Tours put commercial wood heat on display

N.H. Wood Energy Council offers visits to 16 locations with chip and pellet systems

October 16, 2014

NH Business Review Staff,

The New Hampshire Wood Energy Council is putting together a series of guided tours to give participants a close-up look at how wood chip and wood pellet heating systems work at the commercial level.

The six tours, offered Oct. 21-24, will feature visits to 16 different commercial and institutional sites including public schools, municipal buildings, hospitals, office facilities and private businesses.

“This is an opportunity for anyone to come see what clean and efficient, modern wood heating systems are all about,” said Rick DeMark, coordinator of the NH Wood Energy Council and executive director of the North Country Resource Conservation and Development Council. “You can talk with municipal and school officials, facility managers and business owners about their experience using wood chips and wood pellets to affordably heat their buildings. There is no better way to learn about this heating option than to see a working system and talk with the owner.”

Over 100 institutional and commercial building owners in New Hampshire have switched from heating oil or propane in the last five years alone, DeMark said. Their reasons include cutting energy costs, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and keep fuel dollars in the New Hampshire economy, he said.

The tours are free and open to the public, but registration is required at nhwoodenergycouncil.org or Ellingwood@inrsllc.com.

All tours start at 1 p.m. and end before 5 p.m.

Tuesday Oct. 21

Southeast NH Tour

• Rockingham County Complex, Brentwood (start/end)

• NH SPCA, Stratham

• Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth

North Country Tour

• Littleton Hospital, Littleton (start/end)

• CAI Technologies, Littleton

• White Mountain School, Bethlehem

Wednesday, Oct. 22