I can’t tell you how delighted I was to read about Oak Park’s opportunity to explore community geothermal! [Community Geothermal could be headed to Oak Park, Homes, July 15] The Oak Park Residence Corp. [OPRC] received a $25,000 grant to explore a neighborhood geothermal loop system, which would allow individual homes, commercial buildings, nonprofits and municipal buildings to all tap into the same system — with significant savings for all.
From the article: “Neighborhood geothermal operates on a loop to provide a shared, utility-scaled underground piping network to provide heating and cooling to an entire neighborhood.”
I’ve been thinking about switching to geothermal someday when my existing furnace and/or AC fail. A neighborhood system would make it less costly to switch to geothermal and likely lead to less disruption to my trees and yard. This grant-funded research brings this possibility one step closer.
Huzzah for OPRC for persisting in its grant applications until it received the award, and huzzah to Oak Park for continuously working toward a more sustainable future!
Kris Hansen
Oak Park