A new energy-saving project using geoexchange technology will be installed in Mount Beauty with the help of a $35,000 Brumby Labor Government grant announced today by the Member for Northern Victoria Region, Candy Broad.
Ms Broad said geoexchange was a high-efficiency heating and cooling system for buildings that draws heat from the earth during winter and transfers it to the ground in summer.
“The installation of the geoexchange project in the Mount Beauty Neighbourhood Centre building, which is used by up to 200 people per week, will provide a high-profile site to demonstrate the geoexchange technology for other businesses in the region,” Ms Broad said.
“It is estimated that the project at Mount Beauty could save almost $3200 annually compared to an alternative new heating and cooling system.
“This will see a return on investment of around six years and a reduction in carbon emissions of around 30 per cent compared to a conventional heating and cooling system.
“This equates to around 5.5 tonnes per annum of CO2 savings compared with a LPG gas heating option.”
Ms Broad said geoexchange technology had significant potential to deliver more efficient, cheaper energy for heating and cooling in provincial Victoria.
“Geoexchange technology is an alternative heating and cooling system that was well established in Europe and the United States but relatively unknown in Australia,” Ms Broad said.
“Geoexchange technology - or ground source heat pumps - provides heating and cooling using as little as 25 per cent of the energy required by conventional types of systems.
“Installation of the new technology will mainly help regional communities that do not have access to natural gas.”
“Buildings which have long operating hours and include weekend use are typically the easiest to demonstrate the financial benefits of ground-source heat pumps.
Ms Broad said the funding for the Mount Beauty Neighbourhood Centre Geoexchange project was being provided to Mount Beauty Neighbourhood Centre Inc. under the Brumby Labor Government’s $1 million Four Seasons Energy Pilot program.
“The Brumby Labor Government is committed to ensuring that our energy supplies are environmentally sustainable and technologies such as geoexchange will help regional Victoria improve the efficiency and sustainability of energy use and supply,” Ms Broad said.
“Funding is available to trial the technology at public facilities such as schools and hospitals in small towns and for local councils and community groups to conduct feasibility studies for installing energy enabling technologies.”