November 17, 2016 | IGSHPA News | Geothermal News
From the (Vice) President

Building Bridges or Move to the Mainland?

I wish to pick up from President Turley’s last update in Geo Outlook. John spoke of no man is an island. Some would say to build bridges to connect places together. I suggest we think of our industry as mainstream with a twist. Sure, all heating and cooling units can compete without the federal tax credits but the twist happens when it becomes ground sourced.

European investors recognize the efficiency and comfort advantages a GSHP holds over an ASHP and know that the U.S. manufacturers have designed and produced the very best. Yet to deliver the advantages the ground heat exchanger (GHEX) must be sized properly. The new Residential Design course does just that and hopefully the dreaded “rule of thumb” is forever gone.

IGSHPA is improving all levels of training. Read more.

IGSHPA News

Committee Updates

Advocacy Committee
The Advocacy Committee approved a Resolution recommending the Trade Association’s support through a participatory signature on a diverse coalition of renewable energy related industry groups calling for the extension of an energy policy that incentivizes deployment of environmental beneficial and sustainable non-traditional energy technologies through the continuation and extension of the energy investment tax policy subject to the continued inclusion of thermal energy within an overall fair and balanced incentivized energy portfolio. Additionally, the Committee is actively evaluating the formation of three to four sub-working groups organized around development of Visionary communication content, State trade organizational development & linkage, Third Party Financing industry support, Business Revenue Driven growth versus strictly cost savings. The Committee is open to member suggestions.

Marketing Committee
The marketing committee is actively looking for articles for the next Geo Outlook magazine with quarter 1 of 2017 having a product showcase section that will run once per year. The marketing committee has grown and we have a great group that will continue to help market IGSHPA as a whole, the training and publications that it provides, and the conference.


Membership Committee
Thank you to all who responded to the member surveys that have been sent in the last few weeks. The survey responses are being reviewed by the board of directors and a plan of action is being formulated to help ensure IGSHPA is meeting the needs of its members.

Research Committee
NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) hosted a workshop in New York City on 1, November to discuss the current cost and potential cost reduction of renewable cooling and heating systems. Research committee member, Xiaobing Liu, attended the workshop along with members of NY-GEO. Preliminary cost models for residential and commercial ground source heat pump systems were reviewed and several possible approaches to reduce the cost were discussed. The inputs from this workshop will be used in a study to help frame the strategic plan for renewable cooling and heating systems in New York State.

Standards Committee
The Board of Directors approved the updated Section 3, Source Water Piping, Circulation, Antifreeze, Water Quality and Treatment, of the IGSHPA standards for the 2016 edition. Members will be able to view a digital copy of the standards online after the first of the year. Printed copies will be available after the first of the year.

Strategic Task Subcommittee
The Strategic Task Committee presented our proposals for Key Focus Items to the BOD and they were accepted. The BOD set aside an initial budget for the BOD member face to face meetings.

CSA C448 Series 16 License and Distribution Agreement Reached

IGSHPA and the Canadian Standards Association entered into a license and distribution agreement November 1, 2016, for IGSHPA to distribute ANSI/CSA C448 Series-16-Design and Installation of Ground Source Heat Pump Systems for Commercial and Residential Buildings. IGSHPA is able to offer the standards to IGSHPA members as a member benefit for a special member price of $100, whereas, the list price for the standards is $155.

Members can visit http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/publication/manuals.htm#CSA to purchase their copy of the standard.

Online CEUs Now Available

Members, you can now earn CEUs online through the IGSHPA website! Earn .2 CEUs per hour of videos watched with an online quiz passing grade of 100%. To gain access to the videos to earn CEUs, visit the website to register for the video site.

For your IGSHPA renewal, you will need a total of 8 CEUs, 7 of which can be achieved through employment and organization membership. You will need 1 CEU that can be achieved by watching these learning videos and taking a short quiz at the end of each video. Access to these videos is FREE until January 31, 2017.

2017 IGSHPA Conference and Expo Updates

Sign up TODAY for the 2017 IGSHPA Conference and Expo. For only $500, members can attend sessions, the exhibit hall, the welcome reception and all new awards dinner. Join us in Denver March 14-16 at the Crowne Plaza Denver Airport Convention Center.

Register now!

