Central Washington University outlines GeoEco geothermal plan to cut campus emissions, tie projects to curriculum

Central Washington University presented a 15-year decarbonization plan to the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee that places geothermal technology and campus solar at the center of its strategy to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Delano Palmer, director of capital planning and projects at Central Washington University, described the GeoEco approach as an open-loop groundwater heat-exchange system. "This is an open loop system. So it's a non consumptive system," Palmer said, explaining that water drawn from a local aquifer at about 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit is pushed through a heat exchanger in a GeoEco plant and then reinjected into the ground at depth.

Palmer said the university has identified conditions in the Ellensburg aquifer that support an open-loop system and plans to build an initial GeoEco node (GeoEco 1) that will serve a new North Academic Commons and connect to other campus buildings over time. Construction of multiple nodes across a 15-year horizon depends on funding; Palmer cited the Climate Commitment Act and capital budget opportunities as primary sources.

Jeff Busson, Central's sustainability director, told the panel the university's climate action plan targets a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 and a zero-carbon campus by 2050. He described GeoEco nodes as "living laboratory" opportunities that will be integrated into curriculum and used for student learning, research and community outreach.

Presenters warned that geothermal nodes increase electricity demand because pumps and supporting equipment require power; the university is exploring on-site solar (designs for roughly 8 megawatts across roofs and 55 acres of land), battery storage and potential future combined solar-geothermal projects to meet that demand. CWU staff also said they are engineering spacing and injection strategies to avoid thermal interference between wells.

Committee members asked whether the system is closed- or open-loop and whether reinjected water changes aquifer quality. Palmer responded that the system is nonconsumptive, does not treat or otherwise "touch" the water, and that engineers plan reinjection depths and radial spacing so the injected water dissipates back to native temperatures. The presenters cited other U.S. institutions with geothermal or groundwater-based heat-exchange systems and said CWU is one of the first large public-sector adopters in the Pacific Northwest.

The committee thanked the presenters and did not take formal action on the briefing; presenters said continued funding and technical development will shape the pace of rollout across campus.