NY-GEO 2022 Annual Conference

The New York Geothermal Energy Organization (NY-GEO) is a not-for-profit trade association representing the geothermal heat pump (GHP) industry in New York State. Every year, the organization hosts the NY-GEO annual conference that looks at the most relevant geothermal topics of the day.

In 2022, the event continued to cover how to electrify buildings via heat pumps. One of the best ways is utilizing geothermal heat pumps that maximize energy efficiency, carbon reductions and cost savings.

In fact, in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change, as many buildings as possible should be electrified and decarbonized. In that spirit, geothermal heat pumps can play a key role in making that goal a reality.

HIGHMARK Executives Examine Geothermal and Multi-Source Heat Pumps

Since 2013, HIGHMARK has pioneered innovative heat-pump technologies to support building electrification and decarbonization. As such, this includes geothermal and multi-source heat pumps to improve energy efficiency and cut carbon and costs.

Therefore, HIGHMARK’s Richard Gerbe and Joseph Schmitz are experts in these technologies and discussed them during two panels at the NY-GEO 2022 conference. Specifically, Richard Gerbe looked at multi-source heat pump systems and Joseph Schmitz reviewed geothermal domestic hot water heat pumps.

Geothermal Domestic Hot Water Heat Pumps

Heat-pump water heaters use electricity to move heat from one place to another instead of generating heat directly. Therefore, they can be two to three times more energy efficient than conventional electric resistance water heaters. To move the heat, heat pumps work like a refrigerator in reverse.

Innovative Geothermal Heat Pump Systems On the Market

To achieve ambitious building electrification and decarbonization goals, innovative heat pumps are available on the market today. Consequently, these best-in-class technologies can be utilized to improve energy efficiency, carbon reductions and cost savings.

Indeed, geothermal heat pump systems use 25% to 50% less electricity than conventional heating or cooling systems. According to the EPA, geothermal heat pumps can reduce energy consumption – and corresponding emissions – up to 72% compared with electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment.

Geothermal heat pump systems for space heating and water heating allow for design flexibility, and function in both new and retrofit situations. Because the hardware requires less space than that needed by a conventional HVAC system, the equipment rooms can be greatly scaled down, freeing space for productive uses. (Source: U.S. Department of Energy)