The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) held its 25th annual technical conference and expo. 

Dean Brown of Forge Pacific LLC hosts Ryan Ainsworth (Ryan’s Water Services, Portales, N.M.) at the Drillmax Inc. booth.


The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) held its 25th annual technical conference and expo

Oct. 3-4 at the Indianapolis Convention Center.

And most encouraging was the continuing trend of the event becoming more drilling-centric. More than a quarter of the exhibitors were directly drilling-related, and with regard to educational programming, the organization, to its credit, created special “Drillers Forum” sessions to address topics, issues and concerns specific to this all-important sector of the industry.

Seminars geared toward those who keep it turning to the right included:

• “Drill Rig Health & Safety,” presided over by Schramm Inc.’s Zachary Ball. He covered best practices aimed at minimizing the costs of rig maintenance and repairs, insurance, workman’s compensation and, most importantly of course, incidents involving the health and safety of  employees.



Schramm Inc.’s Zachary Ball leads a discussion of safety considerations in the transport, set-up, operation and maintenance of drilling rigs.

• “An Innovative Air-rotary Drilling Technology that Lets You Drill Right through Caving Overburden” was led by Todd Giddings (Todd Giddings & Associates Inc.), who schooled attendees on this all-too-common challenge.

• “Making Ground Loops Attractive” was presented by Dominique Durbin (Durbin Enterprises Inc.), and offered sound ideas on keeping job sites neat an orderly – an important consideration when it comes to marketing geothermal system.

• National Ground Water Associa-tion executive director Kevin McCray presented “State Regulatory Oversight of Ground-source Heat Pump Installations: A United States of America Database,” explaining the latest regulations across the country.

We were able to shoot a couple brief videos at the convention based on the presentations by Ball and Durbin; you can check them out at our website (www.thedriller.com). Dozens of other seminars covered a wide variety of opportune topics, including technological advancements, performance guidelines, case histories, systems economics, legal issues, installation and service techniques, product showcases, and more. There was, indeed, something for everyone, whatever their place in the industry.

Some 80 industry suppliers filled the exhibit hall with all the latest products, equipment and services available to professionals in the ground source heat pump industry. Notable was a new player in the geothermal drill rig arena – Fecon, manufacturer of the GL300 rubber-tracked drill rig.



Dominic Durbin (Durbin Enterprises Inc., Beecher City, Ill.) offers advice on maintaining a neat and organized ground loop installation – no small issue when it comes to promoting and selling geothermal systems.

Another highlight of the exhibit hall was the lunch provided each day. Instead of the usual barely-tolerable fare you’ll find at many conventions, the midday repast actually was something to look forward to.

Special thanks go out to this year’s show sponsors that were generous with their time, effort and resources, and helped make this year’s event a solid showcase for this vital and growing industry:

• BOSCH Thermotechnology Ltd.

• Geo Master LLC

• Georg Fischer Central Plastics LLC

• K&M Shillingford Inc.

• National Driller

• TheNEWS

• Trane Commercial Systems

• Worldwide Drilling Resources

Looking ahead to next year, IGSHPA’s 26th annual conference and expo takes place Oct. 9-10 in the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” Las Vegas. Hope to see even more drilling professionals represented there.  ND