SSU BOLD: Decarbonization Project

To meet our goals of breaking free of fossil fuels by 2050, Salem State is initiating our Phase I North Campus decarbonization effort by establishing a geothermal wellfield (approximately 100 wells) under the faculty parking lot on College Drive, behind Meier Hall. We will use heat pumps to deliver fossil fuel-free heating and cooling to Horace Mann which is undergoing a total renovation and to the Meier Hall Addition. Future phases will extend this clean energy loop to additional North Campus buildings. 

The state chose to fully fund Salem State’s Phase I decarbonization initiative as a state agency demonstration project focusing on strategies such as geothermal energy, a shared heating and cooling energy loop, and technologies such as air source heat exchange. The fortuitous timing will complement Project Bold, SSU’s plan to renovate Horace Mann and build an addition to Meier Hall, allowing those buildings to access the new fossil-free energy loop for heating and cooling when they open in 2027. 

 

The project will also install foundations for a solar array on the faculty parking lot, which will be designed and installed in a follow up project. Upon completion of the decarbonization project, the new Meier Hall addition and the renovated Horace Mann building will be the first buildings to utilize this clean technology.

Additional decarbonization plans are being developed for the Harrington Campus and the O’Keefe Athletic Complex.