Going geo
Okanagan Skaha School District completes second geothermal upgrade By Jillian Mitchell
British Columbia rests soundly in the heart of “The Ring of Fire,” a region along the Pacific Ocean renowned for its abundance of geothermal energy. The clean and renewable source is, interestingly, one of the greenest ways to generate electricity, and as such, “going geo” is markedly on trend in B.C. – with much staying power. Last year, the Okanagan Skaha School District (No. 67) received a $1.2-million annual facilities grant from the B.C. government for its 2012 summer work plan which includes, among other developments, the installation of a new geothermal plant at Penticton’s Princess Margaret Secondary, a facility that previously operated on boiler heat. As Doug Gorcak, the district’s director of facilities, shares, the main drivers behind the upgrade were cost-efficiency and environmental consciousness. “This system will save money in the long run,” he says. “We know that putting a little more capital in the beginning may cost us more upfront, but schools in 18
Ops Talk • Fall 2013
general, with 75-year life expectancies, can recoup the cost down the road, and then the savings carry on.” In addition, the low-emission system offers a predictability not shared by solar, wind and even hydroelectric power, notes Gorcak, citing that the “power is continuous no matter the time of day, weather or season.” Additional funding from the FortisBC Efficient Boiler Program ($26,688) and
the Ministry of Education’s Carbon Neutral Capital Program ($106,000) allotted for further expansion of the Princess Margaret Secondary geothermal field, well-positioning the neighbouring Skaha Middle School for connection to the system early next year; this secondary project is currently being tendered. Kelowna-based Christman Plumbing & Heating Ltd. was awarded tender of the Princess Margaret Secondary upgrade that commenced July 2012. The project, which consisted of a mechanical upgrade and the installation of a new geothermal field, wrapped in January 2013. “We put in 10 headers out there and 12 bore-holes per header at the depth of 200 feet, so that’s 120 holes,” says project manager Mardy Matson. “We had a crew of three or four at any given time for the five months of concentrated mechanical efforts. There were no major hiccups throughout the job; we have a really good crew here that understands how to do things.”
