Community Corner
August Busch III Reportedly Receiving $300,000 Tax Credit to Install Ground Source Heat Pump
Tax credit will cover 30 percent of cost to install pump at his new 10,000 square foot one bedroom residence in St. Charles County.
According to a source in the construction industry former Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch III has taken advantage of a federal tax credit which will cover $300,000 of the $1 million cost to install a ground source heat pump to provide heating, air conditioning, and hot water for a new 10,000 square ft. one-bedroom residence at his 2,000 acre Waldmeister Farm in St. Peters.
The source added that while Brentwood-based Musick Construction is the general contractor for the Busch residence, Olivette-based Murphy Company Mechanical Contractors and Engineers (Murphy) has been hired to provide the technical savvy and equipment needed to properly design and size the system.
Murphy is one of the biggest mechanical contractors in the U.S., employs more than 1,000 people, and reported revenue of $225 million in 2010. The source believes this to be Murphy’s only/or one of only a few residential jobs the company has handled.
The 2011 federal tax credits for consumer energy efficiency offers to cover 30 percent of the cost to install a ground source heat pump in existing homes, new construction, principal residences, and second homes. Rental property does not qualify for the credit.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called ground source heat pumps the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available.
According to the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, “ground source heat pumps have closed or open loops, and those loops can be installed in three ways: horizontally, vertically, or in a pond/lake. The type chosen depends on the available land and the soil and rock type at the installation site."
And according to the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia ground source heat pumps also currently have lower operational costs than any other conventional heating source and natural gas is the only fuel with competitive operational costs. Homeowners can save anywhere from 20 percent to 60 percent annually on utilities by switching from an ordinary HVAC system to the ground source heat pump.
Waldmeister Farm is located at 400 Silvers Road in St. Peters and also features a 2100 x 20 ft. airport runway and a 50 x 50 ft helipad that Bush III would use to helicopter to the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis and back.