Commercial case study

Home Run Alley — a 55-ton system under a ball field

An indoor baseball training facility in Lucas, TX needed serious cooling without a serious electric bill. We put the answer 400 feet underground.

Completed geothermal mechanical installation at the Home Run Alley indoor sports facility in Lucas, Texas
55 tonsWaterFurnace geothermal
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Tons of cooling capacity

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Vertical wells drilled in-house

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Depth of every single well

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Loop pipe buried on site

55 wells × 400 ft = 22,000 ft of vertical bore — more than four miles of drilling on one property, done by our own rigs.

The story

Challenge, solution, result

The challenge

A huge open metal building full of batting cages, running all day through 100°F+ North Texas summers. Conventional rooftop units big enough for the space would have produced a punishing monthly electric bill — forever.

The solution

A 55-well field feeding three WaterFurnace units (two 25-ton and one 5-ton), moved through 30″ spiral duct tapering to 24″. We sealed the building with 6–12″ of spray foam plus intumescent fire block paint — every trade in-house.

The result

Steady, quiet comfort across the whole facility at a fraction of conventional operating cost — geothermal runs at a COP of 4–5, meaning 400–500% efficient. And the well field is permanent infrastructure, designed to last 50+ years.

Why this matters if you own a commercial building

The residential geothermal tax credit ended in 2025 — but commercial projects like this one still qualify for federal investment tax credits of roughly 30–50% through 2035. On a system this size, that is not a rounding error.

The well field

55 holes you will never see

Every dot on this diagram is a real well: 400 feet straight down through Lucas clay and limestone, holding a U-shaped loop of pipe.

Once drilled, grouted, and connected, the field disappears under the surface. Cars park on top of it. It quietly trades heat with 67–69°F earth, every hour of every day.

Think of each well as a cave in a straw: no matter what the Texas sky is doing, the bottom of that hole is the same temperature in January and August.

each well: 400 ft deep 55 wells · 5 rows of 11 · grouted and buried out of sight

55 × 400 ft = 22,000 ft of bore under one parking lot

How it all connects

From the wells to the batting cages

Water loops through the well field, carries heat to (or from) the three heat pumps, and conditioned air travels through custom spiral duct we designed and installed.

55 wells · 400 ft each Header pipes 25-ton unit WaterFurnace 25-ton unit WaterFurnace 5-ton unit WaterFurnace 30″ spiral duct tapers to 24″ Designed and installed by Excel crews

Takeaway: one company built every link in this chain — wells, headers, heat pumps, and duct. When one crew owns the whole system, nothing gets lost between trades.

On the job

Project gallery

Two 25-ton WaterFurnace geothermal units lined up in the mechanical area at Home Run Alley
The workhorses: two 25-ton WaterFurnace units side by side.
Main geothermal units at Home Run Alley with spiral duct runs overhead and spray-foamed walls
The completed installation, piped, ducted, and commissioned.
Close-up of geothermal loop piping and header connections at the Home Run Alley project
Header piping detail — where 55 wells become one system.
Excel crew member on a lift spraying foam insulation across the metal building envelope at Home Run Alley
6–12″ of spray foam sealing the metal building envelope.
Common questions

What commercial owners ask about this project

Yes. The residential credit ended in 2025, but commercial projects still qualify for the federal investment tax credit — roughly 30–50% with adders — through 2035. On a 55-ton system, that changes the payback math dramatically.

No. The wells are one-time infrastructure. The buried loops are designed to last 50+ years; only the heat pump equipment gets replaced on a normal 20–25 year cycle — and that swap never touches the ground loop.

Metal skins leak heat badly, and this building is one giant open room. 6–12″ of spray foam plus intumescent fire block paint sealed the envelope so 55 tons could actually hold temperature through a 105°F August afternoon.

We did — all of it. Our own rigs drilled the field on our schedule, our own crews installed the 30″ spiral duct we designed, and our own teams sprayed the foam. No subcontractors means one accountable company from bore to blower.

Planning a commercial building in North Texas?

Get a bid from the company that drilled, ducted, and delivered Home Run Alley — every trade under one roof.

Get a Free Quote Prefer to talk? (214) 305-9017