PIPE KEEPS SCHOOL COOL

A new high school in Ely, Nev., has installed nearly 78,000 feet of high density polyethylene pipe from Phillips Driscopipe Inc. underground in a geothermal heating and cooling system. White Pine County High School, housed in an 82,000-square-foot building, will open this month. Geothermal heating circulates an antifreeze solution through underground pipes, which absorb heat from the earth and carry it to a heat pump. The closed-loop system in Ely will use 72,000 feet of 1-inch Driscopipe, 5,200 feet of 3-inch pipe, 440 feet of 6-inch pipe and 240 feet of 8-inch pipe. The pipe has to withstand Ely's abrasive desert conditions and cold winter months. Phillips Driscopipe, based in Richardson, Texas, is a unit of Phillips Petroleum Co. Pipe for the school was supplied by Inter Mountain Pipe Supply, a distributor in Centerville, Utah.