CASCADE, IA — When All Seasons Heating & Cooling, Dubuque, Iowa—a 75-employee sheet metal and mechanical contractor set up to do design builds or bid and spec jobs—was called to provide an HVAC solution for a newly constructed building at large agricultural farm in nearby Cascade, meeting with the facility owner and reviewing their wants and needs to determine the total design of a geothermal system was top priority.

The main objectives included in-floor heat for the main farm shop, forced air heating and cooling for the offices and in-floor heat for the wash bay. The building consists of a very large farm shop, approximately 13,000 sq. ft. with 20 feet plus ceiling height; the office is approximately 1,200 sq. ft.; and the wash bay is 5,500 sq. ft. “We chose to heat the wash bay with an LP boiler and in-floor system so it can pump a large amount of heat in the area during subzero conditions in winter,” says Dan Fens, whose role at All Seasons Heating & Cooling starts with designing the system to staying on the project through each phase: sales, service, and project management for each job all the way to the finish line.

Installation

Starting the project in June 2023 and completing it in January 2024, All Seasons Heating & Cooling installed forced air and hydronic ClimateMaster geothermal units, which includes a 26-ton horizontal loop, or slinky loop as Fens describes it, installed under the back parking lot and farm field behind the building, dug in at about 10-12 feet in depth. “We went extra deep on this building to cover the loads due to the overhead door opening and closing all day long, causing extended run time on the systems,” says Fens.