[FINAL REPORT] April 5, 2011

[FINAL REPORT] April 5, 2011

Final Report April, 5, 2011

1 Joshua J Shervinski

TableofContentsPertinent Previous Studies .................................................................................................. 3

Design Objectives and Requirements ............................................................................. 3 Energy Sources and Rates ............................................................................................... 3 Environmental Design Factors ........................................................................................ 4 Design Conditions ........................................................................................................... 4 Ventilation Requirements ............................................................................................... 5 Design Heating and Cooling Loads ................................................................................ 5 Emission Factors ............................................................................................................. 6 Annual Energy Use ......................................................................................................... 7 System Operations Description ....................................................................................... 7

Installed Mechanical Equipment ......................................................................................... 8 Conventional Generation vs. CHP: Overall Efficiency ...................................................... 8 Proposed Mechanical Equipment ....................................................................................... 9 Building Loads .................................................................................................................... 9 Sizing Proposed Mechanical Equipment .......................................................................... 10 Construction Management Breadth .................................................................................. 11

Installation Cost ............................................................................................................ 11 Changes to Building Plan.............................................................................................. 11

Lighting Breadth: .............................................................................................................. 12 Reducing the Electrical Load ........................................................................................ 12 Net Metering ................................................................................................................. 13

Estimated System Performance ........................................................................................ 14 Yearly System Fuel Cost .................................................................................................. 15 Yearly Energy Savings ..................................................................................................... 15 Grant Opportunities .......................................................................................................... 16

Pennsylvania Alternative and Clean Energy Program: ................................................. 17 Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund: ................................................................................ 17 PA Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard: .................................................................. 17

Payback Timeframe .......................................................................................................... 19 LEED v3 ........................................................................................................................... 20 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 24 Appendix A ....................................................................................................................... 25 Appendix B ....................................................................................................................... 25 Appendix C ....................................................................................................................... 31

Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 31 Sincere Appreciation ......................................................................................................... 32



Executive Summary

The following report is a proposal of an alternative heating system to the biomass-fired

boiler installed in the renovation of the Wyalusing Valley High School (WVHS) in 2007

which replaced the pre-existing oil-fired heating system. Instead of using a biomass

boiler to strictly make hot water, this report analyzes the process of generating electricity

by means of a backpressure steam turbine using a green-chip biomass as fuel and

recovering waste heat to supply the heating demands of WVHS as well as an adjacent

future elementary school. Accompanying this study is a cost analysis for all of the

equipment and everything it affects.

As proposed, the biomass steam boiler with a 10,000 MBH heating capacity,

manufactured by Advanced Equipment Recycling, Inc., will heat the steam to

370°F/150psia. This steam will drive a 150 kWe turbine/generator manufactured by

Dresser-Rand. The turbine exhaust will provide 8,350 lbs. of waste steam per hour at a

pressure and temperature of 30psi/250F to supply heat during peak hot water demands of

the high school using a Bell & Gosset shell and tube heat exchanger, with an adequate

8,000 MBH heat transfer capacity available to accommodate the peak heating load of the

Wyalusing Valley campus.

In addition to the co-generation power plant, a phase-out plan for the fluorescent T8’s

used in the school will reduce the lighting load significantly by replacing them with LED

T8 retrofit bulbs, which will save 669,400 kWh per year. The 576,000 kW of electricity

generated yearly by the turbine will also earn a savings of $58,562 by net metering with

the grid. Including the modified and added mechanical equipment, the increased building

size, and the upfront cost of the new LED replacement bulbs, the extra total cost is

approximately $433,870. The extra project cost is reduced only $195,385 after possible

grants and energy credits are applied, shrinking the payback period of this additional

package to only 3 years and 4 months. The payback period of the installed renovation

was not analyzed in this thesis report, but assuming that it has a payback much longer

than this proposal, the entire renovation could have a reduced payback period, saving the

school an additional $58,562 every year.



Pertinent Previous Studies

Design Objectives and Requirements In 2006, Wyalusing Area School District came to a decision to install a new biomass-

fueled heating plant for the building to replace the previous oil-fired heating system.

This installation of the system was motivated by an incentive “to invest in cleaner

energy-providing technology that will help protect the environment for future

generations.”1 Another objective for the school was to attempt to lower the operating

costs of the school, and eventually save money over an estimated payback period. This

system was not only sized to provide enough hot water for the high school, but to also

provide the hot water for a future elementary school that will be placed adjacent to the

high school as well.

EnergySourcesandRatesThe electricity provider for the high school is Penelec. The high school qualifies for the

general service secondary rate, demand metered (GS-Medium) because their

transformer’s capacity is rated at 500KVA, which is less than the 2,500 KVA maximum.

Their monthly consumption is over the 1,500 kWh minimum that this rate requires as

well. Their current rates are calculated in Table 1 at the beginning of the following page.

