City of Prairie Village

Prairie Village, Kansas is a charming suburban bedroom community that shares its eastern border with Kansas City, Mo. and is celebrated as one of the original master-planned communities. Named the best planned community in America by the National Association of Home Builders in 1949, the City is dedicated to being a good steward of its environment. Today, Prairie Village is home to nearly 22,000 residents who enjoy an exceptional quality of life. Among the City’s trademarks are its extensive sidewalk system, excellent services, and an abundance of green space retained by 12 parks nestled on 64 acres throughout the City. 

Prairie Village city administrators were faced with trying to squeeze a few more years out of the City’s aging heating and cooling system; replace it with a new conventional HVAC system; or install an environmentally friendly solution. Regardless of the option, Prairie Village officials were determined to fund the new system without raising taxes.

After reviewing proposals from several vendors and considering multiple options including the installation of solar panels, Prairie Village awarded the project to Energy Solutions Professionals (ESP). ESP conducted a thorough investment grade audit that was the basis for the design and implementation of a geothermal heat pump system to heat and cool City Hall, the Police Department headquarters and the community center. Other energy saving measures included more efficient lighting, low flow plumbing fixtures, an expansion of the building control system, vending machine controls, and sealing up leaks around doors, windows and walls.

Prairie Village has demonstrated its good environmental stewardship by becoming the first of Johnson County’s 20 cities to implement a sustainable geothermal system. In addition to conserving natural resources and reducing energy consumption, the City’s new geothermal system is also fiscally sustainable – Prairie Village is estimated to save $45,000 in annual energy reductions, with a total estimated savings of $53,500 each year. With ESP’s assistance, the City was able to secure $400,000 of federal stimulus money and energy rebates to fund a sizable portion of the project, ensuring the system was funded within existing budgets. And green space that had to be excavated for installation of the system’s wells was returned to green space.