Hall, third from left, discusses geothermal installation with workers

PHILLIPSTOWN – Congressman John Hall Monday rolled up his shirtsleeves, put on work boots and a hard hat and helped lay coils as the foundation for a geothermal system being installed for a new home in the Town of Philipstown.

Hall (D-Dover Plains) spent part of the day helping to install the underground coils for geothermal heating, cooling, and hot water distribution in a new Glassbury Court at Cold Spring home as part of his ongoing “Work-A-Day” initiative.

“It’s really simple technology and it hires people right here at home, and that’s what we should be doing instead of sending billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia and borrowing from China.  It’s one more step down the road toward alternative energy.”

Altren Renewable Energy partner Craig Roffman said his business has been growing as a result of the high oil prices, in what is seemingly one of the only industries that have benefited from the economic slowdown. 

“It (geothermal energy) has actually been around since the middle part of the last century, in the mid-50s, but it’s really been coming around more now because of the economics behind it,” he said. “It’s a little more expensive to install than the traditional system, but because of the lower operating costs, because you’re obtaining heat and cooling energy from underground, you leverage that it brings down your operating costs.”

Roffman is currently contracted by Wilder Balter Partners, the developer of the housing subdivision, to build four geothermal energy units at the Cold Spring location.  The buyers of homes in that development have the option to go with traditional gas energy, or geothermal heating, cooling, and hot water distribution.

Philipstown Deputy Supervisor Richard Shea, who has been a part of the effort to bring renewable energies to the town, called the entire development project a success.

 “The town took a proactive role here.  Six years ago, we had a quarry here, somewhat of a blighted site, so we made it a planned development district, and set the parameters so there was no gray area; when a developer came in, he knew exactly where he stood,” said Shea. He termed the developer someone who is “very progressive on the energy front.”

Hall said he will continue to fight for more federal subsidies for alternative energy in residential projects such as this one, which takes about three to seven years to pay for itself in savings.

This isn’t the first hands on effort from Hall. He has flown a C5-A flight simulator at the Stewart Air National Guard Base and met up with UPS drivers at 6 a.m. to watch them prepare for their daily runs.