Dedicated on August 23, 1994,  Salem Elementary School was the first school in Arkansas to be completely heated and cooled by ground source heat pumps.  Salem Elementary is a single story building with 42,585 square feet of conditioned space.  The electric cooperative that serves the school provided a secondary electric demand meter to enable the utility and school officials to monitor the exact cost of heating and cooling the facility.  Since the equipment's installation, the electric demand meter has proven the efficiency and low operating costs of Salem's Hydro-Temp units.

The school board at Salem was determined to have lower utility bills than the ones they had incurred in previous facilities.  To accomplish this goal, they worked with the architect to increase the thermal qualities of the envelope.  They also consulted with the electric utility to ensure that they had the most efficient heating and cooling plant possible.  The electric cooperative encouraged them to seriously consider ground source heat pumps due to their reliability, reduced mechanical spacing needs, and low operating costs.  In addition, maintenance cost on the units are minimal as there is no outside mechanical equipment exposed to weather or vandalism.

During the first two years of operation, the school averaged 2.4 kilowatt hours per square foot per year for heating and cooling.  This usage averaged out to a $565.00 average per month at 6¢ per kilowatt hour.  In addition to these impressive savings, the school benefits from the heat recovery device incorporated into one of the units, which provides free hot water to the kitchen.  The building also profits from an energy management system that incorporates the use of infrared and motion sensors to determine when the lights and the heating and cooling equipment should be operational. 
Building Specifications:

	42,585 square feet of conditioned space.
	90 tons of ground source heat pumps in various capacities, manufactured by Hydro-Temp Corporation.
	Horizontal ground loops buried six feet deep, consisting of 30,000 feet of 3/4" high density polyethylene pipe located in 60 trenches, each 240 feet in length.