Northampton High School
Reminder Publishing file photo
NORTHAMPTON — An $11.2 million geothermal project at the Northampton High School is set to make additional headway by the end of August.
In an email to Reminder Publishing, Ben Weil, the director of Northampton’s Department of Climate Action and Project Administration, said the city is working on finalizing an “Energy Management Services Agreement” with Brightcore Energy Services Inc. for its assistance on the project.
According to the city’s website, Brightcore would provide energy management services including the “design, construction, installation, commissioning, measurement and verification, and implementation of geothermal heating and cooling and related energy-conservation” at NHS.
“The contract is still under review by [the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources] before we can sign the contract,” Weil said. “Under [MGL] Chapter 25a section 11, this kind of guaranteed performance contract has to be approved by DOER; they get 15 long days to do it.”
According to its website, Brightcore, which has headquarters in Armonk, New York, is an energy company that assists large commercial and industrial clients with the planning, design, and implementation of clean energy projects, including geothermal systems, solar, energy storage and smart building technologies.
The website states that it has worked with higher education and healthcare institutions, governments, corporate and Fortune 500s and K-12 schools on these projects.
According to LinkedIn, the organization was named one of the top Greentech companies of 2026 by Time Magazine and Statista, and they are currently working with Agawam on a geothermal project for the town’s new high school, according to Brightcore’s Instagram.
Weil did not provide contract details to Reminder Publishing because the contract is still under review. The city, however, held a pro forma meeting on Aug. 3 to announce its intention of working with the Greentech company.
“We do not yet have an executed contract but expect to have it before the end of the month,” Weil told Reminder Publishing. “Preferably sooner.”
The geothermal project at NHS has been in the making for a long time. According to previous Reminder Publishing reporting, in December the City Council voted to authorize the use of Climate Stabilization funds and municipal long- and short-term bonds to finance the design, installation and construction of the project.
In May, the CAPA Department was awarded a $4 million grant through the Mass. Clean Energy Center Green School Works program to support the ground source heat pump at the school. The money was part of $19 million awarded across the state through the program.
At the time, Weil said the school’s current chillers are well past their expected useful life and will need to be replaced within five years at the latest.
On top of the chillers, the high school’s boilers are also nearing the end of their expected useful life if continually operated, which is why the geothermal project has become an enticing and proactive approach to benefit the building and its students. Weil explained that ground source heat pumps are protected from the elements and have an equipment lifetime of 25 to 30 years.
In addition to replacing outdated equipment, the geothermal project aims to reduce carbon emissions, according to the city.
The heating and cooling associated with ground source heat pumps are projected to reduce energy costs by 17%, maintenance costs by up to 50%, carbon emissions by 43%, and total energy use of the building by 68%, based on early estimates, according to Weil.
He explained that $3.5 million of the $4 million grant is recoverable grant funds for short-term borrowing, saving the city $200,000 to $300,000 in interest payments. The other $500,000 is considered direct funds, allowing CAPA to complete envelope measures on the high school.
“That’s the nature of the grant that we got, and I think primarily, we got it because it’s a shovel-ready project where we’re already underway, we already did our test bore, we have our contractor doing design right now,” said Weil, who added that drilling for the project was expected to start this summer. “We’re doing a few things that are a little bit innovative, and I think that they’re hoping that we can provide, kind of a case study that will help maybe drive costs down or make projects happen faster around the state.”
