MEP Associates

Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana

Ball State University selected MEP Associates to design the conversion of the campus cooling and heating plant to a district geothermal system.  The geothermal project will achieve the following:

• Eliminates 80,000 tons of carbon emissions annually.
• Cut energy costs by an estimated $2 million annually.
• Reduce approximately half of the current campus carbon footprint.
• Eliminate four coal fired boilers built in the 1950s.
• Heat and Cool more than 40 buildings over the 660 acre campus.

The cost of the project is estimated at  $93 million and will be completed in two stages.  When completed the project will consist of approximately 4,100 boreholes each 400 feet deep.  It will be the country’s largest geothermal energy project.

How Ball State’s Geothermal System Works

A geothermal heat pump uses the Earth as either a heat source, when operating in heating mode, or a heat sink-dissipating heat while in cooling mode.  At three energy centers on campus, the heat pulled from the ground or returned to the ground will be transferred, or exchanged with heat pump chillers that will be connected to two district loops that run throughout campus.  One is a cold water loop, which flows at a constant 42 degrees, and the second is a hot water loop, which flows at a constant 170 degrees.  Inside the buildings, heat exchangers and fans will deliver the temperature desired by the occupants.