New York Botanical Garden—Geothermal System

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) comprises 250 acres with approximately 38 separate buildings. Established in 1891, the garden is a National Historic Landmark and the campus houses several structures that are New York City Landmarks.

Geothermal System & Electrification Plant

In addition to its gardens, wetlands, and forest area, NYBG contains research, educational, and archival facilities. The International Plant Studies Center (IPSC), Watson Building and LuEsther T. Mertz Library form a cluster of three buildings toward the north of the campus that take up a large portion of the total building square footage. The three buildings have partially over-lapping heating and cooling systems, although cooling is currently separated between the three.

Based on a chiller plant analysis conducted by GOCO for the IPSC, we recommended replacement of the chiller plant with a heat pump based heating and cooling system serving the IPSC and Mertz Library as a single system. This system will incorporate geothermal wells for heat rejection in the summer and heat supply in the winter, enabling the existing steam boilers to be gradually phased out of operation.