New $325M UMass Chan research building installs geothermal heating system

Photo | Courtesy of UMass Chan Medical School Construction crews at the UMass Chan research building in Worcester install a geothermal heating system.

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By Sloane M. Perron

UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester announced on Tuesday it is incorporating a geothermal heating and cooling system in the New Education and Research Building under construction, which will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The geothermal system is being constructed under the building’s foundation and is predicted to reduce emissions creating by the heating and cooling needs of the building by 55%, according to the school’s statement.

Geothermal systems work by circulating water through pipe loops buried deep underground. The heart of the geothermal system are 75 boreholes, each six inches in diameter and 500 feet deep, drilled into the bedrock below the campus green. Water circulating through a closed-loop system of pipes in those holes helps heat and cool the building, per the release.

If the new building solely relied on the campus power plant, it would generate approximately 3,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. The geothermal system will cut this emission output nearly in half with 1,660 tons per year, according to the release.

Drilling began on July 1.

“With a relatively low input of electricity to power the pumps and compressors, it keeps the building in proper balance and dramatically reduces the need for burning fossil fuel,” said Suzanne Wood, associate director of sustainability and campus services, in a press release.

Construction on the $325-million, 350,000-square-foot building, led by Shawmut Design and Construction, is expected to be complete in 2023.