It may seem a strange environment for some business people, but the world of geothermal isn’t a competitive, fierce space. It is an industry of sharing, collaborating, and providing resources for one another. Geothermal is nothing new, but as the space continues to grow and advance its technologies, it does so with the help of teamwork.
The Geothermal National and International Initiative Inc (GEO-NII) itself is a collaborative effort within the geothermal heat pump industry. We aim to share information, improve technologies, and grow the use of geothermal energies. We are looking for anyone that wants to “join” that team at all times. It isn’t about pushing one another out, it is about bringing more folks into the fold!
Take the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, or IGSHPA, an industry-leading organization chaired by GEO-NII’s own executive director and founder, Jack DiEnna, which offers training, certification, and educational opportunities, but also is one of the best ways to network, collaborate, and share ideas.
IGSHPA membership has much to offer its participants. For example, the 2023 live conference in Las Vegas this past fall was a great chance to hear what others in the industry are doing to move the geothermal world to the next level. Let’s take a look at Framingham, Massachusetts.
The conference was attended by Eric Bosworth, manager of Clean Technology, who is working on the country’s first project of its kind. And, in all reality, it is perfectly inline with GEO-NII’s exact missions.
Firstly, Bosworth said that his organization relies on the “geothermal knowledge-sharing” from associations like IGSHPA and its members, as Clean Technology navigates its way through a massive “first” in the industry.
The massive project involves Clean Technology as it partners with Eversource, a gas utility in its state, to build the first utility-owned network geothermal loop. Doing so requires installing a mile of shared main in Massachusetts for around 140 customers they hope to have onboard in early 2024.
Bosworth says that sharing at conferences like IGSHPA’s is win/win. He is able to share the process with other members, all while also getting input from attendees.
“Eversource, as a utility, didn’t have any existing experience installing necessarily ground-source heat pumps or certainly the infrastructure required for a network geothermal loop,” said Bosworth. “[The conference] was a great opportunity to both share the journey that we’re on installing this system, but also gain access to and have conversations with a lot of industry experts that could give us great feedback and guidance as we put this first system in.”
The project is the first of its kind, putting a GEO-NII goal into a real-world model. As you likely know, a very important part of our mission is to “advocate ‘rate recoverable’ geothermal heat exchanger (GHE) ownership for utilities and other third-party owners,” which is exactly the Eversource aim with this ground-breaking (literally and figuratively) project.