Verdae Geothermal
Lloyd Hamilton,CGD, owner of Verdae LLC, designs and builds high efficiency
geothermal HVAC systems and is an energy and building performance consultant. He has over 35 years of
experience in HVAC design and installation and has been working with geothermal heating and cooling systems
for over 25 years. He has designed and installed over 200 GSHP systems in both residential and commercial
buildings. His work focuses on high performance buildings with a specialty of Net Zero Energy (NZE) building.
In 2013 Verdae received the prestigious NYSERDA award for HVAC contractor with the lowest HERS score,
acknowledging his place as leader in high performance homes.
Hamilton was energy consultant and HVAC designer for the Hudson Solar headquarters
in Rhinebeck, NY which is the first commercial building in NY to prove it achieved net zero energy operation.
He is a consultant for Anthony Aebi of Greenhill Construction, who built the first home in NY to achieve
a 0 Energy Star rating, demonstrating it is a net zero energy home. Both projects have geothermal heating and
cooling systems designed and installed by Hamilton. He brings his extensive field and design experience to the
complex issues surrounding competent geothermal design, with an emphasis on maximizing efficiency. He
also provides forensic analysis for geothermal systems that have high energy use and other performance issues.
Mr. Hamilton is a practitioner of the "house as a system" approach to construction,
using the ASHRAE commissioning process to assure the owner gets the building they want and expect. A
house is a complex system of interdependent sub-systems that should be designed to work together.
Standard practice isolates the design and construction process in a way that discourages integration and
leads to performance problems that are difficult and expensive to fix. High performance homes require a new
dynamic that uses a team approach to manage the design and construction practice to achieve the desired
outcome. As a commissioning agent, Mr. Hamilton guides the team along the path to a successful high
performance home using integrated geothermal heat pumps and balanced ventilation.
Mr. Hamilton is accredited by the Association of Energy Engineers as a Certified
Geoexchange Designer (CGD), IGSHPA as a geothermal installer, NATE, and is H-QUITO certified. He is a
member of ASHRAE, IGSHPA and NY-GEO. He has been a volunteer fire fighter for over 30 years.
See Lloyd's presentation to the ASHRAE Net Zero Energy Conference
here.