CGI Class at WaterFurnace International

Eighteen people attended a Certified Geothermal Inspector's Workshop November 9-10 at WaterFurnace International in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Attendees included Jason Cullum, Ground Loop Heating & A/C; Scott Cullum, Ground Loop Heating & A/C; James Drunagel, Green Hill Mechanical; Joe Griffin, WaterFurnace; Jim Guffey, ECS Geothermal, Inc.; Ron Hottinger, Hottinger Building Indoor Air Quality; Carl Huber, WaterFurnace; Charles Jones, CMS Refrigeration; Thomas Kinder, WaterFurnace; Paul Miller, WaterFurnace; Shahed Mustafa, Bridge Valley CTC; Scott Niesen, WaterFurnace; Michael Patrick, S&J Heating & Insulation; Carl Robbins, WaterFurnace; Steven Rowlette; Bruce Shooltz, S&J Heating & Insulation; Jeff Torgerson, UMR Geothermal; and Joe Van Kauwenberg, Van's Refrigeration Service, Inc. The workshop was taught by Cary Smith and John Turley.

IGSHPA Training and Accreditation Opportunities

IGSHPA has several opportunities across North America during 2016 for you to become certified or accredited through one of our programs. Please visit our training homepage for more info and to register to attend a class.

IGSHPA GEOTHERMAL INSTALLER ACCREDITATION TRAINING - HeatSpring
Trainer: Ryan Carda, P.E.
Date: Rolling - Begin Immediately
Location: Online

IGSHPA CERTIFIED GEOEXCHANGE DESIGNER (CGD PLUS) TRAINING - HeatSpring
Trainer: Ryan Carda, P.E.
Date: Rolling - Begin Immediately
Location: Online

Geo Outlook Available!


Certified Geo Inspectors Course

Borehole Thermal Energy Storage

Don't Forget Pump Energy!
(3rd in a 4 part series on the economics of GSHP system design)

Rockin' It: Tri-Cone Bits (next in a multi-part series on best practices and procedures for drill bits)

Lessons in Customer Satisfaction

Geothermal Design: Code in Conflict?

Geothermal News

GHP Ground-Loop Opportunity for Small Business Announced

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the topics for Phase I, Release 2 of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The SBIR and STTR program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research and Development (R&D) that has the potential for commercialization. Through a competitive awards-based program, SBIR and STTR enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization.

The SBIR and STTR program upcoming funding opportunities targets innovations in Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP) systems in Topic 7 entitled Innovations to Improve Geothermal Heat Pump Ground-Loop Cost and Performance. The DOE Geothermal Technologies Office, with the DOE Buildings Technologies Office, seeks the development and commercialization of innovations that will reduce the cost and/or improve performance of GHP systems’ ground loops. Innovations may include, but are not limited to, advances in heat exchangers, integrated design and simulation tools, improved installation techniques, and lifecycle energy and cost evaluation tools.

For topic questions please contact Arlene Anderson, arlene.anderson@ee.doe.gov.

The Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for these topics will be issued on November 28, 2016. To apply, a mandatory letter of intent must be submitted by 5:00 PM EST on Monday December 19, 2016. A webinar with more information on these topics is scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016 from 2:00-3:30 EST. More information about the DOE’s SBIR and STTR program along with links to the FOA and webinar will be available at http://science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities/

GTO Office to Conduct Feasibility Studies

The Geothermal Technologies Office seeks to conduct feasibility studies of large-scale, low-temperature deep-well geothermal systems coupled with advanced direct-use applications and cascaded surface technologies whose applications will extend the reach of geothermal into geologically distinct parts of the country beyond the western U.S. These systems are referred to herein as Deep Direct-Use or DDU.

This FOA will solicit applications that propose projects supporting DDU feasibility studies in two Topic Areas:

  • Topic Area 1 “DDU Feasibility Studies” will focus on the initial site selection, resource assessment, and feasibility study of DDU technology(s).
  • Topic Area 2 “DDU Community of Practice Administration and Techno-Economic Validation of DDU Projects” seeks to convene and establish a DDU Community of Practice (COP).

To view the full notice of intent, click here

Have News?

Do you have news you want to share with IGSHPA for consideration for The Loop or Geo Outlook? Email Erin with your news.
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