Burlington County, New Jersey Affiliate Habbitat for Humanity^®
Contact: Caitlin Watterson,
Public Relations & Procurement Coordinator
caitlinwatterson@habitatbcnj.org
1702 Taylors Lane
Cinnaminson, NJ 08077
www.habitatbcnj.org
856-303-8080

For Immediate Release

Habitat for Humanity^® Burlington County NJ Affiliate Encourages "Green" Building

Cinnaminson, NJ– The environmental stance of pledging to "Go Green" is becoming a popular movement for today's ecologically concerned society. The question is no longer "Paper or plastic?" but rather, "How are you making a difference?"

The Burlington County NJ Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity (HFHBCNJ) consciously works to be environmentally responsible when building decent, affordable homes in the community. With the support of area businesses, HFHBCNJ is able to offer modern, efficient and earth-friendly building materials for these homes.

A proud enthusiast of being "Green", Global Home Improvements of Feasterville, PA has supported HFHBCNJ's mission to provide affordable housing for low to moderate income families while utilizing cost effective and reliable materials. Thanks to Global Home Improvements, the Habitat partner family of 133 Old Marlton Pike in Medford, NJ will enjoy the standing seam metal roofing made custom for their new home. "The roof carries a 35 year warranty on the paint alone," says Marketing Specialist Mike Gleeson, "it has been mechanically seamed to prevent leaks of any kind."

In addition to the metal roofing, a geo-thermal heating system has been installed, courtesy of Foley Mechanical Inc. of Medford, NJ. The system is equipped to provide heat and hot water at a fourth of the cost compared to other heating options. The future partner family of this Habitat home will join the 3 million American families who also enjoy the cost effective benefits of the geo-thermal system.

For more information regarding Habitat for Humanity Burlington County NJ Affiliate and how you can support the mission, please visit www.habitatbcnj.org.

Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian organization whose mission is to eliminate poverty housing and make decent shelter obtainable for all. Habitat promotes homeownership by building and reconstructing houses with volunteers and families eligible for assistance.

International Ground Source Heat Pump Association
Contact: John Clapp
Training Coordinator
347 Cordell South
Stillwater, OK 74078
(405) 744-5175
jclapp@okstate.edu

For Immediate Release - August 27, 2008

Harness the Earth's Energy with a Ground Source Heat Pump

STILLWATER, OKLA. - Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems use modern technologies to harness the stored energy of the greatest solar collector in existence: the earth. Timothy J. Foley of Foley Mechanical, Inc. in Medford, NJ is now accredited by The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) to HARNESS THE EARTH'S ENERGY FOR YOU. Hard work and extensive preparation has allowed Foley to give this community the opportunity to experience GSHP technology.

An IGSHPA - accredited installer is a benefit to the Medford community because of his or her ability to offer the only qualified renewable energy system available today. These systems are perfect for homes, apartment complexes, businesses, schools, and more. In addition to heating and cooling, GSHPs also create free hot water in the summer and deliver substantial hot water savings in the winter.

Installation trainees like Foley learn about the design and installation of ground heat exchangers, which are the basis of GSHP systems. During the winter, water or an anti-freeze solution is circulated through buried pipe, collecting heat from the earth and transporting it into the building. During the summer, the system cools the building by reversing itself; collecting heat from the building and transporting it back into the earth.

For more information on this durable, low-maintenance, economic, and environment-friendly alternative to conventional heating and A/C, contact your local IGSHPA accredited installer or call IGSHPA at 1-800-626-4747.

Historic Haddonfield Home Goes Geothermal

A Haddonfield family is taking the plunge to make federal tax credits and the need for an all new heating and air conditioning (HVAC) system in their historic home a big win for their budget and the environment. They are going geothermal.

Resident of 212 Warwick Road, Dave Stanton, says he's lived in his home for the last year and needs to replace the systems in the house - New HVAC equipment was going to cost him upwards of $40,000.

The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 offers tax credits for people willing to make the change to more efficient and environmentally conscious geothermal heating and cooling systems in their homes or businesses. Stanton says, the motivation to install a three zone geothermal system "was a wash."

Having $1 million worth of well drilling and excavation trucks pull up on his property to drill eight 300 foot wells and install 2,400 feet of underground tubing, along with multiple Carrier heating and cooling units inside the house - would cost him nearly the same as new 'traditional' HVAC equipment.

The difference is not only in the up-front credits, but in the estimated energy savings as soon as the system is turned on in the next week or two. Stanton says he currently pays about $1,200 a month in gas and electric costs. Once the new system starts working, he'll have no gas bill at all, and his overall electric bill will drop to about $500 a month.

How did Stanton get 'turned-on' to this whole concept? He says, "I'm not skeptical. All you have to do is spend fifteen minutes to read about it and you can tell it's a benefit." Not to mention, his father-in-law, John Izdebski, "has had geothermal systems in his home(s) for thirty years...He moved a couple years ago and installed a system in his new house...So I've experienced how it works."

Stanton is working with Tim Foley, of Foley Mechanical, Inc. out of Medford. Foley was featured in a Retrospect article earlier this year - for the installation of a geothermal system in a home in Collingswood. The $70,000 system comes with rebates from Carrier, the manufacturer of the heat/air pumps used to circulate air generated by the underground system, and a 30% tax credit that figures to $21,000.

