The redevelopment of Barry Farm in Southeast Washington includes the city’s biggest geothermal installation from a company run by Hall of Fame goalie Mike Richter.
The temperature hovered around freezing on a recent winter morning, but 400 feet under the ground, it was a comparatively toasty 55 degrees, give or take.
That’s why a 25-ton drill rig was driving rods deep into the soil at the site of one of the biggest transformations of public housing in D.C. history.
The driving force behind the effort at the redeveloped Barry Farm public housing complex in Southeast Washington was hockey legend Mike Richter, who now heads the company responsible for carrying out the $5.5 million geothermal installation.
When complete, the bore holes will host a geothermal heating and cooling system — the first large-scale community geothermal project ever undertaken in the city.
“The goal is to lower operational costs and decarbonize, in that order,” said Richter, the former New York Rangers goalie, who is now president of New York-based Brightcore Energy.
Barry Farm residents were moved out of their homes in 2019 to make way for its redevelopment into a mixed-income community, as part of the city’s broader New Communities Initiative to rehabilitate public housing. Progress has been slow, beset by legal battles. In November, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) finally cut the ribbon on the first completed building, the Asberry, with affordable apartments prioritizing seniors.
