New heating facility at Hotchkiss: green and clean

LAKEVILLE — Who could imagine that the building of a biomass energy facility at The Hotchkiss School would generate this much excitement on campus, and in the surrounding community?

It’s a near certainty that the building of the existing steam power house back in the 1920s did not have the same effect. But, here at Hotchkiss,we know that there is great interest in the planned facility and that people have questions about how it will work. Hopefully, this article will provide some answers.

The age of that 1920s facility figures prominently in the plans for a replacement.

“The new facility will be much cleaner and more efficient, reducing the school’s greenhouse gas emissions by a third to a half,†according to Josh Hahn, assistant head of school and director of Environmental Initiatives.

The Hotchkiss School Biomass Boiler Facility will be used for heating (medium-pressure steam) purposes only, he said. Biomass fuel-to-power (electric) conversion is typically on the order of 20- to 22-percent efficient, while biomass fuel-to-heat conversion is more along the lines of 80- to 82-percent efficient.

“The Hotchkiss plant will be exceptionally clean-burning, with close to zero emissions other than steam,†Hahn said. “The plant will also have fly ash separators and an electrostatic precipitator for fine particulate matter removal; these are beyond required standards for a plant of this nature.

“But energy generation, renewable where possible, is only the second priority of our overall energy policy,†he said. “The first is conservation and efficiency as a school.â€

Hahn described the plans for the proposed new central heating facility, which are subject to approval, as balancing the practical with the pedagogical.

“In practical terms, we want to provide steam to heat the school in the cleanest way possible,†he said. “Hotchkiss’s goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2020. In support of that, the plant will use a sustainable fuel source that is available regionally, thereby connecting our students directly with the source of the energy. Biomass, which in our case will be wood chips, is an abundant resource in the Northwest Corner and, with particular attention focused on sustainably managed forests, has very little ecological impact.

“In fact, many foresters believe that managing forests can have a regenerative effect on the entire ecosystem. And we will be buying our fuel from local sources rather than sending money overseas.

 â€œThe design for the new building includes a green roof, which will help with water management, and will follow Hotchkiss policies for green building construction, in particular conforming to the LEED certification process. We anticipate the building site’s being healthier than it was before construction. This includes nearby wetlands, as we will be using innovative land management practices on the building site.

“Then, there is the teaching aspect. We see energy as a central issue in our students’ futures — economically, ecologically, and geopolitically. This biomass facility can provide students with a tangible example of regenerative thinking right here on campus. A school that can produce its own energy, grow food and build soil is educating future leaders who think creatively, solve new problems, restore out-of-balance ecosystems, and give back to their own communities.â€

An environmental

education lab

Planning for the new energy facility has been underway for more than a year. All members of the community — trustees, faculty, staff and students — have served on the committee involved in the discussions and planning. Members of the team made visits to other educational institutions to assess their programs. Visiting sites in Vermont, for example, the energy team learned that 35 schools, including two universities, are using biomass boilers.

“Centerbrook Architects, which designed The Esther Eastman Music Center at Hotchkiss, was selected for the new facility. Working with the campus committee, the architects convened a series of four-hour sessions to select the most appropriate site for the building and develop a set of concepts to be incorporated into the design.

“We have planned educational programs that will bring our students into forests to see the making of the wood chips, giving them a whole-system perspective. The building itself is being designed for student access, and we plan to have programs for people from the community and students from local schools who want to learn more about renewable energy. Showing young people where our energy comes from, where it goes, and how we use it is critical for enduring learning over time,†Hahn said.

From the start, those working on the plans had expectations that far surpassed simply building a facility to power the campus. Totally green design and the desire to educate and involve students in the project topped the list of the planners’ goals. An additional goal was the ability to link to the existing main steam line.

 â€œOne of the central design intentions of our power house is energy agility,†Hahn said. “The Hotchkiss power house is being built with the ability to adapt to use wood chips, oil (both diesel or biodiesel) and natural gas for cogeneration capacity, if gas comes to this area in the future.

“We hope to exhibit solar electricity generation at the plant as well. Flexibility is a key concept for our facility and an important one for students to understand.

“There is no silver bullet for energy solutions, and we want to model that here and allow our students to get comfortable with the concept of limits, by seeing exactly how many resources they use in their day-to-day lives.â€

 

Roberta Jenckes is director of communications at The Hotchkiss School. For more information, contact Josh Hahn, assistant head of school and director of environmental initiatives, at jhahn@hotchkiss.org or 860-435-3151.

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