Ground Breaking Geothermal Certification for Gravenhurst Plumbing
GEO CERTIFIED: Chip Loughead of Gravenhurst Plumbing, Heating and Electric with his Global Quality GeoExchange Program certificate.
By Allan Cook
Originally appeared in the March 2008 issue of North Country Business
Gravenhurst Plumbing, Heating & Electric has become the first company in Ontario to achieve firm qualification under the Global Quality GeoExchange Program.
Created by the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition, the Global Quality GeoExchange Program is the world’s most stringent quality assurance program for geothermal heating and cooling system technology, installation, and service.
“This is very significant not only for us, but for our customers, too,” says Chip Loughead, owner and manager of Gravenhurst Plumbing, Heating & Electric.
The certification, which was announced Feb. 26, will allow Gravenhurst Plumbing’s customers to qualify for government incentives to switch to geothermal home heating systems.
“There is over $8,000 in grants and rebates from the federal and provincial governments available to homeowners to retrofit and replace their existing heating systems with geothermal,” Loughead explains. “But as of April 1, in order to qualify, you have to work with a CGC certified geothermal contractor.”
The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition was created in 2003 – the result of industry recommendations in a study commissioned by Natural Resources Canada – to foster development of the ground source heat pump industry in Canada.
It is a non-profit, federallyincorporated independent body that works with government and industry stakeholders to provide training, information and standards.
“They want to make sure the bar is raised to the degree where the job is getting done properly,” Loughead explains. “So the CGC instituted the training program to make sure the contractors and designers of the geothermal systems were at a certain level.”
The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition also serves to inform the public of the importance of geothermal technologies as an alternative energy source.
While he expects his competitors to catch up with certification over the next few months, Loughead is proud to be the first. Gravenhurst Plumbing, Heating and Electric’s geothermal technicians have been trained and certified by the CGC, and the company operates according to the CGC’s Code of Conduct. Certification is re-verified annually, and employees will receive refresher training once a year.
“Because firm qualification is mandatory as of April 1 for our customers to qualify for the ecoENERGY grant, I worked hard to gain this qualification as quickly as possible,” he says. “Geothermal is catching on everywhere. This puts us in good stead to take on the emerging and growing geothermal market in Muskoka.”
A geothermal system converts the baseline ground or water temperature into heating or air conditioning through a heat-pump that works on the identical principal as the compressor on a refrigerator and costs roughly a quarter as much to operate as a conventional gas, electric or oil system. Loughead sees it as the energy source of the future.
“Geothermal can do forced air, in-floor, and both at the same time, with one machine, and assist your domestic hot water needs. So you’ve got air conditioning, heating, your infloor, hot water, you have no noisy outdoor unit, and you’re not burning fossil fuels,” he says. “It’s a renewable energy that’s both economically and environmentally friendly.”
