SAN MATEO JAIL GEOTHERMAL FEASIBILITY

The goal of this project was to compare the capital costs of a Geothermal Central Utility Plant (CUP) to a Conventional CUP, estimate the energy cost savings, and determine the simple payback at a correctional facility development project in San Mateo County, California. This study was conducted to 1) determine the most cost-efficient system configuration for deploying this technology at this project and at similar facilities in general by leveraging specialized technology engineers and energy modeling tools and 2) to determine the technology’s commercial applicability according to standard owner and developer selection criteria. The developer (HOK), the owner (County of San Mateo) and the technology specialist (Meline Engineering contributed to the study. Lessons learned present perspectives and approaches, which may improve the project economics of this technology over conventional heating, cooling and domestic hot water options at commercial and institutional development projects in California.