The McNeil Avian Center, the Zoo's newly renovated, state-of-the-art bird exhibit scheduled to open in the spring of 2009, will be home to close to 100 spectacular birds from around the world and 50 geothermal wells buried 500 feet below the building. These wells will reduce the building's carbon footprint by 837 tons - the equivalent of taking 181 cars off the road.
What Is Geothermal Heating and Cooling?
- Utilizes the naturally stable temperature of the earth, usually around 55º F (13º C), to heat and cool.
- Depending on the climate, a heat pump can be used to either draw up or send down heat.
- For cooling, the heat pump takes the heat from the building and transfers it via the fluid into the cooler earth.
- For heating, the heat pump will draw heat from the earth and pump it up to the building.
Why Use Geothermal?
- Efficient
- Environmentally-sensitive
- Comfortable
- Economical