Committee considers burning wood to heat Briggs
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Reporter

The John R. Briggs Building Committee is taking a chance this winter to look at a possible cheaper and environmentally friendly heating source.

The committee toured the woodchip heating plant at Mount Wachusett Community College this month as part of the process to try and develop a plan to either renovate or rebuild the elementary school.

"It is unbelievable what they are doing over there," said David Christianson, the chairman of the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee. Christianson and Superintendent Michael Zapantis are non-voting chairmen of the building committee.

Ed Terceiro, the college's executive vicepresident, who is in charge of facilities, oversaw the installation of the plant and supervises its operation.

"It is very simple technology," Terceiro said.

The automated system brings the woodchips along a conveyer belt into the boiler system. A member of the college's staff rakes out the ash from the system once a day, Terceiro said.

He added that the process doesn't need to occur once a day but the college prefers to do it that way. The college has permission from the state to use the ash, which is equivalent to pure lime, on the gardens and in the greenhouse.

The college's system heats about 430,000 square feet in a variety of buildings.

"I was looking for a way to cut costs," Terceiro said, about the reason he even considered biomass heating.

The cost is about one-tenth the cost of the old electrical heating system. MWCC's system went into operation on Dec. 2, 2002.

There is a back-up heating system at the college, which runs off of an oil-based boiler. The system is used in the "shoulder" months when heat is used sporadically.

A few elementary and secondary schools in Vermont use this type of heating system, Christianson said. He said the committee may take a look at these schools to observe the heating system operating on a smaller level.

"We owe it to the town to look into it," Christianson said.

The installation of the college's system, including the pump and the vents, cost $4.3 million. The money came from federal and state grants.

"Biomass (woodchips) may not be the answer of this school," Terceiro said. "The key is explore those modulates and incorporate those into the design of the new building."