Geothermal is environmentally friendly, and can be a cost effective way to heat and cool a building. The Hick's United Methodist Church has an expensive problem. You can't tell from the outside, but they've got a 50 year old heating system that's on its last leg, and no central air conditioning. Retired architect and church trustee Dick Fruth answered the call to do something about it. And he's getting help from mother earth. The church trustees agreed to put in a geothermal heating and cooling system. It starts with a 400 foot deep well out back. It taps into an underground river. The water is sent to a chiller and pump room. That's where the old boiler used to be. From there, hot or cold water is sent to different parts of the building. The registers can blow the air into the rooms as needed. The system cost 300-thousand dollars. They found that geothermal was 25% more expensive to put in, but would pay for itself in about 8 years. It's not all about money. The church knows that this system leaves a much smaller carbon footprint. They want to be good stewards of the earth. But Fruth doesn't recommend leaving everything up to the lord. If you're considering a geothermal system, he says make sure you use a company with solid references, that's done the work before. If you'd like to learn how geothermal works. The Pennsylvania Groundwater Association is hosting a one day conference. It's at Rock Springs on Friday June 12th. You need to sign up by June 5th. It's $45, unless you're a local, state or federal government worker, faculty or student. Then its free. Log on to www.pgwa.org to learn more about the system and tax breaks and to sign up for the conference.