George School Air Conditioning and Heating

To whoever this concerns,


We, the George School student body (well actually the student and faculty body) understand the need for an environmentally friendly community. We understand the recycling campaign and we understand the whole idea of turning George School into a quote Green Community (unquote). However due to the already clearly obvious effects of global warming we do not understand, as much, the need to reject the idea of and air conditioning system. Whether its the cost, the time or the fact that it is energy consuming, I dont know. I only know what the rest of the students and teachers know; Its October and still in the 80s and 90s.


I know I stand for a good chunk of the community, students and teachers, when I say nothing is worse than walking into a classroom in the afternoon where the class before had left the only means of coolness (a small fan or two) off. I know students hate to be taught in 80+ degree weather and I can only imagine what it must be like to teach in that heat.


The heat may not be the only complaint. Eventually (even if its not until January or February) it will get cold. That is just a fact. Once mid-winter comes around people are going to be complaining that we need heating (apparently we dont have that either). Again, I dont know if its the cost, the time or the fact that it is energy consuming, but I do it will be just as bad as the heat.


Now, what to do about this issue? Luckily I did my homework. If you have never heard of a geothermal heat pump, then google it. This system can hold the answer. Geothermal heating/air conditioning systems use the naturally cold water under the Earths surface to produce heat/air conditioning. The process is fairly simple. It is also environmentally friendly as it can be run on solar or wind power and does not use oil like a traditional furnace. As far as the cost goes, the initial cost can be very high (especially for a campus) and is also determined by the geology of the land. However over a long period of time you will save 35-70\% in heating and cooling cost. The cost can also be reduced by government programs. As far as time goes, my church recently installed such a system and it was a fairly short installation. I dont know about installing it for an entire campus though.


I think this is something that should at least be considered. There are hundreds of other ways we can help the environment and while this may not be helping it will make things more comfortable for everyone without hurting the environment.





-The George School Community