The University of Virginia is building a ground-breaking energy plant that will essentially gather wasted heat and store it in subterranean wells until it’s needed again.
The plant that construction crews are building in the Fontaine Research Park will supply thermal energy to the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. Because 90% of the University’s fossil fuel consumption is used for heat, employing new and efficient technologies will help the University toward its goal of being carbon neutral by 2030 and fossil fuel-free by 2050.
The Fontaine plant won’t burn fossil fuels to create heat, said Paul Zmick, director of energy and utilities at the University. Rather, the facility is a geoexchange system that, in simple terms, captures heated water, stores it underground and retrieves it when it’s needed to provide heating or cooling to a facility. Initially, the plant will utilize about 100 underground storage wells. The geoexchange system is essentially a very large thermal battery.
The plant is part of a multi-pronged effort to curb the University’s energy use. That effort includes dialing down the temperature of hot water from 200 degrees to 165 or lower and boosting the energy efficiency of new buildings and additions.
The geoexchange system is highly efficient because it takes heat that would otherwise be vented or wasted and essentially recycles it.
“It’s a passive system, a thermal transfer between one substance to another, rather than being generated with carbon or a different energy source,” said Ashley Morris, a UVA alumna and project engineer with DPR Construction, the general contractor on the heat plant project. “As that water is being passed through the loops in the circuits, that thermal transfer is happening. And that is what is providing the heat and thermal energy, or lack of it, to the plant. There will still be power needed to operate that equipment, but the source of heating and cooling itself is fossil-fuel-free.”
Morris, a Loudoun County native, is a 2019 mechanical engineering graduate. A DPR employee since leaving UVA, Morris does a variety of jobs on the site, including quality control, site logistics and schedule management.
Working with Morris at the heat plant site over the summer was Mary Cotter, a rising third-year mechanical engineering student at UVA. Cotter served as a summer intern with the Energy and Utilities Department in the Division of Facilities Management. The internship has altered her view of the University, she said.
“As a student, I did not realize how much goes into the functioning of this University,” Cotter said. “Just heating and cooling the University is such an undertaking and that has been really interesting for me to learn about. When I’m going to class and walking around Grounds, I’m going to have much more of an appreciation for every piece of our energy systems.”
Working at the heat plant site has given Cotter practical experience.
“It’s a great learning opportunity,” Cotter said. “What I learn in the classroom – such as physics – is really important and plays into this. But being able to intern during my summer gives me an idea of what being an engineer is actually like. To be able to do it at my own University, where we’re doing pretty cool stuff, is extra special. I have gained a deeper appreciation for being a part of UVA.”
Morris acknowledged she went into the construction field for similar reasons.
“I quickly realized I didn’t want to necessarily sit behind a desk or be a traditional engineer,” Morris said. “I wanted to physically see the fruits of my labor every day and get my hands dirty a little bit. That’s what the construction industry was for me. I also became fascinated with building techniques and watching the folks who have done this for years and who are skilled and what they have learned about their own trade. They’re the subject matter experts.”
Morris, who stayed in Charlottesville after graduation, has also been helped by what she learned as a goalie on UVA’s women’s lacrosse team from 2015 to 2019.
“I learned teamwork,” Morris said. “No one could ever do this or any other construction project by themselves. It requires a team like my general contracting team, the project manager, our safety or quality teams regionally, subcontractors who are experienced in the trade, and familiar with the building code and can make things happen. And it requires a great design team.”
Both Morris and Cotter are impressed with how far forward University officials are planning.
“It’s inspirational that the University is creating a plan for the future and everything that it makes has the mindset of development,” Cotter said. “This plant was designed with 30-plus years down the line in mind. The level of planning and forethought that goes into these projects is monumental. With an abundance of forward-thinking technologies being utilized, I am excited for the future of UVA.”
This story was originally published in UVA Today, Aug. 7, 2024.