Foley is the real deal. He smiles at the fact that on the first day of well drilling at Stanton's, he had two "high powered executive types" stop by to talk about investment opportunities. "They wanted to work something out along the lines of them setting up financing and sending candidates my way...Right now, I'm getting a call a day from Haddonfield."

Foley owns Foley Mechanical. He's been in the HVAC business for 17 years, and in high efficiency systems for the last ten. His own house runs on a geothermal system, as does his brother's house, and his rental properties. "Two years ago, we converted our offices to geothermal...we are saving $400 a month on our utility bill [as a result]."

With regard to how his business may be on its way to booming - in Haddonfield alone - Foley says, "We'll put in as many systems as we can. We do about one system a week [right now]." As for the Stanton family, hopes are to go solar sometime next year. By then, he'll be living in a house built in 1860 that will rely on energy consumption that's oh so 21st century.

Habitat for Humanity Burlington County
NJ HFHBC Goes Even Greener!

Thanks to the generous support of Foley Mechanical in Medford and Anderson Well Drilling of Marlton, one of our new houses in Beverly will be equipped with a geo-thermal heating system. This unit will provide heat and hot water at 1/3 to even 1/4 of the cost of other heating options. HFHBC continues to strive to be an environmentally responsible builder.

Visit the Habitat for Humanity Burlington County, NJ on Facebook

Goodbye, Oil and Gas:
Colls Family Goes Green for Heating, Cooling

How liberating would it be to one day wake up and call your utility company and say, "I'm putting my furnace on the curb with my rusty old hot water heater. Cancel my oil [or gas] delivery. I don't need any of it anymore. I get my heat from the Earth."

The second call, to your neighbors and friends, "Anyone who wants the air conditioning units that used to cool our three bedrooms in the summer - they are on the park strip next to the furnace and the hot water heater. First come, first served."

For the last two weeks, Kennon Dick of Harvard Avenue in Collingswood has been living that experience. He just completed installation of a geothermal heating and cooling unit in his home. He says the project started as the "moons" of home mechanical systems which aligned to create what he and his wife Maura saw as an opportunity.

For one, he and his family were living with a 25-to-30 year-old inefficient furnace. Second, a fifteen year-old hot water tank that was ready for replacement. Third, they already had ductwork in the house, no radiators. And lastly, on Feb. 13, President Barack Obama signed into law a new tax credit. Homeowners can now collect 30% of their expenses on a geothermal heating installation, instead of the former cap of $2,000.

The benefits don't end there. New Jersey now offers a tax break for the installation of geothermal units. Whatever increase in assessment a home receives based on the installation of geothermal heating and cooling, does not affect local property taxes. Property owners are not taxed on the value that adding geothermal brings to a home.

Dick says "there are a lot of little incentives like that," that include rebates from geothermal unit manufacturers. His geothermal heating and cooling unit is from Carrier and was installed by Foley Mechanical Heating and Air, based in Medford.

It's not just about tax breaks, though. Installation of a geothermal system is expensive. Dick says his installation has cost him $25,000, for which he has taken a home equity loan. About $8,000 of that expense will come back to him, via the new geothermal 30% credit, within the year - as an actual credit, not as a deduction. He also automatically saves $2,000 a year or more on heating oil costs.

The way geothermal works in the Dick household is through a vertical well installed in the backyard through to the basement. A well-drilling unit came to the house and drilled two holes, each only six inches wide, 275 feet deep into the earth. A line is run through theses wells and to the house in a 'closed loop.' The line carries a coolant that brings warmth from the home in summer months for 'holding' underground until it is needed in winter. Excess heat is used to run the hot water heater in the home.

The premise is simple. During the winter, the ground water is warmer than the ambient air temperature, representing a heat difference that can be pumped through the coolant loop. In the summer months, the ground water table is much cooler, allowing the process to work in reverse, essentially putting a house's heat into the ground.

Dick explains that for nine months out of the year, the system maintains a temperate climate very simply: air in, air out. For months when there is not excess heat (like the dead of winter), his hot water heater will have to work on its own, using electricity.

Since the system runs on an electrical pump that sends either heat out and cool in or cool out and heat in, Dick anticipates about a $60 jump in his electrical costs, still lower than the $100 a month he used to pay to run air conditioning units throughout his house in the summer months. Dick jokes, "I'm part Scotch - so saving money has always been an interest of mine." But he emphasizes more seriously that "with the election of Obama" and the incentive of "our family doing our part for a greener planet" it was the right time to make the change.

He adds, "Our thought process was that with the fluctuation in oil and gas prices and three kids to send to college, oil and gas in the $3 per gallon range kills our budget." This way, costs are more consistent for the Dicks, over the whole year. He keeps his thermostat a consistent 68 degrees all winter and 75 degrees all summer. It's no longer necessary to turn the settings up and down to save energy during the day - it's more efficient not to do that.

In looking ahead, Dick says that going solar would make the system complete, although it is also an expensive endeavor and not in his immediate plans. "If I go solar," he laughs, "I'm completely off the grid." With a carbon footprint his kids can be proud of, for sure.





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