said.
Ken King, vice president of project development for the Vancouver-based Kingsway Group, the company behind the Indigo development, said there were a few reasons why his company had decided to go with geothermal heating for its new project.
There's a lot of uncertainty in the future of fossil fuels and the costs related to them, King said. So it provides security for the future.
King said the environmental benefits of the system were also a consideration and that when building in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Okanagan Valley, developers should be doing all they can to employ green building principles.
We hope to be a leader in that way, he said.
Two projects in Vancouver and Victoria that are currently under construction will also use geoexchange systems, Mucha said.
There are three other housing developments in the Lower Mainland that already use the systems.
She said the cost for consumers is comparable to that of traditional energy.
Construction on the 184-unit Indigo project, which is to stand at 8000 Cottonwood Drive, should be starting any time now, King said.
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