Bedrock Energy, an early-stage technology company that designs and constructs geothermal heating and cooling systems, announced April 17 the completion of its inaugural geothermal project with real estate and infrastructure owner, operator, lender, and developer CIM Group. Bedrock successfully installed a geothermal borefield and heating and cooling system at Building D of the Penn Field mixed-use office and retail campus. CIM Group is committed to advancing sustainability at Penn Field, including green building technologies and alternative energy solutions, and partnered with Bedrock to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, lower energy consumption, and cut costs related to heating and cooling the office building.
Led by Bedrock’s team of technologists, operational engineers, and implementation crew members, the borefield was finished in three months. The geothermal HVAC system will provide 35 tons of heating and cooling for four tenants of Building D and was delivered with the partnership of Interface Engineering, a leading MEP engineering firm, and Climate Solutions, a top HVAC services firm in Austin.
“At Penn Field we are pursuing decarbonization of our existing buildings utilizing Bedrock Energy’s innovative approach to geothermal heating and cooling systems. This initial project with Bedrock Energy is one of many programs that we are supporting to both deliver on our sustainability goals as well as demonstrate the potential of these technologies,” said Avi Shemesh, Co-Founder and Principal, CIM Group.
Penn Field is an approximately 228,000-square-foot, 16-acre, mixed-use property located in Austin’s South Congress (“SoCo”) Business District and is owned by Creative Media and Community Trust Corporation (CMCT), a real estate investment trust operated by CIM Group. Penn Field was originally developed in 1918 as an air base for the U.S. Army. The industrial buildings of post-World War I design have been transformed over time into what is today, a lushly landscaped campus with a diverse tenant base including technology, media, and entertainment companies.
Bedrock’s novel technologies combine automated drilling and advanced subsurface modeling to triple drilling speed, increase space-efficiency, and improve subsurface accuracy. In addition to the advantages of Bedrock’s approach, its role as an end-to-end construction manager for geothermal projects enables the company to install geothermal HVAC systems in dense, urban locations, such as Austin, where projects were previously too costly or complex. For Penn Field’s Building D, Bedrock’s modeling and construction enabled the company to limit the borefield to 11 bores, versus the approximately 30 bores that would have been specified with conventional technologies.
“Our team is thrilled to bring something truly special to Texas with our first geothermal project. This installation demonstrates how the energy beneath our feet offers not only comfort but also savings, reliability, and innovation. Geothermal can strengthen our grid, support our businesses, create jobs, and help our communities thrive. We’re grateful to CIM for partnering with us to demonstrate this value on a historic building like Penn Field, and we’re excited for our team and technology to deliver clean heating and cooling to many more communities to come,” said Joselyn Lai, Co-Founder and CEO of Bedrock Energy.
“As an investor with an extensive pipeline of projects across climate sectors, we recognize the importance and need of sustainable heating and cooling, especially for cost savings,” said Danya Hakeem, VP of Portfolio at Elemental Excelerator, a nonprofit investor focused on scaling climate technology for deep community impact. “This latest project completion represents a pivotal milestone in the geothermal industry and is deeply aligned with Elemental’s mission to deploy climate technology innovation with environmental and community benefits.”
The development of this innovative technology is timely as Texas explores options to improve the stability of its energy grid and diversify renewable energy options. This month, the Department of Energy announced a new Better Buildings Initiative focused on commercial heat pumps adoption and first-ever Buildings Decarbonization Blueprint to promote energy savings and emissions reductions. Given the growing importance of decarbonizing buildings’ energy use, the partnership between Bedrock and CIM Group sets a dynamic blueprint that can be emulated nationwide.
The completion of the Austin project follows Bedrock’s $8.5M seed funding round announcement in October 2023. The financing round was led by Wireframe Ventures, with participation from CIM Group, Overture Climate VC, Long Journey Ventures, Toba Capital, Cantos, First Star Ventures, Divergent Capital, and Climate Capital.
Workers on the site of Bedrock’s geothermal project in Austin.