News & Insights

Salas O’Brien will be presenting at IDEA’s CampusEnergy 2024 on February 22nd at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square on the topics of district energy, energy modeling, and campus decarbonization.

Jeff Urlaub, PE and Brian Urlaub, experts in geothermal technologies and district energy, are presenting:

A Good Idea Gets Better: Even Greater Geothermal Efficiency (2.22 at 11:15 am PST) – 

Geo-exchange systems are well established as a basis for thermal system electrification and realizing associated decarbonization and operating cost benefits. A geo-exchange system deployed in an ambient loop approach is a shared distribution system moving consistent temperature heat between multiple sources and multiple users, lowering capital expenditures as well as operating costs. Salas O’Brien’s ambient loop experience includes a commercial campus, a 300+ single-family home development, and a multi-block urban development. Session includes discussion of precondition assessment, the differences between single-pipe and two-pipe options, utilizing TRNSYS modeling, and multi-source opportunities.

Lindsey Olsen, PE, PMP, an expert in guiding campuses towards more sustainable, modern technologies, is presenting two sessions:

Princeton University – Modeling Carbon Neutrality in a Changing World (2.22 at 11:15 am PST) – Princeton University completed their Infrastructure Master Plan (IMP) in 2017, and has since built two state-of-the-art energy facilities, installed extensive geo-exchange systems, and commenced with new district hot water piping. Princeton is now moving toward a post-steam campus. IMP 2.0 is using the modeling software TRNSYS to optimize various scenarios considering project costs, greenhouse gas reduction, and campus resiliency, all-while integrating new technology and significant campus growth plans.

Decarbonizing Amherst College by 2030: We Have a Pipe Dream (2.22 at 3:30pm PST) – Amherst College has completed the initial phase of their multi-year decarbonization plan, which included the installation of more than two miles of hot and chilled water pipes on campus. Upcoming phases will include a new energy center, a resilient hot water loop, twenty-two miles of geothermal heat exchangers, and the conversion of core campus buildings from steam to hot water. Lessons learned during the initial phase will help drive continual improvement.

These presentations highlight innovative transformations Salas O’Brien is leading in the context of geothermal efficiency, energy modeling, and campus decarbonization.

For more information, or to register to attend, visit districtenergy.org.

About IDEA

The International District Energy Association (IDEA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry association founded in the United States in 1909. IDEA has extensive experience in highly reliable thermal networks, combined heat and power, thermal storage and clean energy management to optimize energy efficiency, emissions reductions and sustainable solutions for mission-critical and community-scale markets.

About Salas O’Brien

Salas O’Brien is an engineering and technical services firm focused on advancing the human experience through the built environment. Our team is engineered for impact, helping clients achieve critical goals, advancing our team members through growth and opportunity, and operating at the center of important global issues including sustainability and decarbonization. We are a top firm as ranked by Engineering News-Record and Consulting-Specifying Engineer, and we have appeared for the past ten years on the Inc. 5000 list of North America’s fastest-growing private companies.

For more details or to set up an interview, please contact Stacy Lake, Director of Corporate Communications.