UNDERGROUND
ECONOMIES
GEOTHERMAL TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS CENTERS
AND STORES TO ACHIEVE HUGE HVAC SAVINGS
I
By Steve McLinden
F THE 1960S MOVIE CLASSIC THE GRADUATE
were reset in this decade, the single word of unsolicited career advice whispered to the main character might not be
"plastics" any longer, but "thermodynamics." This branch of
natural science governs the harnessing of geothermal energy,
a renewable resource that is gaining popularity and which
powers increasing numbers of retail buildings. Geothermalpowered malls have begun operating in Austria, Turkey, the
U.K. and other countries over the past five years. No shopping centers in the U.S. are thus powered yet, with some
irony perhaps, given that the U.S. leads the world in geothermal electricity-generating capacity.
Ikea may help show how geothermal energy could work
in large retail buildings in the U.S. The retailer's ultra-green
store near Denver, which opened in July 2011, was its first
geothermal-powered unit in the U.S., though 15 Ikea stores
elsewhere in the world were already using the technology.
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