Facility:

Fond du Lac High School – Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

400,000-square-foot, two-story public high school, home to 2,400 students, opened in 2001.

Geothermal heat pump system:

• 720-ton WaterFurnace.

• 179 water-to-air vertical units.

• 15 water-to-water units.

• All units floor-mounted, with water-to-air units (one in each classroom) installed in closets for each of maintenance and service.

Geothermal loop system:

• Two six-acre ponds at 19-22 feet deep, with 42 miles of installed loop.

• Hybrid system with down-sized conventional boiler/tower for heat rejection and extreme condition support for larger areas.

• Two 150-horsepower pumps with variable speed drives.

Annual cost savings:

Estimated $290,000 avoided per year in operating costs (40 percent reduction), including:

• 20 percent energy savings compared to traditional chiller/boiler VAV system.

• Reduced peak demand charges due to more level seasonal energy use.

• Required maintenance reduced to only four filter changes per year.

View more photos

At a glance:

• Science teachers brought geothermal technology to the attention of school administrators and building contractors during the early design phase.

• Teachers, administrators and architects visited Alliant Energy’s Geo-1 van.

• Financial assistance provided by Wisconsin Focus on Energy and Alliant Energy’s Shared Savings program.

• New school building also includes other energy-efficient technologies, including low-e windows, daylighting and high-efficiency lighting.

• Environmental benefits include a 13 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

• Teachers, students and staff enjoyed individualized temperature control in each classroom and a high-efficiency ventilation system.

• Space saved allowed room for nine additional classrooms.

Recommendation:

“We came back very enthused about what geothermal technology could do for us. Then we sat down with our contractors and they sharpened their pencils and we made it work.”

System monitoring:

2002 performance data extracted by the building control system, provided by CDH Energy:

Fond du Lac High School GeoExchange Showcase

Learn more:

Fond du Lad High School: What Lies Beneath?
By Wisconsin Focus on Energy and Alliant Energy
[PDF format – 6 pages, 198KB]

Fond du Lac High School: Champions of Efficiency
By Wisconsin Focus on Energy
[PDF format – 4 pages, 112KB]

Energy Efficiency Success Story: Fond du Lac Schools

Design:

Bray Associates Architects – Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Engineering:

Thelen Engineering – Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

General contracting:

C.D. Smith Construction – Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Mechanical contracting:

J.F. Ahern – Fond du lac, Wisconsin

Energy management system:

J&H Controls – Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Loop installation:

Loopmaster International – Indianapolis, Indiana

Energy consulting:

CDH Energy – Evansville, Wisconsin