Ikea digs deep to go green

Great big stores cost a fortune to heat and leave a huge carbon footprint, so both economic and environmental self-interest argues for innovation. Walmart has put windmills in a few of its parking lots; Target has plants on some of its roofs to harvest rainwater and cool the stores in summer. Now Ikea, the world's favorite Swedish home furnisher, is trying to give America a gentle shove into using renewable resources. It is working with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to use underground heat to manage temperatures inside its new 415,000-sq.-ft. (38,550 sq m) retail store near Denver, scheduled to open next year.


Geothermal heat pumps take advantage of the fact that while the earth's surface temperatures can sizzle in summer and plunge in winter, underground things stay nice and moderate — generally 45°F to 75°F (2°C to 24°C). In Colorado, Ikea will drill 130 holes to a depth of 500 ft. (150 m) beneath the building's parking garage and install pipes that send liquid down to capture that perfect temperature and run it back up to a heat pump. The pump can then cool in-store air or heat it, depending on the season. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, systems using geothermal heat pumps, sometimes called GeoExchange or ground-source pumps, can reduce energy consumption and emissions by up to 72% compared with electric resistance heating and standard air-conditioning.

Shoppers looking to try this technology at home will find that the front-end costs for geothermal systems are high — about $7,500 for a typical residence — but once built, they are relatively cheap to run. Systems can be installed in a few days beneath the lawn or driveway or under a new or existing house. Several states offer tax incentives for installation, and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association estimates that some customers recoup their investment in as little as three years.

Although demand for geothermal heat pumps in recent years has been increasing 10% to 13% annually in the U.S., Ikea's clean-chic ethos could give this worthy (but not particularly sexy) technology a bump into the mainstream.

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Mansion House on Martha's Vineyard installs geothermal

A geothermal heat pump system, run by the stored solar energy found in the abundant groundwater below the Mansion House, along with a sophisticated energy control system, now make the hotel one of the greenest hotels in Massachusetts, according to a press statement released this week by Susan Goldstein, the owner with her husband, Sherm, of the Vineyard Haven business.

Mansion House's cooling system now uses geothermal heat pumps to remove heat from the hotel and store it deep underground for use in heating the hotel during the winter. The new energy control system carefully controls where this green heating and cooling is used to maximize energy efficiency and maintain guest comfort.

All of these advances result in a marked decrease in energy usage and pollution by the hotel, Ms. Goldstein reports. They also limit fossil fuel use, energy waste and carbon dioxide production.

Until recently roughly 16,000 gallons of groundwater a day ran under the Mansion House untapped, a nuisance to be pumped away instead of used as a valuable source of "stored solar energy". The recently completed geothermal heat pump system uses this energy source for cooling the guest rooms and common spaces. The heat removed from the hotel by the heat pumps is sent to the groundwater running under the hotel. This heat energy and water is ultimately redistributed back into the water table where it is stored.

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