GREEN LIVING
Mainstream Green
The Greens uses geothermal energy systems for heat, air conditioning and hot water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls this technology “The most energy efficient, environmentally friendly heating and cooling technology available.” It's eminently practical and may cost as low as a dollar a day. These homes become an investment utility — with a payback that starts on day one, and runs forever.
Geothermal energy is quite simple. It takes the heat from the earth to provide superior warmth in the winter, while transferring a home’s heat underground in the summer. This system also provides free fuel for heating water year round.
Durable polyethylene pipes are buried 150 feet beneath the earth and filled with fluid. The earth keeps this fluid a constant 56° year round.
 The underground pipe system works in conjunction with a heat extraction system, an inside unit about the size of a washing machine. During the winter months the pipe system takes the heat from the earth and transfers it into the heat extraction system, where it makes the small adjustment needed to bring the air to the desired room temperature. In the summer, the system is reversed and heat is siphoned from the home and deposited into the cooler earth.
Geothermal systems are practically free of maintenance. Polyethylene pipes are expected to last more than 50 years. The indoor heat exchanger runs quietly and has few moving parts able to wear out. That noisy and unsightly outside air conditioning unit is gone, as are annual HVAC checkups. Just replace the system's filter every three months.
There is no combustion or emissions anywhere in the process, just fresh, clean air every day. The system is about 400 percent more efficient than the most energy efficient alternative. In fact, Congress has created tax credit incentives for installing geothermal heating and cooling as part of the Energy Bill.
This village alone will eliminate about 400 tons of carbon emissions while saving 25 million BTUs every year. That’s equivalent to adding 30,000 mature oxygen-producing trees to the landscape each and every year the units operate.
Geothermal energy is easy, green and forever.
Here at The Greens, we are digging wells to provide access to the earth's continuous 56° temperature as the fuel source to both heat and cool the homes.
Working with the planet creates a system that’s more than a match for Missouri’s weather, providing a constant source of fuel for heating and cooling and pre-heating hot water.
Geothermal systems are practically free of maintenance with pipes expected to last more than 50 years. Few moving parts mean not much is capable of wearing out. The only maintenance involves an air filter every three months, just like a gas-fired furnace.
There's more to this story. The Geoexchange Consortium estimates that every dollar in energy savings returns five dollars in resale value. |
