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

Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee · February 19, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Central Washington University told the Senate committee it plans a 15-year decarbonization strategy featuring open-loop GeoEco plants that tap a local aquifer (about 68'72'F at 500'800 feet), build a GeoEco plant serving the new North Academic Commons and pursue campus solar and battery storage to offset electrical demand.

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…

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