FBUS Wood-Chip System Details

With 90% State Aid offered until January 1, 2007, our community can reduce inflating annual school operational costs related to fossil fuels by adding a wood chip heating system to our school.

Here are some details relating to the proposed Wood-Chip Heating System Conversion:

The addition of a fully-automated wood chip heating system will reduce annual energy costs, thereby lowering per pupil costs. A wood chip system and facility will cost the community about $170,000 over a 5-year bond period, but will save the community far more over the life of the system in terms of energy costs.
The Vermont Department of Education offers 90% construction cost aid for qualifying biomass heating systems, including related site improvement, building and system construction costs, design/permit fees and project soft costs. The 90% state aid will no longer be available for schools not passing bond votes before January 1, 2007.
There are now 27 operational wood chip systems in Vermont public schools with 8 more planned for next year. No major repairs and refractory rebuilds have occurred to date, some of which are more than 15 years old. All of the systems have a long history of fuel cost savings.
Inflating fossil fuel energy costs will become a larger and larger burden on future school operational budgets. By adding a wood chip system to the school, large energy savings will accumulate over time by avoiding the growing problem now. Using a locally produced/delivered, multi-sourced, low-emission fuel like wood chips allows the school’s fuel costs to remain relatively stable versus fossil fuels.
Future wood chip cost inflation rates are projected to be far less than future fuel oil inflation rates. The cost per million BTUH of wood chips is already less expensive than fuel oil or propane.
Unlike fossil fuels, wood chips present no environmental hazard risk related to their harvest, production or delivery.
Regionally or locally provided wood chips avoid unexpected and costly future fuel supply interruptions or shortages.
Modern wood chip systems substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions versus the present fuel oil and propane heating systems. The planned wood chip system produces only .26 lbs/million BTUH of particulates, which is about 10 times less than the average residential wood-burning stove (2.50 lbs/million BTUH of PM10 or smaller).
Newer, high efficiency wood chip systems are a carbon neutral solution which reduces our impact on climate change. This means that the wood chip source trees absorb CO₂ roughly equal to the amount of CO₂ released by combustion.
The proposed wood chip system would have a high chimney stack (55’ to 65’ high) located behind the Gymnasium and away from the classrooms in order to improve the site microclimate at school/neighborhood. The former wood chip system, with much higher emissions, did not burn as efficiently or use a particulate precipitator to reduce pollution.
The proposed system operates entirely indoors with an above-slab traveling chip bin auger and has no truck trailers to hold the wood chips, needs no Bobcat loader or maintenance staff labor to load the outdoor chip hopper, no need to break up frozen chip “clinkers”, no chips blowing all over the school yard. The new system hot water would be piped into the existing mechanical room and tied into the existing heat circulating pumps feeding the classrooms.
The existing fuel oil boilers would remain in place as a back up system to the new wood chip system and also provide supplemental heat on the coldest days and during seasonal swing periods. At a minimum, it is planned to heat with wood chips 85% of the time and 15% of the annual school heat would come from fuel oil. This will also prolong the life of the existing fuel oil boilers due to reduced usage. The dual systems will avoid school shutdowns due to breakdowns.
The new detached wood chip building will be located as to minimize expensive disruptions to the site, although electrical pole, propane lines and storm water drains will have to be relocated to allow space for the new facility.
Wood chip system operating and maintenance costs are about the same as a fuel oil system.

Rev: 10/15/06

Flood Brook Union School

Wood-Chip System Details