June 25, 2014: IKEA Completes Groundwork on Largest Single Geothermal Project in Kansas/Missouri
IKEA Merriam Will Be the Company’s Second United States Store with Geothermal
MERRIAM, Kan. — IKEA announced that all underground geothermal work is complete for its future Kansas City-area store, which will be the largest single building with geothermal heating and cooling in either Kansas or Missouri. The remaining geothermal work will be included as part of the actual IKEA store’s building construction. The Merriam, Kansas, store is scheduled to open in fall 2014.
The underground work for this geothermal system involved drilling 180 boreholes — six inches in diameter and 600 feet deep — into the earth across part of the 19-acre IKEA parcel. Pipes placed into these boreholes form an underground network of loops for circulating 36,000 gallons of heat transfer fluid (a water-based, anti-freeze solution) that will connect to 64 heat pumps to heat and cool the store. The system will also include five hot-water heat pumps to provide potable hot water needed for the store’s lavatory and restaurant operations.