The University’s Resource Innovations program, part of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment, recently published a book saying that heating large buildings with wood can save people money and promote carbon-neutral energy.
Program manager Marcus Kauffman conducted the research behind the book, which promotes woody fuels as a local and renewable resource.
“We’re starting to see (wood heating) take hold,” Kauffman said.
Around Oregon, large buildings have adopted wood heat and found it works. Enterprise High School in the Wallowa School District became the first school in Oregon to use wood heat in 50 years and estimates it will save $112,000 annually on heat. The 100,000 square-foot building uses 600 tons – about 30 truckloads – of wood per year.
Harney County District Hospital in Burns, Ore., uses wood heat as well. The district hospital said it has already saved $50,000. Harney County uses wood pellets for fuel, which Kauffman said was easier than chopped wood. One simply fills a silo with them and the pellets can last a month, Kauffman said.
Colleges are adopting biomass fuels, as well. Chadron State College in Nebraska and Western Montana College have started heating buildings with wood fuels.
The University of Oregon may be one of the next. Kauffman said the University has expressed interest in exploring carbon-neutral options. The goal is to “take (the University) off the grid,” he said.
“The grid” refers to the electrical system, and the University administration would like to stop relying on it as soon as possible, Kauffman said.
Wood is one of the options the University is exploring, but it isn’t the only one. Bob Simonton, Oregon University System assistant vice chair for capital and facilities planning, said the University used to be heated by wood chip-fired boiler in the 1990s and switched to natural gas. It is now teaming up with Lane County to explore the option of converting municipal trash into a fuel source, Simonton said.
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