Charge Definitions Cost/Rate ($/x)

Distribution for 3-phase 14.95/month

Demand 1.52/kW for all billed kW

Energy .005/kWh

Generation .05091/kWh

Transmission Service .05591/kWh

Total .111/kWh and $1.52/kW

Table 1



Currently, the biomass woodchips are supplied by local sawmills that the high school

purchases at approximately $40 per ton. This price is a little higher than the states

average price, which is approximately $30 and $35 per ton.

EnvironmentalDesignFactorsThe high school, outlined in

red in the site map on the

right, is located in historic

Wyalusing, a rural

Northeastern Pennsylvanian

town. Surrounding the

school’s campus is a tree-

scape. Between the high

school and the surrounding

tree-scape is a football field,

a practice field, and a

baseball field, leaving a 200

yard gap between the walls Satalite Map, Courtesy of Google Maps

of the school and any surrounding

trees that obstructs the wind.

DesignConditionsThe outdoor air design conditions for Wilkes Barre/Scranton airport, located 30 miles

east southeast of the high school, as listed in ASHRAE fundamentals is 89°F DB and

72°F WB temperature for the summer and 3.5°F DB for the winter. The indoor air

temperature set point for cooling is 75°F DB. For heating, the indoor air temperature set

point is 72°F DB.



VentilationRequirementsTo the right, Table 2, is a list of different room

types and their ventilation requirements. The

column labeled Rp is how much outdoor air needs

to be provided to the space by occupancy (CFM

per person) while the column labeled Ra is how

much outdoor air needs to be provided to the space

by square footage (CFM per square foot). These

values were obtained from ASHRAE Standard

62.1.

DesignHeatingandCoolingLoadsThe table below, Table 3, is a summary of the

different components in the mechanical system. It

describes the amount of cooling capacity each

component handles (only the rooftop multi-units

are used for cooling), the amount of heating per

square foot, as well as the outdoor air and total

supply air ventilation rates. Each value was taken

from both the design documents and the estimated

Trace model values.

Cooling

(S.F./Ton)

Heating

(Btu-h/S.F.)

Ventilation

(CFM/S.F.)

Total Supply Air

(CFM/S.F.)

Design

Documents

Trace

Model

Design

Documents

Trace

Model

Design

Documents

Trace

Model

Design

Documents

Trace

Model

Air

Handlers

- - 141.95 37.6 1.17 0.55 2.91 0.85

Rooftop

Multi-Units

116 202.13 262.95 208.5 0.79 1.73 2.83 2.02

Cabinet Unit - - 44.85 42.5 0 0.29 0.99 0.52

Room Type Rp Ra

Auditorium 5 0.06

Classroom 5 0.12

Clerical 10 0.18

Corridor 0 0.06

Food Service 7.5 0.12

Gymnasium 0 0.3

Lobby 5 0.06

Locker 5 0.12

Office 5 0.06

PC Lab 5 0.06

Shop 10 0.18

Vestibule 5 0.06

Water Closet 7.5 0.12 Table 2



Heaters

Unit

Ventilators

- - 93.7 99.7 0.5 0.69 1.45 1.54

Table 3

EmissionFactorsThe emission factor tables provided for this study did not have emission charts for wood

burning systems. External research prepared for Washington State’s Department of

Ecology measured the emissions of wood burning as well as some alternative process

emissions and the transportational emissions. In table 4, all emission figures are per

burned dry ton. The column labeled Transportation considers the emissions of the large

diesel semi-trailer truck that hauls the woodchips to the school. The column labeled

decomposition considers the emissions of the wood chips if they would have been left to

decompose naturally. Finally, a difference column has been added called Boiler

Contribution, which shows what the boiler adds to the atmosphere, which is a very small

percentage of CO2e increase compared to if it had simply decomposed naturally.

Commercial Boiler

with Advanced

Controls

Transportation Subtotal Decomposition Boiler

Contribution per

burned, dry ton

Metric tons of CO2e / bdt 1.47 0.002 1.472 1.29 0.182

Lbs of primary PM / bdt 6.2 0.0008 6.201 0 6.201

Lbs NOx / bdt 3.4 0.02 3.420 0 3.420

Lbs CO / bdt 9 0.006 9.006 0 9.006

Table 4



AnnualEnergyUseTable 5, on the following page,

is a summary of the average

annual energy consumption of

the building, as estimated by the

Trace model. The building is

scheduled in Trace to be used

from September until May,

leaving the building unused in

June, July, and August. The

total energy consumption is

approximately 11.7 kWh/s.f. per

year.

T

Table 5

SystemOperationsDescriptionThe control logic in place to condition the spaces is the same all across the board. All

four types of mechanical equipment draw hot water by Automatic Temperature Control

(ATC) devices. When the temperature in the space falls below 68°F during heating

months, the ATC opens direct digital control valves. This allows water to enter at 180°F

and heat the supply air passing over the coil. The water then leaves the coil and enters

into the hot water return at 150°F. The hot water supply and return lines run parallel

throughout the entire building, in two loops that separate soon after entering the building,

as pictured on the following page.

