The key to heating an 834-unit apartment tower under construction on the Brooklyn waterfront will be a hole in the ground.
Actually, it will be 322 holes, each about 4 inches (10 centimeters) across and exactly 499 feet (152 meters) deep any deeper and New York state would consider it a mining project. These holes comprise the heart of a geothermal heat-pump system that is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 53% over a comparable building using conventional heating and cooling systems. When complete in 2025, 1 Java Street will be one of the biggest US residential buildings using the technology.
Buildings account for about 8% of global carbon emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels for heating, and heat pumps are widely seen as an important tool to make homes cleaner. Spending on residential heat-pump systems climbed 9.6% to $64.3 billion worldwide last year amid a growing push to electrify more of the international economy. The Brooklyn project will be an important test for Lendlease Corp., the Australian developer that's building 1 Java and seeks to eventually eliminate emissions entirely from its global operations.
Click here to read the original article By Will Wade
