IGSHPA held its 4th research conference, hosted by Polytechnique Montréal in Montréal, Québec, Canada on May 28 to 30, 2024. There were significantly more papers presented at the 2024 conference compared to 2022. Download the proceedings here.
Category: News
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IGSHPA News — Keeping you in the Loop!
IGSHPA Completes First Train-the-Trainer for New Course on Electric Co-op Engagement
IGSHPA conducted its first train-the-trainer course for a newly developed training module, Geo 101 for Electric Cooperatives, March 26 to 28, 2024. The new course was developed with the GeoExchange Organization to help increase awareness of the benefits of ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) to electric co-ops in the United States. As more electrification takes place in rural areas, GSHPs have the ability to significantly impact how cooperatives and G&Ts plan for peak demand periods due to the low demand yet high capacity of GSHPs even at the coldest or hottest times of the year.
There were 30 participants in this first train-the-trainer course, increasing GeoExchange’s and IGSHPA’s “reach” to the rural electric network. Boyd Lee, Vice President of Strategic Planning at CKEnergy and IGSHPA board member, provided attendees with insight into the challenges that rural electric co-ops face as the world moves towards electrification. CKEnergy Electric Cooperative serves members across 10 counties in Western Oklahoma. The utility offers a rebate program to offset the installation cost of the ground heat exchanger, which not only saves members a significant amount of cost for the installation of a GSHP system, it helps the utility better manage its peak demand requirements due to the nature of GSHP operation compared to other heating and cooling technologies, ultimately helping to maintain lower electric rates for its members.
Attendees for the first course included representatives from Bosch, Carrier, Climate Control Group, ClimateMaster, Enertech Global, and WaterFurnace, as well as two guests from Vermont Community Geothermal Alliance. Additional train-the-trainer courses will be offered to other IGSHPA members who would like to be involved in working with electric co-ops. After the train-the-trainer course, attendees will complete a trainer agreement and will schedule an audit of their first class to ensure that their delivery of the material is up to IGSHPA trainer standards.
Instructors for the train-the-trainer course in March were Greg Kurtz, IGSHPA Technical Director, and Jeremiah Strode, Director of Cooperative Engagement at GeoExchange Organization. For more information about the course or IGSHPA training, contact IGSHPA.
Breaking News! — DOE Report on GSHPs
Ground Source Heat Pump Mass Deployment reduces grid requirements by 33%!
U.S. Department of Energy’s latest report on the grid impact of ground source (geothermal) heat pumps provides a path to electrification without “breaking” the grid. Below are quotes from the report and a link for download.
• Even though building heating is electrified with GHP deployment—increasing winter electricity use for homes and businesses that otherwise are heated with fossil fuels—the increase is more than offset by the electricity savings from the high-efficiency performance of GHPs for summer cooling and reduced thermal loads owing to weatherization in single-family homes, resulting in substantial net reductions in grid generation, capacity, and transmission.
• The mass GHP deployment reduces transmission expansion requirements by 33% under the Grid Decarbonization scenario and by 38% under the EFS scenario. This amount equates to roughly 24,500 mi of transmission that can be avoided under the Grid Decarbonization scenario and nearly twice as much (43,500 mi) under the EFS scenario, which is enough to cross the average contiguous US coast-to-coast distance 9 and 16 times, respectively.
To learn more about the report, click here.
NOTES: “GHP” is “Geothermal Heat Pump”, one of the terms used for Ground Source Heat Pump or Geothermal Heat Pump technology. “EFS” is “Electrification Futures Study”.
IGSHPA Announces 2024 Membership Program!
As IGSHPA continues to grow and provide more benefits to members, we occasionally need to review our membership program to ensure that it is fair to all members, it is positioned to help the organization and the GSHP industry grow, and it is easy to understand.
We have spent the last two years discussing the current membership program with members and the IGSHPA board of directors. We are excited to present a new membership program, effective January 1, 2024, that will put IGSHPA on a new path for growth and provide members with many more choices to participate. It will also help correct some of the confusion with membership and certification, and provide discounts for members, as well as additional incentives. IGSHPA’s last membership cost increase was in 2016. This new program will have very little financial impact on members but will provide a much better program for IGSHPA and members long-term.
Below is a summary of changes for 2024. You can find all of the details in the new membership brochure or online at our membership page.