Source Demand

(kWh/yr)

% Total

Boiler 268,746 18.2%

Heating Accessories 122,442 8.3%

Cooling Compressor 53,286 3.6%

Condenser Fans 7,013 .5%

Supply Fans 88,652 6.0%

Lighting 913,412 61.9%

Receptacles 21,218 1.4%

Total 1,474,769 100%



Hot Water Supply and Returns

InstalledMechanicalEquipment

To adequately heat the hot water of the high school, the biomass hot water boiler,

manufactured by Advanced Recycling Equipment, has a power rating of 300 hp and a

10,000 MBH heating capacity. This size was based off of the heating capacity of the oil-

fired boiler that was being replaced. The size was also increased for future expansion for

the anticipated new elementary school located a few hundred feet from the high school.

ConventionalGenerationvs.CHP:OverallEfficiency

The electricity companies are generating electricity very efficiently nowadays, but the

grid is unfortunately very inefficient “In this example of a typical CHP system, to

produce 75 units of useful energy, the conventional generation or separate heat and power

systems use 154 units of energy- 98 for electricity production and 56 to produce heat-

resulting in an overall efficiency of 49 percent. However, the CHP system needs only

100 units of energy to produce the 75 units of useful energy from a single fuel source,

resulting in a total system efficiency of 75 percent.” 3



1

ProposedMechanicalEquipment

Instead of heating the hot water to 180°F that the school requires, the new design uses

cogeneration technology that will heat steam with the boilers backpressure. This steam

will drive a turbine that transfers shaft energy to a generator to produce electricity, while

the output waste steam through the exhaust that can be exchanged into the hot water

necessary to supply the peak heating load. The electricity produced from this process

will help supplement a large portion of the electric used by the school.

BuildingLoads

In order to accurately size the new equipment, the building loads need to be determined.

For the heating load, it is believed that original oil-boiler was oversized, as was common

practice when it was installed. This led to the possible oversizing of the new system as

no energy analysis was done. Instead of the 10,000 MBH heating capacity currently

installed, 8,000 MBH would most likely be an adequate peak heating load estimate for

the campus. Jim Babcock agreed with this, the representative of Advanced Recycling

Equipment, when helping me to size the new steam boiler.

The Trace model used for this analysis estimates that the total amount of electricity used

is just over 1,000,000 kWh per year, with about 913,000 kWh of this being used for

1 http://www.epa.gov/chp/basic/methods.html



lighting. If the future building is assumed to use 85% of this electricity, this is a total of

1,900,000 kWh per year.

SizingProposedMechanicalEquipment

The size of the system is directly based on the hot water demand at peak load. An 8,000

MBH load is equivalent to a demand of 546 GPM when heating return water from 150°F

to 180°F.

The first component to size is the heat exchanger. These flow rates were submitted to

Thermoflow Equipment Company, Inc., and a quoted price of $12,020 was given for a

Bell & Gossett plate and frame heat exchanger along with the necessary floats and

thermostatic steam traps. For this design condition, the flow of steam into the heat

exchanger will require 8,350 PPH of steam at 30PSIA/250°F.

The next component to size is the back-pressure steam turbine. Dresser-Rand offers a

turbine calculator on their website. This also sizes the generator along with the turbine.

On the right, the flow requirements

were input, along with the turbine

speed. The output of the generator is

estimated at 150kWe. Randy Morris,

of CentriDyne Equipment Co.,

explained that a good estimate for a

turbine in this size range could be

estimated at $1,250 per kWe. This

would put the price estimate at

$187,500 for the turbine and generator

before installation.

Finally, the boiler and all of its necessary equipment needed to be sized for the input

requirements of the turbine. Jim Babcock of Advanced Recycling Equipment gave me a

quote for a steam boiler package with a 10,000 MBH capacity of $575,000. He also

suggested a deaerator for the system, as well as an economizer for the steam condensate,

totaling $75,000 for those two components. The boiler package that was installed in

Wyalusing was $500,000, so after all necessary components, the steam package would



have been an extra $150,000. In total, all of the additional mechanical equipment costs

so far total $349,520 before installation.

