In 2016, St Peter’s College in Adelaide became the first school in South Australia to use geoexchange to heat their indoor pool and provide space conditioning to the pool enclosure.

We designed and installed the geoexchange system.

Watch this video to discover how we helped the college save money on it’s heating and cooling bills while also taking steps to a sustainable future:

Drilling Program

This timelapse video shows the complete drilling program at St.Peter’s:

 

Ground temperatures of 17C are accessed through the installation of a Ground Heat Exchanger (GHX) beneath the adjacent sports oval. This consists of 45 boreholes drilled to a depth of 70 metres each.

The water circulated through the polyethylene pipe within this GHX extract heat from the ground and deliver it to a series of Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) that are located in the main plant room.

Two of the GSHPs transfer this heat from the GHX into the pool water while six GSHPs supply the pool hall with space heating and/or cooling.

360° Video of the Plantroom

This 360-degree video shows the plantroom at St Peter’s. This video technology enables the user to pan around while viewing, thus seeing the plantroom from various angles and giving an insight into the geoexchange system setup.

 

Jason Haseldine, St Peter’s College Director of Finance and Administration, said the installation of a geothermal energy solution aligns with the School’s vision for sustainability outlined in its Strategic Plan, Our Preferred Future 2015-2018.

“Environmental sustainability is one of the world’s greatest challenges and we must all do what we can to address this global issue – we must focus on minimising our carbon emissions and environmental footprint through energy, water consumption and waste recycling,” he said.

“I am excited to see our School lead the way in South Australia and take the first step towards our sustainable future, with the start of these important geothermal works.

“As a School, these works are also significant for our students – they will help us, as educators, continue to lead by example for our boys and educate them about living sustainably so they develop into environmentally-responsible adults.”

Yale Carden, the Managing Director of GeoExchange Australia said St Peter’s College is to be commended for identifying the importance of energy efficiency to their overall sustainability strategy.

“Schools have a leading role to play in the necessary transition to a clean energy future and St Peter’s College has embraced this responsibility,” he said.

“Their leading role is an important element in assisting the South Australian Government achieve their stated target of Adelaide being a carbon neutral city by 2050.”

Featured in: