Kansas City IKEA to Use Geothermal Heating and Cooling System

“A commitment to sustainability is part of our business model...We try to incorporate sustainability into everything we do," says Joseph Roth, spokesperson for IKEA.  The privately owned company continues to back up those claims.

Image courtesy of IKEA, via Midwestenergynews.com

The soon-to-open Kansas City area IKEA store has already made headlines for the massive 869-kilowatt solar array, made up of 2,850 solar panels, that will rank as the second largest in Kansas.  Now, the efficiency-proud company is making waves for its extensive geothermal system that will completely heat and cool the building, and it's expected to be one of the largest in the country.

The 359,000 square foot store's temperature will be controlled by a liquid coolant pumping underground where it remains approximately 55 degrees year round, then cycling back through the heating and cooling system of the building, (Karen Uhlenhuth, MidWestEnergyNews.com.)  The underground piping system will move 36,000 gallons of coolant between the ground and the store, while 64 forced air-heat pumps will move the temperate air throughout the building.

The IKEA building will consume a tremendous amount of energy, due to the massive square footage of the store in addition to the restaurant, featuring freezers and refrigerators.   Although the solar panel array is very large, it is only expected to cover between 20 and 40 percent of the energy usage the store will require, so the geothermal system should be a huge efficiency contributor to the building.

IKEA had success in geothermal systems with its Denver area store, which prompted the campaign in the new Kansas City location.  Solar panels have also been installed on 90 percent of Ikea stores throughout the United States.  Furthermore, the company's goal is to only be using efficient LED lighting in all of its stores by the year 2016.  All of these actions solidify IKEA as a formidable energy efficiency force in the world of retail, and back up their commitments to sustainability.

Source: MidWestEnergyNews.com, Karen Uhlenhuth