Construction Management Breadth

InstallationCostAs part of the Construction Management breadth portion of this thesis, the cost to install

the new equipment needed to be estimated in order to determine a more accurate payback

period. The following table, Table 6, shows each of the new pieces of equipment, their

material costs, installation costs, and the total cost after considering the overhead and

profit of the suppliers. The values in this table were obtained from RSMeans Mechanical

Costs 2010. After applying the installation costs, overhead, and profits, the total cost for

the equipment is $370,270

Material Cost ($) Installation ($) Total Incl. O&P ($)

Steam Boiler/Fuel Delivery System Upgrade 75,000 ‐ 75,000

150 kWe Turbine/Generator 187,500 10,500 198,000

Heat Exchanger 12,020 1,725 14,420

Steam/Condensate Piping (@12,000 lbs/hr) 4,575 213 5,350

deaerator & Economizer 75,000 1,850 77,500

Totals 354,095 14,288 370,270

Table 6

ChangestoBuildingPlanIn order to make space for the turbine, generator, and heat exchanger, the buildings must

be lengthened. Shown on the next page is a picture of both the plan of the biomass

building as it was installed and the plan of the same building modified to fit the new

equipment. The total floor area of the biomass building is increased by 11%. The cost to

construct the original 12,500 square foot building design was estimated using RSMeans

Building Construction Cost Data 2011, which gives a median cost of $42/s.f., would cost

$525,000 to construct the building. The 1,350 square foot increase adds an extra $56,700

to the total project cost.



Lighting Breadth:

ReducingtheElectricalLoad

As part of the lighting/electrical breadth of this thesis, the lighting load of the high school

will be reduced. Almost the entire high school uses fluorescent T8’s, manufactured by

Cooper lighting. These T8’s use 32W and have an output of 2,850 lumens per lamp.

This gives the lamp a high efficacy (efficiency) of 89. In order to reduce this load, a new

LED technology that can achieve higher efficacies will be used to replace burned out

fluorescent T8s. A tube of the same size as the fluorescents holds a series of many

LED’s that combine to output a similar amount of light as the fluorescents and can be



installed in the original luminaire that the

fluorescent lamps are installed in. However,

the total output of the lamp is still less than the

installed fluorescents. The LED T8

replacement that is used in this proposal

(pictured right) is manufactured in china and

imported by S&L Commodities. Each lamp

has an output of only 1,800 Lumens created

the 288 LEDs that it contains. To determine

how many and which rooms can change over

to the new LED replacement without being under-lit, a foot-candle analysis was done.

According to the IES Lighting Handbook, a classroom must be lit to 50 foot-candles,

while the new handbook lowers the minimum to 30. Most of the classrooms in WVHS

are well above 50 foot-candles with the new LED replacements, with only four

classrooms that are between 42 and 50 fc, and an average fc measurement in the

classrooms of 90.

If all of the T8’s are replaced in rooms that remain adequately lit, this will replace 3,445

of the building’s 3,564 fluorescents. That is 96.66% of the buildings T8 lamps. If all of

the lights in the building were on at once, 82% of the electricity demand would be from

T8’s. To keep the upfront cost of this renovation minimized, 100 of these will be

purchased at a time, and the lamps will be replaced as the fluorescent lamps reach the end

of their life cycle. When all of the T8’s have been replaced, the total lighting load will be

reduced from 913,000kWh per year to 551,000kWh per year. This reduces the buildings

total electricity usage to 630,000kWh, and an estimated whole campus load of

1,166,000kWh.

NetMetering

Instead of implementing a large battery bank to store the generated electricity on site, an

easier and less costly method is to use the grid effectively as a battery bank and by

metering the electricity in and out of the grid, the generated electricity can be used to

offset the electricity that will be used when the generator is not producing enough



electricity. The following law sets the guidelines for the value of the electricity that is

sent into the grid.

Under Pennsylvania Law § 75.13, General provisions:

“Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) shall:

(a) offer net metering to customer-generators that generate electricity on the customer-

generator’s side of the meter using Tier I or Tier II alternative energy sources.

(b) file a tariff with the Commission that provides for net metering consistent with

this chapter. An EDC shall file a tariff providing net metering protocols that

enable Electric Generation Suppliers (EGSs) to offer net metering to customer-

generators taking service from EGSs.

(c) credit a customer-generator at the full retail rate , which shall include generation,

transmission, and distribution charges, for each kilowatt-hour produced by a Tier I

or Tier II resource installed on the customer-generator’s side of the electric

revenue meter, up to the total amount of electricity used by that customer during

the billing period.” 2

Applying with the electric company to be able to take advantage of this system is simple.

First, a level 2 application which incurs a $400 application fee, both determined by the

150kWe output, must be submitted with First Energy along with a site plan and one-line

diagram. Afterwards, the company will review the application and the proposed system.

After passing or making the changes requested by the company, a level 2 agreement must

be signed. Finally, a net energy application must also be filled out. All of these forms

are available on First Energy’s website.

Estimated System Performance

The steam boiler will run full time for an estimated 160 days per year to have hot water

available to heat the high school. This equates to 3,840 hours of full time operation per

year. In order to reheat the steam leaving the turbine that will be returning to the boiler

when the system is not at peak load (most of the time), a constant load of 1,024MBH is

needed to reheat the steam to the turbine’s input requirements. This heating load on the 2 http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/052/chapter75/subchapBtoc.html



boiler due to the turbine was calculated by assuming the efficiency of the turbine to be

about 50%, then converting the kWh output to BTU’s. The efficiency of 50% was

recommended to me by Randy Morris of Centridyne Equipment Co., which seems

accurate, as industrial steam turbines only reach peak efficiencies of 80%. Running the

system for 3,840 hours per year will produce 576,000 kWh per year.

