Governor Jared Polis recently joined Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Board of Trustees Chair Tim Fry, Colorado State Senator Janice Rich and Colorado State Representative Rick Taggart to celebrate the new expansion of the university’s geo-exchange system on June 7, 2024.
Prior to the summer, two thirds of our campus was heated and cooled with geothermal energy. By the end of summer, this increased to about 75%. The university’s geothermal system is already the largest in the entire Intermountain West Region.
“Our goal is to become the first campus in the nation to be 100% covered by geothermal heating and cooling,” said President John Marshall.
CMU’s environmental objective behind this endeavor is not only to preserve the environment, but to save money, including tuition dollars.
“CMU has already calculated that the savings from having the geothermal systems heating and cooling over 70% of their campus helps reduce tuition by about 2%,” Governor Jared Polis stated during the groundbreaking event.
Just by having a more eco-friendly heating and cooling system, students can count on a more affordable tuition.
“The geo-exchange system reduces CMU’s energy cost by millions of dollars each year, and that is allowing us to keep our tuition affordable,” Board of Trustees Chair Tim Fry explained beforehand.
The use of geothermal energy to heat and cool our campus buildings has saved CMU the use of about 9K metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. These funds, which previously would have gone towards campus utility bills, now saves students money.The financial savings are now able to be put towards projects including the CMU Promise, which was launched last year, and a multitude of other student scholarships. These savings will therefore indirectly allow further access to CMU as a resource for higher education across the state of Colorado.
Marshall worked with Governor Polis to implement this project
“His [Polis’] passion for this really kickstarted the project,” Marshall said.
The campus’ geo-exchange system was initially established in 2008 and has made significant progress in its development over the past sixteen years. Polis has continually offered his zealous support in the continuation of this effort and has consistently worked to raise awareness across the state of Colorado about the importance of maintaining our carbon footprint, especially via geothermal technology. The most notable of these missions which Polis has taken part in to spread such awareness includes his The Heat Beneath Our Feet project initiative for the Western Governor’s Association in 2023.
His support for this project goes along with the building of two new firehouses in Pueblo, Colorado, which are also set to be heated and cooled geothermally. This will save Colorado taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars annually. In addition to his existing support for CMU’s financial and environmental goals, Polis has also rolled out a $400K grant towards the continued expansion of the university’s geo-exchange system.
“There are great opportunities for geothermal, from home-scale to community-scale to geothermal electric,” Polis continued in his speech. “The Heat Beneath Our Feet being able to tap that for a low-source reliable source of energy, and CMU is right in the forefront of making that happen.”
This recent addition to the system has included the Kephart Fine Arts building as well as an on-campus residence hall. In the accomplishment of this expansion, CMU is taking a step further towards achieving the ambitions of their financial and environmental sustainability goals. As the project continues to expand, CMU hopes to further establish its role of leadership in green energy solutions, and to showcase the potential of geothermal energy for more institutions across the nation to follow.
