The Massachusetts Statewide Wood Energy Team held two very successful Modern Wood Heat Tours in March visiting 5 installations in Berkshire County and 4 others in Worcester County. More than 50 people took part in the two day-long tours which showed different applications of modern wood systems using wood pellets, wood chips, or cordwood, varying in size and cost.
At the Berkshire County tour on March 15th, participants viewed systems ranging from the industrial size wood pellet boiler at MASS MOCA in North Adams that helps heat 22 buildings, the cordwood-fired boiler heating a classroom building at the Buxton School in Williamstown, the wood chip-fueled district heating system that heats 8 buildings at Gould Farm in Monterey, and the two pellet boilers that heat the Southern Berkshire Regional School complex in Sheffield.
Participants also saw the pellet heating system and basement pellet storage at DCR’s West Region headquarters in Pittsfield. Jon Parrott from the Department of Energy Resources gave a brief program discussing the different state programs that can help property owners convert to modern wood heat systems.
At the Worcester County tour on March 30th, participants could see a cordwood fired system at Harvard Forest in Petersham, wood-chip fueled heating systems at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner and Narragansett Regional High School in Baldwinville, and a pellet-fired system at the Briggs Elementary School in Ashburnham.
At the noon break of the Worcester tour, Marc Caluwe and Ben McDaniel gave short presentations about the use of combined heat and power systems to increase the efficiency and payback of heating systems.
Case studies for the Berkshire and Worcester County wood heating systems and others can be found in the Modern Wood Heat portion of the Forest Alliance website at www.massforestalliance.net/modern-wood-heat/case-studies
The Mass SWET has been holding the Modern Wood Heat Tours as part of its mission to identify and assist with opportunities to develop renewable wood heating at all scales: residential, municipal, institutional, and commercial, in Massachusetts. The SWET is funded by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service and administered by MFA.