Yearly System Fuel Cost

Two assumptions were made during the analysis of the fuel costs. One is that the

increased demand for wood chips will be still available to the school. The other is that a

price of $32 per ton can be negotiated, which is closer to the average price for wood chips

in the state of Pennsylvania than what is being paid currently by the high school. To

determine the extra fuel per year (not including the baseline heating demand), the

following equation was used:

= $10,570/YR

1,023.6 MBTU/HR is the extra energy needed to drive the turbine

3,840 is the amount of hours the system will be in operation during the year

(5,950 x 2,000) is the amount of heat that is extracted from the biomass wood chips

The extra fuel cost to heat enough steam in order to produce that amount of electricity

will cost $10,570 per year. An estimated 40 truckloads of woodchips were used by the

biomass system last year. Each truck delivers 20 tons of chips. This was only to heat the

high school, as the elementary school has not yet been constructed. An estimated heating

load for the elementary school could best be approximated at 85% of the high school’s

use, as it is nearly the same size, and built tighter with better construction practices today.

The yearly fuel cost to heat the high school is approximately $25,600, and an estimated

$47,360 to heat the whole campus.

Yearly Energy Savings

The building’s energy model in Trane Trace estimates that the yearly electricity usage is

1,206,023 kWh per year. If the same 85% energy usage is applied to the elementary

school’s electricity demand, that would mean that the total electricity used by the

Wyalusing Valley campus would be 2,231,000kWh per year. After deducting the



361,800kWh savings from the lighting renovation, this reduces the yearly load to

844,200kWh per year for the high school, and 1,561,750kWh per year for the campus.

The total yearly generated electricity was determined to be 576,000kWh, leaving only

985,750kWh to be used from the grid for the whole campus. The following table

calculates the source electricity to have a delivery efficiency of grid electricity to be 33%,

and the boiler/generation efficiency of 50%.

Consumed

Electric

(units in kWh)

Original

Demand

LED

Savings

New Grid

Demand

Generated

Electric

Grid

Demand

Energy

Consumed

%

Saved

Campus (on site) 2,231,143 669,399 1,561,754 576,000 985,754 1,561,754 30.0%

Campus (source) 6,693,428 2,008,165 4,685,262 1,152,000 2,957,262 4,109,262 38.6%

Table 7

The retail price of the electricity is $.111/kWh. The 576,000kWh that is generated will

reduce the average electricity bill by $63,936 per year. The fuel cost to generate this

electricity was calculated to be $10,570 per year, totaling a utility savings of $53,366 per

year.

Grant Opportunities

To assist with the cost of the new system, the school district qualified for the

Pennsylvania Energy Harvest Grant Program, which issued a grant of $310,000. The

grant was one of “28 innovative projects that will generate clean and renewable energy,

reduce pollution, conserve natural resources, and educate the public on the benefits of

renewable energy technologies.”3

These grants were created with an added incentive of generating 2.6 times the amount of

the average award in private investment into the same technologies. The high school,

however, invested just over 4 times the amount of the grant in the total cost of renovating

the system. The final cost of the system that was installed was $1.6 million, with about

$1.3 million paid for by the school district.

3 Tina Pickett | www.reppickett.com



The following programs will be sought after in order to reduce the cost of the project for

the owner, and in turn shorten the time it takes to receive a return on investment.

PennsylvaniaAlternativeandCleanEnergyProgram:The program eligibility requirements in terms of technology and fuels are met with back-

pressure turbine technology and biomass fuel.

“Grants for any alternative energy production or clean energy project shall not exceed $2

million or 50 percent of the total project cost, whichever is less. Grants of up to $500,000

are available for energy savings contracts (ESCOs).”4 The portion of the total estimated

project cost that complies with this grants requirements totals $426,970, earning a grant

of up to $213,485.

PenelecSustainableEnergyFund:

The program eligibility requirements in terms of technology and fuels are met with back-

pressure turbine technology and biomass fuel. The size of the grant is $25,000.

“FirstEnergy (formerly GPU) established… the Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund in

2000. The fund is divided as follows: two-thirds (2/3) on venture capital and business

lending; one-third (1/3) as an endowment fund focused on environmental grantmaking.

The purpose of the fund is to promote the development and use of renewable energy and

clean energy technologies, energy conservation and efficiency, sustainable energy

businesses, and projects which improve the environment in the Penelec region.” 5

PAAlternativeEnergyPortfolioStandard:

The program eligibility requirements in terms of technology and fuels are met with back-

pressure turbine technology and biomass fuel.

“Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) was established in 2004

and amended in 2007. It requires load-serving energy companies to provide 18 percent of

their electricity from alternative sources by 2020. The AEPS has two categories of

technologies with separate target amounts, Tier I and Tier II. Both new and existing

renewables are eligible as Tier I resources. … Tier I resources include: solar photovoltaic

4 EPA. Funding Database | Combined Heat and Power Partnership | US 5 http://www.epa.gov/chp/funding/funding2/compenelecsefofthecfforthealle.html



energy, solar thermal energy, wind, low-impact hydro, geothermal, biomass, biologically

derived methane gas, coal mine methane, fuel cells, and in-state pulping process and

wood manufacturing byproducts. Compliance is based on renewable energy credits

(RECs), and banking of excess credits is allowed for up to two years. One credit is equal

to one megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable generation. RECs are the property of the

renewable energy generator. Eligible resources may originate within Pennsylvania or

within the PJM regional transmission organization (RTO), however, out-of-state

resources located in the MISO may be used in areas served by MISO”6

This means that the 576MWh created by the steam turbine should earn the school 576

RECs, and the yearly load of 269MWh of heat, estimated by the Trace model, will earn

the school another 269 RECs. This is a total of 845 RECs per year, which can be sold

through brokers at market price. The following chart shows the pricing of Tier 1 energy

credits over the last 3 years.

Year

Teir I Weighted Average

Price

REC Price Range

2010 $4.77 $ 0.50 - $ 24.15

2009 $3.65 $ 0.50 - $ 23.00

2008 $4.48 $ 1.00 - $ 20.50

If it is assumed that the price of each energy credit will average the same price as it was

valued in 2010, this will earn the school $4,030 per year before brokerage fees, as well.

However, it is unlikely that the market price will stay where they are, as future market

prices are very hard to predict, and they will most likely be increasing as the minimum

amounts of renewable energy sources demanded by the portfolio are also increased

yearly. In total, the grants available to the school could pay for up to $238,485 of the

added project cost and an additional $4,030 per year from valuable RECs.

6 http://www.epa.gov/chp/funding/funding2/penpaalternativeenergyportfoli.html



PaybackTimeframe

The quote from S&L Commodities estimated the price for 100 of their LED tubes at

$6,900, which was $10 less per tube when purchasing this quantity. Each 100 of these

tubes potentially saves 10,500 kWh per year, which at $0.111/kWh, is a savings of

$1,166 per year. Therefore, it will take 5 years and 11 months for the lamps to pay for

themselves. If we consider the $500 cost of the fluorescent bulbs that would be used to

replace burned out lamps, the extra first cost from this portion of the renovation is only

$6,400, with a payback period of five and a half years.

The total installed cost of the biomass co-

generation system was estimated to be

$370,270, plus the additional building

cost of $56,700. The Pennsylvania

Alternative and Clean Energy program

will pay for up to half of the cost,

accruing a savings of $213,485, while the

Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund will

donate $25,000, a total of $238,485

deducted from the upfront building cost.

The remaining additional cost to the

owner for the proposed renovation to the

high school is $195,385.

The savings realized from the generated

electricity was calculated to be $53,366

per year, plus the 845 RECs estimated at

$4,030 per year, and an electricity

savings of $1,166 per year, totaling a

payback of $58,562 per year. Using

these figures, it will only take the school a short three years and four months to start

seeing the financial benefit from the savings, while the savings of energy and the impact

on the environment will start immediately.

Cost to SchoolLighting Replacements Initial 100 LED T8 6,900Mechanical Equipment Steam Boiler/Fuel Delivery System Upgrade

75,000

150 kWe Turbine/Generator 198,000Heat Exchanger 14,420Steam/Condesate Piping (@12,000 lbs/hr)

5,350

deaerator & Economizer 77,500Construction Buillding size increase 56,700Subtotal 433,870Upfront Savings Pennsylvania Alternative and Clean Energy

213,485

Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund 25,000Savings Subtotal 238,485Upfront Renovation Cost to WVSD 195,385Yearly Payback Electricity Generation Savings 53,366Electricity Reduction Savings 1,166RECs 4,030Subtotal 58,562



LEED v3

For this analysis, an assessment of the biomass heat

system and cooling systems will be done based on the

standards set by LEED 2009 for New Construction

and Major Renovations Rating System in the section

Energy and Atmosphere. “LEED is an internationally

recognized green building certification system,

providing strategies aimed at improving performance

across all the metrics third-party verification that a

building or community was designed and built using that matter most: energy savings,

water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and

stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.”3

In order to be considered for LEED assessment in the energy and atmosphere section,

there are three prerequisites that need to be fulfilled to qualify. The first one requires

building commissioning. It states that there must be a commissioning authority (CxA)

and lists the minimum qualifications of that individual. The CxA must review design

documents for clarity and completeness, develop and incorporate commissioning

requirements into the construction documents as well as implementing a commissioning

plan, and verify these systems performances. This commissioning must be done on the

HVAC systems and associated controls, lighting controls, domestic hot water, and

renewable energy systems. There are also recommendations listed to further improve

buildings through the use of several commissioning approaches. For the purpose of this

study, it will be assumed that this report and its findings will fulfill the necessary

requirements concerning building commissioning.

