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Wood chips to fuel school – Every $1 million dollars of local investment in energy efficiency creates 50 jobs.

The Council School district was awarded a grant Friday to install a new biomass heating system that burns wood chips. The new system will be the first of its kind at an Idaho school. School officials say it will reduce emissions and cut the school´s heating costs in half.

The Council School District´s boiler is nearly 50 years old.

Ken Dey
The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/Business/story.asp?ID=59850

Wood chips will soon be responsible for cutting the Council School District´s heating bills in half.

By next winter Council will become the first Idaho school district to use a new biomass heating system that is fueled by wood chips.

A $386,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service´s “Fuels for Schools” program will help cover a portion of the cost of installing the new heating system.

The district also is asking its voters to approve a $1.5 million bond issue to cover the remaining costs and to upgrade energy efficiency at the district´s three aging school buildings.

• How the system works http://www.idahostatesman.com/Business/story.asp?ID=59855

• Fuels for Schools http://www.fuelsforschools.org/

• Rebuild Idaho http://www.idwr.state.id.us/energy/rebuild/

The grant couldn´t have come at a better time for the school district.

This past fall, the district´s nearly 50-year-old boiler was “red-tagged,” meaning the school had one year to replace the oil-fired machine that supplies heat to all three school buildings. Replacing a heating system is a tall task for a district in a county that has the state´s highest unemployment rate — 14 percent.

“We´d been putting it off and putting it off,” said Murray Dalgleish, the district´s superintendent.

Dalgleish learned about the grant after calling the energy division of the Idaho Department of Water Resources, which administers the Rebuild Idaho program. The program´s goal is to develop private and public partnerships to help schools like the one in Council develop ways to improve energy efficiency.

The Fuels for Schools grant program was started last summer by the Forest Service as a way to raise awareness of the uses for small-diameter trees from National Forest thinning projects.

Council will be the first school district in Idaho to use the new heating system. A similar-sized school district in Darby, Mont., was the program´s first recipient. Darby´s system started operating in October.

Darby Superintendent Jack Eggensperger said Friday the new system is a vast improvement over the three diesel-powered boilers the school used to rely on.

The school was paying $45,000 to $50,000 a year for diesel fuel to heat the school. “We expect our heating costs will now be cut by about 60 percent,” Eggensperger said.

Besides the cost, Eggensperger said the new system burns cleaner and the heat it produces is more constant.

Dalgleish said the Council district spends about $60,000 a year in heat and electricity costs. He expects the new heating system and energy efficiency upgrades to cut those bills in half.

In addition to the new system, the state´s Rebuild Idaho program set the district up with a complete energy audit of its three buildings, which were built in the 1950s and ´60s. The state selected Siemens Building Technologies to complete the audit.

According to Sue Seifert, Rebuild Idaho program manager, changes envisioned at the school include updating lighting and windows and installing automated controls.

Seifert said the improvements could save more than $800,000 in energy costs over the next 15 years.

Besides the energy savings, Dalgleish said he was drawn to the heating system because it´s a way to help the community´s economy.

The school expects to use a local supplier for the chips that would come from thinning projects on neighboring forests.

“We´re surrounded by hundreds of years of fuel, and it´s good to know we´ll be able to take advantage of it,” Dalgleish said.

The school will probably use just under 300 tons of chips a year, which would be about 20 truckloads.

Although it won´t be a big impact for a chip provider, Dalgleish said it´s a start.

“Adams County is suffering. We need an economic shot in the arm,” he said. “It´s an opportunity to show the community what´s possible.”

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Ken Dey
[email protected] or 377-6428

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Rebuild Idaho http://www.idwr.state.id.us/energy/rebuild/

For every $1 million dollars of local investment in energy efficiency creates 50 jobs. Gains in productivity from energy efficiency improvements can be as high as 20%. As little as a 1% gain in worker productivity can pay for a company’s energy bills for the entire year.

For these reasons and more, the Energy Division tries to bring energy issues the attention they deserve.

Group Vision

The Rebuild Idaho staff works with communities, school districts and universities throughout Idaho to promote economic development through efficient resource management in buildings. Money not spent on energy is more likely to stimulate local economic development.

The program initiates community action by assisting cities and counties, school districts, businesses, and industries in developing sustainable, long-term energy and resource efficiency strategies. Once a plan is developed, we help the partnerships turn ideas into results. Some sample plans and success stories are here for viewing.

http://www.idwr.state.id.us/energy/rebuild/

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