U.S. Engineering Construction, LLC (USEC) is working with CSU on the campus’ first GeoX system, which serves the heating and cooling needs of the Moby Arena Complex and new Meridian Village housing and dining development – projects crucial to CSU’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The GeoX installation will be the largest ground-source heating and cooling system in Colorado and one of the largest in the western United States.

As the design-build mechanical contractor, USEC contracted the entire design team – mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, structural engineer, geothermal engineer, and architect – an approach that helps CSU save money by forgoing a general contractor’s fee and allowing USEC to work directly with the design team.

GeoX is an on-site renewable energy system that taps into the earth’s latent temperature for heating and cooling. A geothermal field with miles of pipe transfers consistent 50-degree water to the ground-source heat pumps. The heat pumps extract and concentrate the heat. A pipe loop connected to the heat pumps conveys warm water to the various buildings within the Moby Complex for heating. When in cooling mode, the system is reversed. The heat pumps reject heat from the building water pipe loop into the geothermal field, cooling the buildings in the Moby Complex.

The system replaces heating generated by fossil fuels at the main campus’ steam distribution plant and cooling from inefficient air-cooled chillers. As a result, CSU has reduced energy consumption at the Moby Complex by 56 percent and eliminated on-site green-house gas emissions at the Moby Complex.

For the Moby Complex project, USEC installed the GeoX system in tandem with five six-pipe heat pumps and two new central plants that include the heat pumps, geothermal pumps, heating, and chilled water (CHW) distribution pumps. Select heating and chilled distribution piping and some heating water and CHW coils will be reused or replaced; other piping will be added, as needed.

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