The second prerequisite offers three different options to meet a minimum energy

performance. They include using a whole building energy simulation, a prescriptive

compliance path using an ASHRAE advanced energy design guide, or another

prescriptive compliance path using Advanced BuildingsTM Core PerformanceTM Guide.

The trace model that was built for the previous technical report qualifies as the first

option, a whole building energy simulation.



The third and final prerequisite involves fundamental refrigerant management. This

requires buildings to involve zero chlorofluorocarbon (CFC-) based refrigerants in

building HVAC systems. In the case of renovations, a detailed phase out plan to

eradicate all CFC-based must be done and will be considered based upon merit. The high

school passes this prerequisite as the cooling systems use R-410a.

Both the biomass hot water boiler and biomass cogeneration systems will be analyzed for

this study. Any differences in the system will be noted at the end of each credit.

Credits:

Optimize Energy Performance is worth up to 19 points. The baseline system for a non-

commercial building having less than five floors and between 25-150 kft2 is a VAV

system with reheat, direct expansion, and a hot water boiler. This baseline system,

however, is more efficient than the rooftop multi-zone system already installed modeled

in the proposed system. The actual site energy is 11% less energy, but uses only 3.5%

less source energy. Since the proposed system is less efficient than a baseline model

either way, it earns zero points in this category.

On-Site Renewable Energy allows a major renovation to earn up to seven points by

creating energy through several different renewable resource strategies. The biomass

boiler replaces 19.4% of on-site consumed energy, but only 9.7% of the total source

energy, used to heat the hot water from oil-burned heat to woodchip burned heat. If

consumed energy is considered instead of source energy, then this earns the building all

seven possible points.

The Cogeneration plant, however, produces 36.9% of the campus on-site electricity,

24.6% of the buildings source energy, as well as 100% of the buildings heat. This earns

the proposed renovation all seven possible points also.

Enhanced Commissioning has a potential to earn two points. As CxA, this report would

need to have been started prior to the construction documents phase, review contractor

submittals, and provide systems manuals for the proposed systems to optimize knowledge

of its correct and most efficient use. As constructed, no external commissioning had been

completed and therefore earns no points in this section.



Enhanced Refrigerant Management is aimed at reducing ozone depletion, and is worth

another two points. Using the formulas provided in the image below, the schools

refrigerant system was 13% too high to receive points due strictly to the global warming

potential of the refrigerant. However, the ozone depletion potential due to the refrigerant

is nonexistent.

Measurement and Verification is another chance to earn potentially three points in the

Energy and Atmosphere section. This can be achieved in one of two possible ways.

Both of the ways that are involved are by using the International Performance

Measurement & Verification Protocol (IPMVP) Volume III: Concepts and Options for

Determining Energy Savings in New Construction. The two options available are Option

D: Calibrated Simulation (Savings Estimation Method 2 or Option B: Energy

Conservation Measure Isolation. Option B was never pursued, as there was little

information regarding current energy use available for this study. Also, Option D does

not offer any energy savings to measure and verify, as the baseline systems are more

efficient than the currently installed systems (specifically the rooftop multi-zone

systems). Therefore, the school earns no points in this section as well.

Green Power is the final chance to earn the last two points in this section of LEED. In

order to do this, the building would need to purchase or provide at least 35% of its



electricity from renewable resources. The biomass system does not apply, as it is only

replacing hot water demand, and there is no extra electricity being purchased by the

school that is generated by renewable sources. The co-generation system, however,

produces 36.9% of its electricity, earning the system both points.

In conclusion, the building was very close to earning more than what it did. The final

award was seven points for the installed hot water boiler system, while the steam system

earns nine of the 35 possible points. In Table 8 on the next page, the building

performance in the Energy and Atmosphere section is shown. Two separate columns

show the awarded points in each section for both the hot water boiler and for the steam

boiler proposal.

EA Credit Opportunity Max Points

Available

Points Earned

(Hot Water)

Points

Earned

(Steam)

% Earned

Optimize Energy

Performance

19 0 0 0%

On-site Renewable

Energy

7 7 7 100%

Enhanced

Commissioning

2 0 0 0%

Enhanced Refrigerant

Management

2 0 0 0%

Measurement and

Verification

3 0 0 0%

Green Power 2 0 2 0%/100%

Total 35 7 9 20%/26%

Table 8



Conclusion

To summarize this report, the viability of the proposed projects was a success. The LED

T8’s used in this proposal are a very cost effective way of drastically cutting the lighting

load, although slightly dimming to the space. The added steam boiler, turbine, and

generator package, even after all installation and building change costs, have relatively

short payback periods after state grants are applied. This means that this package would

have aided in shortening the overall payback of the entire renovation. In addition to the

money that would be saved by the school, our environment benefits by reducing the

amount of potential source energy consumed by almost 40% and using more renewable

fuels at the same time. The LEED points earned in the Energy and Atmosphere section

are only 6% higher with this proposal over the original instillation, as green power and

onsite renewable energy are not the valuable parts of this section. Hopefully this study

may inspire and provoke efforts to do reduce energy loads and turn our attention away

from fossil fuel use and instead, turn to green energy.



