Installed in 1998, the Sandy Creek Nature Center ground source heat pump was the first renewable energy facility project in Athens-Clarke County. The site features a 5-ton ground source heat pump that provides about 16% of the facility's energy.
Geothermal heat pumps, or ground source heat pumps, are used to heat and cool buildings using naturally-existing heat from within the earth rather than through the use of fossil fuel combustion methods.
