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Spring 2009 • Volume 15, Issue 2

Saving green by going green

The Sigma Chi fraternity house on Fredonia Avenue, built in 2007, was featured in the Fall 2008 issue of The Magazine of Sigma Chi for its eco-friendly heating system. The Bradley chapter house is believed to be the first Sigma Chi house to use geothermal heating instead of a standard heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The Environmental Protection Agency says geothermal heat pumps are as much as 72 percent more efficient than electric heating and air conditioning systems. Geothermal systems use a series of water pipes buried underground to utilize the relatively constant temperature beneath the surface of the earth — warmer than the air in the winter, and cooler than the air in the summer.

The series of pipes transfer heat out of the house and to the ground in the summer, and heat from the ground to the house in the winter. According to the magazine, it will take the fraternity nine years to see a return on the $85,000 installation investment for the 18,000-square-foot house. The operating cost of a geothermal system is usually 40 percent less than an HVAC system.

Saving green by going green

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