Micron Technology gave $2.5 million to help fund work to expand the system for a new multifamily housing development, slashing utility bills for future residents.

Micron Technology, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, is helping fund geothermal heating for an affordable housing development in the city. (Jyoni Shuler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Boise already knows how to tap the carbon-free heat beneath our feet. The city operates the country’s largest geothermal heating system, which pipes naturally warmed, 177-degree-Fahrenheit water from underground to about 100 buildings — including the Idaho State Capitol. 

Last week, semiconductor multinational Micron Technology gave Boise $2.5 million to build on that expertise. The cash fills a funding gap to extend the geothermal system to a planned affordable housing development with more than 300 units. In total, the project price tag is about $140 million, according to the city. 

“Boise has been Micron’s headquarters for 48 years, and investing in this community means investing in the people who call it home,” April Arnzen, executive vice president and chief people officer at Micron and president of its philanthropic arm, the Micron Foundation, said in a statement. 

In February, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge awarded Boise $ 1 million to upgrade its geothermal system for affordable housing, as well as to explore a new use for the network: Some early-stage technologies exist that could potentially harness the hot water from Boise’s system to provide cooling, according to Maria Ortega, the city’s communications senior manager.

Source link