Both the commercial and residential geothermal markets have felt the sting of the loss of federal tax credits for geothermal projects, but contractors on the commercial side remain reasonably upbeat about their market’s outlook.

It’s not unusual for one to wake up with a headache on Jan. 1, but the headache that greeted the geothermal industry on Jan. 1, 2017, wasn’t caused by excessive late-night celebration. On that date, geothermal systems lost their 10 percent investment tax credit under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code (which covers energy tax credits).

While geothermal heat pumps may initially seem complicated to service or troubleshoot for some technicians, with the right training, they will find that these systems are similar to conventional air-source heat pumps.

On Dec. 31, 2016, the 30 percent residential and 10 percent commercial federal tax credits for geothermal heat pumps expired while credits for solar and wind were extended.

HR 1090 — The Technologies for Energy Security Act of 2017 — introduced by Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., would correct a congressional oversight in late-2015 that extended tax credits for solar and wind but left behind “orphaned” technologies, like geothermal heat pumps, fuel cells, microturbines, small wind, and combined heat and power (CHP) when their credits expired Jan. 1 of this year. The Reed bill currently boasts 108 cosponsors, 59 of which are Republicans.

Like last year, this year’s Heating Showcase is split into two parts — residential and commercial. The residential/light commercial information is published in this issue, and the commercial products will be featured in the Oct. 2 issue. Feature-specific information about each individual product is included as submitted by the manufacturers.

The HVAC geothermal industry recently received some good news when Google formed an independent business called Dandelion to get into the geothermal space.

On June 1, President Donald Trump followed through on his campaign promise to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord, an international agreement struck last year that calls for long-term worldwide actions to cut carbon emissions and reduce the threat of climate change.