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District won state allowance to include geothermal wellfield in EPC to meet 18‑year payback rule, presenters said
Summary
Officials said geothermal fields typically don’t qualify for EPC payback calculations but SED/SEB made an exception here; Trane will guarantee savings and provide annual reconciliations to show savings offset debt service within 18 years.
Presenters explained the project's finance hinge: New York’s EPC rules require installed measures in an EPC to pay for themselves within 18 years. The team said geothermal fields typically have longer paybacks and are not usually included in EPCs, but the district pursued and obtained a special treatment in which NYSERDA/SED allowed well-field costs to be counted within the EPC calculations for this package.
Trane emphasized the model includes a performance guarantee: it will provide annual reconciliation reports to verify savings are sufficient to offset debt service on the EPC. The architect noted that combining NYSERDA Track 2 funds with the EPC was a key state-enabled adjustment that made the project cash-flow under the 18-year rule.
