Taking innovation to a new level at school district #27

Ariterm pellet boiler, 400kW installed on the Cataline Elementary school property.

Taking innovation to a new level at school district #27

Alex Telford, manager of fa- had multiple goals in mind, including carbon upgrade, and fuel storage. Next, with econocilities and transportation, emissions reduction, cost savings, efficiency, mies of scale in mind, and given the sheer has a big job maintaining and easy maintenance. The requirements power of the proposed pellet boiler, SD#27 over 28 facilities, keeping of the CNG program were a major driver approached Jim Gudjonson, director of sushis finger on the pulse of (i.e., offsets at $30/tonne of emissions), as tainability at TRU, and proposed the new energy reduction strategies, and supervising were provincial carbon taxes at $25/tonne, pellet boiler provide heat not only for the custodial services and transportation at Cari- and the school district’s five per cent an- Cataline Elementary building and the EJ Bare boo-Chilcotin School District #27 (SD#27). nual emissions reduction target. The SD#27 kindergarten annex, but also for the entire Like most diligent facilities managers, he Alexis Creek and Tatla Lake facilities already TRU campus during the heavy winter seajuggles priorities to ensure school facilities had pellet boilers (also referred to as biomass son. Gudjonson thought using a renewable run smoothly, while seeking innovative ways boiler) installed, combined with propane for source to heat TRU in lieu of its current gas to meet B.C.’s Carbon Neutral Government shoulder seasons, resulting in an average of boilers that consumed a whopping 6,000 (CNG) requirements, including offsetting its $40,000 savings per annum. But space was gigajoules per year made perfect sense. Begreenhouse gas emissions. a major limitation for a pellet boiler, espe- cause pellet boilers have limited dial-down

The heating system at Cataline Elemen- cially since Cataline was also due for an HVAC capabilities, it was determined to use natural tary School, built in 1972, located in Williams mechanical upgrade that would take up gas boilers (existing boilers at TRU, and new Lake, and bordering Thompson Rivers Uni- additional floor space. Plain out-of-the-box gas boiler heating at Cataline) for shoulder versity (TRU), was on Telford’s radar back in thinking and creative brainstorming brought season, pellet boiler heating for heavy winter, 2013. Suffering a cracked heat exchanger, together a unique and innovative solution and in extreme weather, e.g., -25° C, to rely on costly to operate, and suspected of produc- that checked all the boxes. the on-site gas boilers for supplemental heat. ing high emissions, he was concerned its Firstly, a decision was taken to construct The framework for this stellar plan was serviceable life was close to ending. Telford a separate building on the Cataline prop- coming together nicely; time to bring in knew it was high time to put a comprehen- erty with space for a new state-of-the-art some additional expertise thought Telford. sive heating system upgrade plan in place. pellet boiler, new compact Viessmann gas Rocky Point Engineering had already pro-

When approaching the planning, Telford boilers, heat exchangers, HVAC mechanical vided engineering oversight on SD#27’s pre-

Stand-alone structure housing pellet boiler, boilers, heat exchangers, HVAC, and fuel storage. Wood pellet storage in stand-alone structure at Cataline Elementary school.

vious pellet boiler installations. Team lead, Cory Langevin, was excited by the prospect of working to meet the emissions reduction targets while optimizing efficiencies. Rocky Point took the lead designing the system, identifying the capacity and criteria, developed the contractor RFP, and oversaw the entire project to ensure it met specifications. Additionally, the team secured funding for the project through the province’s Carbon Neutral Capital Program—this was an enormous boost.

The successful contractor, Ventek Energy Systems, is without a doubt an industry expert having managed 12 of the 50 installations across Canada. It launched the 24-month SD#27 project in discussion with the global manufacturing leader of pellet boilers, ARITERM, located in Finland. The tried and tested process, from start to finish, included system design and requirements, building a budget for SD#27 approval, and securing funding—this took about 12 months. Once the first phase was approved, the pellet boiler was manufactured in Finland, shipped to Canada—a two-month voyage—assembled by the Ventek team in Quesnel, lowered into its new building structure on the Cataline grounds by crane, and finally hooked up and ready for testing.

Markku Riionheimo, team lead at Ventek, is a huge supporter of biofuel options, which significantly reduce fossil fuel-based carbon emissions and one of the least expensive methods of helping the earth. The biofuel wood pellets used are produced locally in Williams Lake, and a seven-ton dump truck load costs as little as $900 and lasts two weeks in the dead of winter; this is a substantial savings over natural gas.

Over and above Rocky Point and Ventek expertise, the SD#27 maintenance team of five, led by Marc Loewen, managed the onsite heavy lifting including all the piping, electrical, plumbing, welding, mechanical work, and final tie-in of the system. Removal of all asbestos tile and electrical heating, a new sprinkler system, new dampers, DCC system, and fire alarm panel were side benefits of the project. All this was achieved, as well as the team’s regular maintenance work, which meant a lot of hard work starting 18 months prior to go live. It has paid off, because now the team is familiar with the ins and outs of the system and is well prepared to maintain it going forward, including daily checks and regular service checks at four- to six-month intervals.

The soft launch for the new Cataline pellet boiler occurred on October 23, 2016—just in time for the onset of another cold winter in Williams Lake. The children and student benefactors of the new system have been enjoying the new regulated heat with individual thermostat controls in each classroom. John Silkstone, principal at Cataline, is very pleased with the quietly efficient clean tech solution.

So now it’s all up and running smoothly, the big question is: did SD#27 meet all its goals? Rede Energy Solutions, SD#27’s energy management engineering team, is

Wood pellets used to fuel SD#27’s new pellet boiler.

happy to report the following noteworthy benefits: the new pellet boiler is 95 per cent carbon neutral, resulting in significant carbon tax and offset purchase requirement reductions; compared to earlier SD#27 pellet boiler systems, the new system is far superior having unique heat regulation abilities and versatile turn-down ratios that translates into less reliance on the more costly gas boilers; TRU is enjoying a 15 per cent savings in heating costs with no capital outlay, no maintenance expenses, as well as lower carbon tax and offset purchase requirements. Rede believes it’s safe to say that all goals were met, although it will be a few months before SD#27 will get the real numbers.

Says the mastermind behind this project, Telford, “It’s a most promising project that certainly makes sense to replicate. It was a busy time with multiple simultaneous projects on the go, and we learned a lot. Kudos and thanks to all involved on this outstanding energy-conserving project.” n