A New Texas Neighborhood is Powered by Geothermal Energy

A new development just outside Austin, Texas boasts a massive geothermal heating and cooling system and other features that make the community one of the most sustainable in the nation.

As Terry L. Jones explains in a piece for Floodlight, “When completed, Whisper Valley will consist of approximately 7,500 owner-occupied and rental homes and multi-family units ranging in price from $350,000 to $750,000; three schools, 2 million square feet of commercial space and 700 acres of park and outdoor community spaces.” The community is also slated to include affordable housing built by Habitat for Humanity.

Residents who already live in the completed parts of the community say they have seen major cost savings on their heating and cooling bills. “The developer calls geothermal a “common sense” way to preserve the planet by cutting the use of fossil fuels to power the homes and businesses here.”

Not every developer building homes in Whisper Valley is using the geothermal HVAC system due to the high up-front cost of installing heat pumps, which runs roughly $40,000 per home. Although geothermal cooling has been around for centuries in one form or another, modern heat pumps have higher costs than some solar or wind infrastructure.

However, like with all new technology, costs will come down as more geothermal projects are implemented, experts say. And while President Trump took aim at solar and wind energy in recent federal funding cuts, tac credits geothermal, nuclear, and hydropower projects are so far safe. According to Bryant Jones, executive director of Geothermal Rising, tax credits are needed to jump-start the industry. “Geothermal doesn’t have a technology problem, it has a policy problem. (It’s) been around for over 100 years, (but) it hasn’t had the policy support the way the oil and gas industry has, or the nuclear industry, and most recently, the solar and wind industry.”