HANOVER — A downtown street will be closed for about 18 months starting Wednesday to allow Dartmouth College to overhaul its heating system, as part of an effort to reduce the campus’ carbon emissions.

During construction, Crosby Street, which connects East Wheelock Street and Lebanon Street by Memorial Field, will be closed to vehicles, but foot traffic will still be allowed, Josh Keniston, Dartmouth’s senior vice president for operations, said in an email.

The street, which is next to the college’s heating plant, will be dug up to install a connection point for hot water distribution pipes that are being installed throughout campus.

The upgrades are part of Dartmouth’s transition to a geoexchange heating system, which the college described as something like a heating and cooling “piggy bank.”

The college says the new system will help reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels and campus is expected to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Dartmouth has an existing steam heating energy system, but those pipes, which move heat from the college’s central plant across campus, are not equipped to hold hot water and have to be replaced, according the college’s website.

A geoexchange heating system pulls excess hot air out of buildings in the summer and transfers the heat to water stored deep underground. Because the temperature is more stable underground the water stays warm into the winter, when heat can be transferred back into the buildings through electric heat pumps.

In winter, cold air is drawn out of buildings and stored underground for summer use while the stored heat is pumped back into the building. This paves the way to retrofit the system with other efficient tools such as electric heat pumps and solar panels.

Last year, Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock committed to invest $500 million through 2030 to “accelerate infrastructure renewal and deferred maintenance” and make campus more energy efficient.

A Dartmouth spokesperson declined to provide a specific cost for the heating and cooling project.

So far, about 20% of the pipes for the new system have been installed, Keniston said.

Some of the buildings on campus also have to be upgraded to accommodate the new heating system. Work is ongoing in the Boss Tennis Center, Thompson Arena, Leverone Field House, Berry Sports Center and Lewinstein Athletic Center.

Upgrades to the distribution system are expected to be complete by 2030.

Clare Shanahan can be reached at cshanahan@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.