Town of Littleton Committees

Energy Conservation Committee Minutes Jun 13, 2012

LITTLETON ENERGY CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
MEETING ON 13 JUNE 2012

Attendees: Tony Ilacqua, Ron Bolt, Highway Department Manager Kelly Butler, Highway Department Foreman Ed Parker, Dann, Mary Boulanger, Tessa Milofsky, Police Chief Paul Smith, Budget Committee Chairman Steve Kelley, and Darin Wipperman of the Littleton Courier.

Guests: Mark Froling, President, and Jim Van Valkenburgh, VP of Sales & Marketing, Froling Energy.

Administrative Matters

The minutes of the March 21 and April18, 2012 meetings were approved.

Tessa volunteered to do some research on two issues raised by Chief Smith: A more cost effect lighting system for the police department sign on West Main Street; and, promoting motion-activated lighting in municipal buildings.

Ron mentioned the need for someone to volunteer to research grant opportunities. Dann cautioned about “strings” that are often associated with grants.

Vendor Presentation

Mark Froling and Jim Van Valkenburgh presented a briefing on Froling Energy, a company located in Peterborough, NH, that provides complete design, supply, and installation services for a variety of biomass boilers. Froling has experience with municipal buildings, academic institutions, commercial structures, and healthcare facilities. Froling installed the systems at the White Mountain School in Bethlehem and P. J. Noyes in Lancaster. Froling has previously done work with Yeaton Associates on final engineering designs. The company is “agnostic” on this boiler manufacturer. New England Wood Pellets has been their supplier.

In response to questions, the visitors indicated:

- pellets are derived from “clean” wood chips, often the byproduct of cabinet makers
- providers work closely with forestry management companies, and that no trees are cut specifically for wood chips
- there is some loss with micro-district delivery systems, but this is more than made up with efficiencies gained from a centralized system
- buried systems typically need to be at least 3’ deep, and there is virtually no servicing required on the piping

The visitors were then given brief tours of the highway garage, fire station, and police station. Initial impressions were that the wood pellet system would not be compatible with the police station, and would involve significant conversion costs. The highway garage and fire station are ideal for conversion.

Tony explained that we are interested in a modular, affordable system for the public safety complex as our first priority. The next tier of priority would include the library, the waste water treatment plant, and the Town Building. The committee is also interested in commercial and residential applications.

ACTIONS:

1. Ron will provide Froling Energy with the fuel usage data sheets.

2. Froling will provide Tony with references.

3. Froling will provide preliminary estimates on costs of several options.


Next meeting: Wednesday, July 11th, 9 AM, at the Town Garage

Ron Bolt, Secretary

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