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District Heating Project
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BackgroundFor a number of years, the City of Montpelier and the State of Vermont have investigated district heating as an option for Montpelier. District energy systems use one or more central plants to provide thermal energy to multiple buildings. This approach replaces the need for individual, building-based boilers, furnaces, and cooling systems. In a district energy system, underground pipelines from the source of energy to each of the connected buildings distribute thermal energy - in the form of hot water, steam or chilled water. Energy is then extracted at the buildings and the water is brought back to the energy source, through return pipes, to be heated or cooled again. Most of the buildings in the Montpelier Capitol Complex are currently heated by a district energy system, which transmits steam from the central boilers.
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UPDATE - June 2006 MONTPELIER DISTRICT HEATING TO GET UPDATED ASSESSMENT SEEKS COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE Montpelier’s plans for a downtown district heating system are getting a fresh look this summer as the Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) revisits the assumptions about project costs and existing heating systems in Montpelier’s buildings. BERC is seeking the public’s assistance to make certain its information about downtown buildings is accurate. A district energy system uses a central plant to provide thermal energy in the form of hot water or steam delivered via underground pipes to multiple buildings. This replaces the need for individual, building-based boilers and furnaces. District energy systems operate in St. Paul, Minnesota, New York City and dozens of cities and communities across the country. In Montpelier, the plan has been to extend the wood-fired state-complex system to provide hot water to heat part or all of the neighboring downtown commercial area. BERC’s Executive Director Tim Maker notes, “Five years ago we initiated a feasibility assessment based on an inventory of the heating systems in downtown buildings, the costs of fuel and assumptions about the capacity of the State’s boiler system. A lot has changed since then – fuel costs have more than doubled, the State is moving ahead with plans for a new boiler system and many downtown building have changed their heating systems. It is clearly time to revisit our assumptions about this opportunity.” Step one has been updating the information about the heating systems of buildings in Montpelier’s downtown. Project Manager Nancy Wasserman has been compiling this information over the past few months. With the City’s assistance, the buildings have all been mapped by fuel source, type of heat distribution and age of the heating system. BERC is seeking the community’s assistance in making certain the information is accurate. Copies of the maps will be on display during the week of June 19 in the Coffee Corner window. They will also be available for review from June 19-30 at Montpelier City Hall, the Kellogg-Hubbard Library and at BERC’s offices at 50 State Street as well as on the City’s web site. Information about how to correct the data will be available at each display site. Once the downtown data is accurate, BERC’s district energy engineer will prepare an updated design and preliminary implementation plan for the downtown pipe loops. Revised cost assessments will then be prepared. BERC expects to present the results of its assessment to the community at a public meeting in September. “When BERC and the City looked at this a few years ago,” comments Wasserman, “the economics were OK if the system could secure enough customers. The combination of substantially higher fuel prices and the State’s plans for an enhanced boiler plant may make the system a lot more financially attractive to building owners. This updated assessment will let us get a sense of how much better.” Both the Montpelier and City-State Master Plans support developing a combined district energy system. Beyond the finances, the interest in district heating for the Montpelier community has been propelled by a number of benefits. When connected to the State’s boiler central boiler plant, downtown buildings will be able to be heated through much of the winter with wood chips. This would also improve air emissions by replacing lots of small heating plants with one large professionally managed plant. A downtown district energy system will reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels, insure energy security, build the local economy, reduce greenhouse gases, enhance forest health by providing a market for low-grade wood, and dramatically cut the number of oil and propane tanks in the Winooski River floodplain. In 2003, the citizens of Montpelier authorized a $250,000 bond for the City's share of the development of the community system. The Biomass Energy Resource Center is an independent, nonprofit organization established by public and private sector leaders to assist in the development of biomass energy projects across the United States. Based in Montpelier, BERC provides a wide range of technical assistance in assessing, developing and implementing wood energy projects.
Contact – Nancy Wasserman, 229-8096
Tim Maker, 223-7770 ...back to top
2003 Annual City Meeting As part of the Annual City Meeting on March 4, 2003, the citizens of Montpelier were asked to vote on a $250,000 bond to expand the existing district heating to include the municipal buildings in and around City Hall. The following is the specific article excerpted from the Annual City Meeting Warning:
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2001 Feasibility Assessment The following report, prepared by Community Energy Systems CANMET Natural Resources Canada, is a pre-feasibility assessment that evaluates the impact of a revised district energy system within Montpelier. It is in Adobe Acrobat Reader format. The latest, free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader is available HERE. More information about Community Energy Systems CANMET Natural Resources Canada can be found at: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/es/etb/cetc/cetc01/htmldocs/research_programs_ces_e.html ...back to top
MapsTo date, three draft maps have been created to illustrate the history and characteristics of the existing heating systems in Montpelier's buildings. They are available for download below:
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For More Information For more information about Biomass Energy in Vermont you can check out the Department of Public Service's website at: http://publicservice.vermont.gov/energy-efficiency/ee_files/dup/dup_ee18a.htm Biomass (District Heat) is a project of that department's Renewable Energy for Homes, Businesses and Industry Program. ...back to top
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES -- including other places that have district heatCanadian District Energy Association http://www.cdea.ca International District Energy Association http://www.districtenergy.org Geothermal District Heat http://geoheat.oit.edu/directuse/district.htm District Energy Library http://www.energy.rochester.edu District Energy Technologies http://www.sustainableenergy.org/resources/technologies/district_energy.htm Biomass Heating Project Analysis -- PowerPoint presentation: http://www.retscreen.net/ang/ppt/06-bio.ppt (takes a while to load) ...back to top
Contact Information: City of Montpelier Department of Planning and Community Development 39 Main Street, City Hall Montpelier, VT 05062-2950 (802) 223-9506 planning@montpelier-vt.org |
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