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Lincoln Tomb going 'green' with geothermal upgrade

Posted November 29, 2007 10:00 pm

Adriana Colindres

Geothermal energy, which utilizes the heat beneath the Earth's surface, will power a new heating and cooling system at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

The project, budgeted to cost $282,000, is to be completed by the end of 2008, in time for activities related to the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's 1809 birth, said David Blanchette, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

"We think this is particularly appropriate for the Lincoln Tomb because Abraham Lincoln is the only president to hold a U.S. patent," Blanchette said. "He was fascinated by the latest inventions and the latest technology, so we certainly think it's appropriate to use this latest green technology on his final resting place."

Lincoln's patent was for a device to help free riverboats that got stuck on sandbars.

Geothermal energy relies on the fact that the temperature underground always is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Geothermal makes use of that constant temperature within the Earth, so in the summer it will take the heat from a building and pipe it out into the ground, and in the winter it takes the warm air from the ground and pumps it into the building," Blanchette said.

"Obviously, that doesn't take care of the entire heating and cooling need of a place," he added. "But it does greatly reduce the need for additional heating and cooling and the use of energy."

No estimates were available to illustrate the potential energy savings.

"We're not aware of this being tried in a public historic site like this before, so we really don't have anything to compare it to," Blanchette said. "But we're confident the savings will be significant because of the nature of geothermal."

The geothermal system will replace a heating and cooling system that was most recently upgraded in the early 1990s and now has exceeded its expected lifespan.

A Springfield firm, Melotte Morse Leonatti Ltd., is handling the design work for the project, and construction could start as soon as spring, Blanchette said. He doesn't know yet if the project will require the historic site to close to visitors, but he said any disruptions would be brief.

The project is one of the first to meet new energy-efficient, "green" guidelines for state construction projects. State lawmakers and Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2005 approved legislation that requires the Capital Development Board, which oversees construction at state buildings, to push the growth of green building methods.

The Lincoln Tomb project has received a $25,000 energy-efficiency grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, which has helped pay for more than 65 geothermal installations throughout the state.

"Energy-efficient technologies, and there are lots of them now, are really coming into the mainstream and can be used and incorporated into almost any kind of building," said James Mann, the foundation's executive director. "That's what the foundation is really trying to promote with its grants."

The Lincoln Tomb draws almost 375,000 visitors every year. Mann said the site's popularity was one reason it got a grant.

"The public will be able to experience and see that this (geothermal technology) actually works," he said.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.

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