GREENFIELD, NH — Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center is keeping its campus warm while keeping costs down, and supporting the local forest economy at the same time. The organization's new heating and hot water system is an environmentally-friendly wood chip plant that burns wood from the New Hampshire forests.

"Using wood chips as fuel for our heat and hot water makes sense for many reasons. The supply of fossil fuels is uncertain in the long run and cost of fuel oil is likely to increase dramatically over time. The biomass wood resource from wood chips can be sustained indefinitely, is a healthier alternative fuel overall for people and the planet, and historically cost increases have been much more modest. We're already saving a lot of money using wood chips compared with our previous oil expense. Finally, by relying on wood chips, we're supporting the local forest economy" said Donald Shumway, President of Crotched Mountain Foundation and Rehabilitation Center .

The central plant currently heats about 250,000 square feet of building area, but the system was sized to eventually be able to heat the entire campus plus new buildings for a total of 600,000 square feet. Crotched Mountain constructed almost a mile of pipe to bring hot water to its buildings and the return trip to the heating plant.

The Crotched Mountain system includes several unique features according to Ray Sebold , Project Manager. "We installed two boilers of different sizes with the capacity for modulated burning to achieve maximum efficiency to supply domestic hot water year round, heat in the winter and chilled water in the summer. The storage bin for wood chips has a truck bridge which expands our chip storage to a capacity of about 150 tons. Finally, we installed a very effective emissions control system consisting of a bag house with a cyclone separator, that reduces stack emissions to an extremely low level. The cyclone separator removes larger fly ash and the bag house removes the smallest of particulates. In time, as technology develops, we might be able to use this system to generate electricity as well."

"With these emissions controls in place, the Department of Environmental Services does not require our plant to undergo monthly tests, which also saves on costs," added Shumway. "In fact, we estimate a total savings of $250,000 in fuel costs annually during our first full heating season of 2007-2008, with an estimated annual savings increasing over time."

"Our plant uses green bole chips, which are cordwood quality chips made from the chipped trunk of a tree," added Shumway. "D. H. Hardwick, a land-use service company in Bennington, supplies our chips. We have a five-year contract with them. We're thrilled that we are purchasing our fuel supply from a local company. And we would much prefer to be supporting the New Hampshire forest economy, which remains very important to the state, than sending our money overseas."

Michael Redmond, Vice President of Advancement at Crotched Mountain Foundation, noted that Crotched Mountain has systematically pursued an environmentally responsible strategy in all of its purchasing, construction, and land use policies over time. He credited several foundations that provided Crotched Mountain with grant support to assist us with campus planning for these projects, especially the Monadnock Regional Division of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Jane's Trust.

Crotched Mountain is a charitable organization employing more than 900 people. Its mission is to serve individuals with disabilities and their families, embracing personal choice and development, and building communities of mutual support. Crotched Mountain provides specialized education, rehabilitation, community, and residential support services for more than 2,000 consumers, including individuals with disabilities and the elderly, living in New England and New York. For more information about Crotched Mountain please visit their web site: www.crotchedmountain.org.

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