The term “geothermal” describes two similar technologies that operate on different scales. Both are used for harvesting clean energy from the earth. Both yield opportunities for displacing pollution and emissions. The best case would allow for us to pour support into both of these technologies, but the prolonged fragility of the economy prompts the question of which one of these options actually gets us farther? Which should we be encouraging, publicizing and subsidizing? Which gives more bang for the buck? Continue Reading…
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In virtually every industry and profession we can point to occurrences of codes and regulations that create needless amounts of red tape, adding unnecessary time to the schedule and taking away valuable resources from the budget. By most businesses, regulation is seen as a hindrance that opposes free market capitalism and, as such, should be minimized. But a complete lack of regulation, even in a fundamentally good pursuit like sustainability, can not only produce a series of liabilities but specifically those that undermine the very goals that sustainability is trying to accomplish.
I recently wrote an article describing geothermal heating and cooling, making no secret of my strong support for the technology and its implementation. On the mainstream of residential construction, geothermal is still rather new so many municipalities are still trying to catch up to the learning curve of the repercussions of installing new wells without hindering the expansion of the budding industry. In doing some research on geothermal for a project in Rhode Island, I came across a surprising interface of regulatory oversight and sustainability that underscores the conversations that they need to continue to have.
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When it comes to the question of how to heat and cool our homes, there is a great answer right under our feet. A client recently expressed interest in exploring geothermal for a home renovation in Rhode Island and I wasted no time in jumping on the opportunity to cement it as one of our goals for the project. Despite Americans’ slow adoption of the technology, geothermal offers an efficient and sustainable way to let the earth do most of the work in heating and cooling a home. It also offers one of the best solutions to target energy efficiency and the reduction of reoccurring fossil fuel use. Continue Reading…