GMUHS to Receive Free Energy Study

By Dan Bustard, Eagle Times, Claremont, N.H.

Jan. 22–CHESTER — The Vermont Superintendents Association’s School Energy Management Program, in conjunction with Efficiency Vermont, wants to undertake an energy study at Green Mountain Union High School at its own cost.

The study would include the engineering work needed to prepare for a bond vote. With an estimate the installation of wood chip heating system could be paid off in a little more than two years rather than more than 20 years with state construction aid, Green Mountain officials are being told now is the time to move ahead.

“Because of the economics involved, especially with the 90 percent construction aid, this is an opportunity to group all the energy efficiency opportunities into one bond vote that will significantly reduce operating costs in the future,” wrote School Energy Management Program Director Norm Etkind.

No date has been set for a bond vote, but it will not be ready in time for town meeting in March, Windsor Southwest Supervisory Union Superintendent Ed Brown said.

GMUHS Board Vice Chairman Jack Coleman said it may be a good idea to check out a school using wood chips for heat. Several schools in the area are looking at or installing wood chip systems, and officials are likely to visit the system in place at the River Valley Technical Center in Springfield.

For the system itself, Brown has said the state would pick up the majority of the cost to put a wood chip boiler in the school. The cost would be close to $800,000. The current heating system uses between 45,000 and 50,000 gallons of fuel oil a year. The boilers are described as being in good shape but around 30 years old.

The Vermont Department of Education is actively pushing schools to consider going with a more environmentally friendly fuel source. The superintendents’ association program performs studies to determine if a school is big enough to make the conversion cost effective.

“From this analysis, I project that the district will be able to save well over $30,000 per year in annual fuel bills by installing a wood chip boiler system,” wrote Jeff Forward of Richmond Energy Associates in his report concerning a conversion to a wood chip heating system.

Forward and Etkind toured Green Mountain in December as part of the effort to see if the school would be a good fit for a wood chip heating system.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Eagle Times, Claremont, N.H.

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