In-ground energy a selling point
Bentonville subdivision offers geothermal heating, cooling
BENTONVILLE — A new subdivision is offering geothermal heating and cooling to homebuyers interested in saving the planet or simply saving money on utility bills.
Ten houses, all equipped with geothermal heat-pump systems, are for sale at the Kerelaw Castle subdivision in western Bentonville. Geothermal heating and cooling systems use a pipe setup buried deep underground that acts as a heat sink to help heat or cool the home. The constant temperature below the ground acts as a better exchange medium than outside air, making the system more energy efficient, proponents say.
The homes range from 2,200 square feet to 2,400 square feet with an estimated cost of $109 to $112 per square foot. Kala Dhana, project manager for MDS Homes, said that despite the cost of the geothermal units, the builder intentionally kept the asking price low to showcase the technology. A 30 percent federal tax credit available for the systems will go to buyers as well.
The neighborhood’s green theme extends to street names which include Energy and Go Green avenues and Green World and Pure Globe streets.
Dhana said geothermal can be hard to sell, since it’s not easily seen by potential buyers like granite countertops or expensive molding, so it’s important to emphasize that the systems are simple and money savers. The geothermal setups are vertical, close-looped systems that put the underground pipes deeper than horizontal systems.
The homes use systems made by Oklahoma-based ClimateMaster, a top seller of geothermal and water-source heat pumps in the U.S. with about 40 percent market share. According to the company’s website, the systems can save up to 80 percent Centerton on heating, cooling and hot-water costs.
Barry Golsen, president and chief executive of publicly traded LSB Industries, the parent company of ClimateMaster, said savings can vary based on the cost of energy, the amount of usage and the geographic location of a home.
Information provided by the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association in Stillwell, Okla., indicates homes can cut energy consumption by 20 percent to 50 percent with a thermal heat-pump system. Heating efficiencies are 50 percent to 70 percent higher than other heating systems and cooling efficiency is 20 percent to 40 percent higher than available air conditioners.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the installation price of a residential geothermal system can be costlier compared with a typical air-source heating-and-cooling system but those costs are recouped in energy savings. The system’s components inside the house last an estimated 25 years before replacement and the ground loop components last more than 50 years, according to the department.
The subdivision’s homes should be completed from mid-November through early December. The subdivision has about 100 additional lots for single-family homes and MDS plans to build homes with geothermal heat pumps on each one, with some later units including supplementary solar power.
Troy Galloway, Bentonville’s community and economic development director, said while there are individual homes in the city that use geothermal, this is the city’s first subdivision to do so. Jennifer Siebert-Hamm with Keller Williams Market Pro Realty, the team leader on the Kerelaw Castle project, said her research indicates the subdivision is the only
one of its kind in the state. The Arkansas Realtors Association said it didn’t track that information.
LSB’s Golsen said geothermal heat pumps have been used in the U.S. for decades, but the systems began to gain traction in the residential market in the 1980s. He said about 1 million homes use geothermal heat pumps in the U.S.
Golsen said geothermal heat pumps are usually found in midto high-priced homes that tend to be large. He said the majority of units are sold for new construction or replacement.
The technology is still just a fraction of roughly 4.5 million units sold in 2012 for the residential heating-and-cooling market.
Geothermal units make up about 4 percent of new units sold, Golsen said. While it’s not impossible, geothermal units present some challenges as replacement units and so make up about 1 percent of total units sold annually.
MDS Home’s Dhana said she’s passionate about the use of the geothermal heat pumps in the subdivision and, in a small way, it’s a step in the right direction to protect the planet, noting the earth’s environment is much like the human body. She said the carbon reduction of each house in the Kerelaw subdivision is equal to planting an acre of trees.
“Prevention is better than a cure,” she said.