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The Windsor School District in Windsor, Vermont will become one of the first public school systems in the state to heat its building entirely with locally sourced wood pellets. The district has contracted with International WoodFuels LLC to provide a metered thermal heating solution that includes a high-efficiency pellet boiler, pellet storage silo, pellet delivery and monitoring and maintenance of the system with no capital cost investment by Windsor Schools.
"The fact that WoodFuels connects its boiler directly to our existing system minimized the effects the installation will have on the school's daily operation."
-- Scott Coffran, Facilities Director, Windsor School District
Windsor will not purchase pellets, but rather, pay only for the heat as consumed and metered, similar to the way the electric utility delivers its power. The district will use the WoodFuels Green Energy System as its primary heat source for the duration of the contract and will receive guaranteed savings over the annual price of its current fossil fuel sources. The system will displace the use of 40,000 gallons of heating oil per school year.
The company will own all of the equipment and will manage all project aspects of the installation, as well as operation and maintenance of the boilers, all at no cost to the school. The system is scheduled to be completed for the 2009-10 heating season.
The Windsor School District had looked at both wood pellet and wood chip systems prior to signing the agreement with WoodFuels, but decided on the wood pellet system due to the efficiency with which pellets combust.
“We looked at a number of locations for either a wood pellet or chip system on school grounds, and in the end, the pellet boiler and storage silo were much more compact. The fact that WoodFuels connects its boiler directly to our existing system minimized the effects the installation will have on the school’s daily operation. And of course, the no capital cost and clean efficiency were also great talking points,” said Scott Coffran, Facilities Director for the school district.
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Currently I know of at least 2 public school districts in Maine that heat entire schools (or soon 3 schools on contiguous property) through similar wood chip boilers. The systems are able to measure and control humidity in the chips and don't require the manufacture of pellets. They feature multiple combustion stages keeping emissions very low.
For more information see www.oekofen-usa.com
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