On May 10th, ClimateMaster and LoopTech hosted over 200 attendees at their first annual GeoRanch in New Waverly, TX. LoopTech’s headquarters, the event location, proved to be an ideal place for this type of “in the field” training. This one day event featured live demonstrations that focused on geothermal system components and different types of installation techniques.
The training consisted of nine different stations that demonstrated different aspects of geothermal. These stations included: Drilling techniques and looping (led by Ralph Cadwallader of LoopTech and Phil Polak of Gulf Coast Pump & Supply), grout machines and grouting (led by Jeff Bowen from Geo-Loop, Treg Yowell from GeoPro and Allan Skouby from GRTI), HDPE piping & fusion techniques (led by Stuart Lyle and Mike Raider from ISCO Pipe), exterior field headers and manifolding (led by John Sirman of LoopTech), interior piping/circulation pumps/air flow (led by Charles Smith of GeoAdvantage), ground source heat pumps (led by Caleb Fox of ClimateMaster), flushing and purging (led by Neil Greer and Jac Coleman from PurgeRite), pond loops (led by Bill Greer of LoopTech) and economics/GeoDesigner (led by Titian Burris of ClimateMaster). An additional station reserved for school district attendees was held by Dr. Kavanaugh of Ground Source Heat Pump Design.
“GeoRanch was a location where you could see and touch all aspects of the geothermal installation,” said Tracy Tee, District Manager for ClimateMaster. “We were able to display the new units with ClimateMaster’s iGate™ technology, which will make a real impact on our industry.”
Russell Buras, President of LoopTech said, “It was pleasure for us to host this first class event at our new headquarters just North of Houston. It was fun, informative and just being able to show people what we do and how we do it, really made a difference.” Buras also said, “I believe GeoRanch can be a model to use across the country on how to get people interested, educated, and how to grow the Geothermal market."
Attendees of this training included builders, dealers, distributors, utility consultants, contractors, architects and engineers. Titian Burris, Builder Development Manager for ClimateMaster, invited a handful of area builders to the event. Burris said, “a live demonstration helps people understand that these systems are not difficult to install. Also, it is important for these builders to see the true economics of geothermal and why it makes sense to make it part of their business offering.”
Cody Gebhart of Aces AC Supply, a ClimateMaster distributor, brought over 38 dealers from 20 different companies. Gebhart said “the amount of information that was supplied in one work day would have taken over a year’s worth of training dates to bring it all together.” He hopes that there will be more training events similar to this in the future. Gebhart added, “I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way the event was set up or executed. Gathering that amount of people in one place for an event like GeoRanch had to take an immense amount of planning and you could definitely tell that it paid off.”
According to Boyd Lee, Director of Marketing and Member Services with Caddo Electric Cooperative, “GeoRanch was very beneficial, primarily from the standpoint of getting to know the ClimateMaster family of vendors and contractors. It was also very obvious that ClimateMaster attracts high quality contractors to its fold.”
Ralph Cadwallader, CEO of LoopTech, celebrated his 32nd business anniversary the day of GeoRanch. He said “our passion for saving energy is our mission. Energy Savings is a very worthy cause and it was demonstrated at the GeoRanch event.”
Sponsors of GeoRanch include: Gulf Coast Pump & Supply, Geo-Loop, GeoPro, Inc., Geothermal Resource Technology, Inc., ISCO Pipe, and PurgeRite.
LoopTech, founded in 1984, specializes in clean energy solutions through the installation of vertical closed loop heat exchangers for ground source heat pumps. LoopTech has installed these GeoExchange systems in seventeen states as well as Saudi Arabia and Mexico. LoopTech provides full service for all types of commercial and residential applications utilizing its fleet of drilling and installation equipment. We have developed several creative innovations for the GeoExchange industry.
For additional information, visit www.climatemaster.com.