- Individual IGSHPA membership has stayed the same as 2016 at $125 per year.
- Certification renewal for members for AI (Accredited Installer), CGI (Certified Geothermal Inspector), and CRD (Certified Residential Designer) decreased from $100/year to $75/year. Overall cost for membership plus certification renewal increased by $50/year for members. For non-members, the overall cost for membership plus certification renewal increased by $100 per year. Note that CGD (Certified GeoExchange Designer) certification is administered by AEE (Association of Energy Engineers) and therefore certification renewal and AEE membership has not changed.
- HVAC, GHEX, and other contractor memberships increased by $30 per year.
- A new directory only listing (no membership or voting) has been added for contractors, distributors, and MEP firms at $200 per year. This is a new level to encourage more industry participation and help customers find GSHP businesses in the online directory.
- Utility memberships have been broken out separately (previously part of manufacturer memberships) as distribution co-operatives, municipal utilities, G & T co-operative utilities, Investor-owned utilities, and (Canadian) Crown corps.
- Distributors and MEP firms memberships increased by $230 per year. This is part of our efforts for membership fairness, better leveling out the membership types.
- A new student/retired individual membership has been added.
- A new community organizations membership (trade schools, community colleges, university departments, government, and state provincial associations) has been added.
If you have any questions at all, please contact us at , 1-800-626-4747, or 1-217-212-2112. Thank you for your support of IGSHPA!
2023 Conference Proceedings
Click on the button below to view the presentations from the 2023 annual conference.
NGWA Headquarters spotlight available
NGWA (National Ground Water Association) broke ground on a geothermal retrofit at its headquarters on August 22, 2023, in Westerville, Ohio. Utilizing the geothermal tax credits available for nonprofit organizations that were signed into law in 2022, NGWA is replacing 9 furnaces, 9 air conditioners, and a mini split with 9 geothermal units. Ductwork and other modifications will be made to improve comfort and better utilize the building’s HVAC system. Many industry stakeholders came together for this renovation, including IGSHPA and NGWA members and suppliers of equipment, pipe, and other system components. An IGSHPA member engineering firm even provided discounted pricing for design of the system. This project is a great example of how retrofit applications can work well and be good business for well water and geothermal contractors, engineering firms, and building owners.
GeoOutlook Magazine Readership Statistics and Advertising Opportunities
Press Release: IGSHPA Hires Technical Director
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
IGSHPA Hires Technical Director
Springfield, Illinois, July 13, 2023 – IGSHPA announced today that Greg Kurtz will be joining the organization as Technical Director, effective July 17, 2023. In this newly created role, Mr. Kurtz will be responsible for providing support to IGSHPA staff and members for technical projects such as training development, interfacing with subcontractors for database development, and working with training and standards committees.
Mr. Kurtz has over 40 years of experience in the ground source heat pump industry including positions at ClimateMaster, Enertech, FHP/Bosch, Geo-Flo, and Waterfurnace, as well as owned/operated an HVAC contracting business in Ohio. His most recent position at PoolPak provides great insight into specialty applications that ties in nicely with the work needed at IGSHPA.
“Greg brings a considerable amount of industry knowledge and management experience,” said Jeff Hammond, Executive Director at IGSHPA. “That expertise will be invaluable in our efforts to enhance our leadership position in training, standards and industry support.” Kurtz added, “IGSHPA’s goal of a unified effort in promoting geothermal technology through training and industry outreach makes this new challenge very exciting.”
IGSHPA has been adding staff in 2023 to support members and organization growth with the addition of Angela Nys as Administrative Support Specialist in February and Lisa Lipe as Administrative Assistant in June.
Meet the new IGSHPA staff members, as well as Sally Stephens, Membership, Communications & Event Coordinator, Jeff Hammond, Executive Director, and the IGSHPA board members at the IGSHPA Annual Conference at NGWA (National Ground Water Association) Ground Water Week in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 5 to 7, 2023.
ABOUT IGSHPA
The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) is a non-profit, member-driven organization established in 1987 to advance ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology on local, state, national and international levels. With its access to the most current advancements in the ground source/geothermal heat pump industry via its diverse membership base and its industry alliances, IGSHPA is the ideal bridge between the latest technology and the people/organizations who benefit from these developments. For more information or IGSHPA membership, contact Sally Stephens at .
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