Appendix A

Quote for heat exchanger:

Appendix B Room Name

Room Type Az # of T8's Fluorescent (FC)

LED (FC)

Replaceable T8s

E152 Art 1143 51 127 80 51A125 Athletics 414 12 83 52 12B126 Auditorium 3337 0 0 0 C114 Cafeteria 4336 120 79 50 120C102 Can Wash 36 2 158 100 2A109 Classroom 860 54 179 113 54C149 Classroom 896 54 172 108 54C153 Classroom 764 42 157 99 42D103 Classroom 843 42 142 90 42D118 Classroom 924 54 167 105 54D121 Classroom 698 42 171 108 42D126 Classroom 883 24 77 49 24D131 Classroom 763 22 82 52 22D134 Classroom 775 18 66 42 18



D136 Classroom 963 42 124 79 42D141 Classroom 732 24 93 59 24D143 Classroom 713 27 108 68 27D152 Classroom 805 36 127 80 36D154 Classroom 576 30 148 94 30D157 Classroom 903 32 101 64 32D158 Classroom 768 36 134 84 36D159 Classroom 921 32 99 63 32E102 Classroom 763 18 67 42 18E104 Classroom 713 36 144 91 36E108 Classroom 320 30 267 169 30E109 Classroom 1314 55 119 75 55E115 Classroom 304 12 113 71 12E116 Classroom 636 42 188 119 42E117 Classroom 764 42 157 99 42E118 Classroom 820 42 146 92 42E122 Classroom 823 42 145 92 42E123 Classroom 823 42 145 92 42E131 Classroom 896 42 134 84 42E141 Classroom 403 24 170 107 24E142 Classroom 697 42 172 108 42E143 Classroom 706 36 145 92 36E144 Classroom 697 36 147 93 36F103 Classroom 827 48 165 104 48F104 Classroom 828 54 186 117 54F105 Classroom 828 48 165 104 48F106 Classroom 828 54 186 117 54F107 Classroom 828 48 165 104 48F108 Classroom 828 54 186 117 54F109 Classroom 828 48 165 104 48F110 Classroom 828 54 186 117 54F114 Classroom 715 24 96 60 24F115 Classroom 1142 42 105 66 42C128 Clerical 343 8 66 42 A117 Closet 42 2 136 86 2C117 Closet 16 0 0 0 C120 Closet 7 0 0 0 D105 Closet 8 0 0 0 D113 Closet 22 2 259 164 2D114 Closet 22 2 259 164 2D127 Closet 2 0 0 0 D129 Closet 2 0 0 0 D132 Closet 2 0 0 0 D135 Closet 2 0 0 0 D137 Closet 2 0 0 0 D142 Closet 3 0 0 0 D144 Closet 2 0 0 0 D146 Closet 24 0 0 0 E103 Closet 3 0 0 0 E105 Closet 3 0 0 0



E111 Closet 3 0 0 0 E147 Closet 35 0 0 0 C122 Conference 385 12 89 56 12C131 Conference 137 8 166 105 8D104 Conference 308 12 111 70 12E132 Conference 143 4 80 50 4C107 Cooler 75 0 0 0 C145 Copy Room 352 12 97 61 12A124 Corridor 162 4 70 44 4A127 Corridor 57 2 100 63 2B107 Corridor 496 18 103 65 18B115 Corridor 106 4 108 68 4B116 Corridor 272 6 63 40 6B118 Corridor 175 4 65 41 4B124 Corridor 79 4 144 91 4B128 Corridor 32 0 0 0 B134 Corridor 1736 24 39 25 B138 Corridor 59 2 97 61 2C104 Corridor 141 2 40 26 C143 Corridor 1600 26 46 29 D111 Corridor 128 4 89 56 4D116 Corridor 346 16 132 83 16D117 Corridor 363 14 110 69 14D138 Corridor 1342 16 34 21 16D139 Corridor 1024 10 28 18 10D165 Corridor 1227 18 42 26 18E101 Corridor 1867 20 31 19 10E114 Corridor 226 4 50 32 4E119 Corridor 630 10 45 29 10E121 Corridor 236 6 72 46 6E127 Corridor 30 0 0 0 E138 Corridor 216 4 53 33 4F101 Corridor 1468 16 31 20 16C113 Dishwashing 106 4 108 68 4E153 Display 24 0 0 0 A122 Drying Area 57 2 100 63 2B136 Drying Area 184 4 62 39 4B123 Electrical 147 2 39 24 B125 Electrical 92 4 124 78 4B139 Electrical 54 2 106 67 2A105 Food Service 369 6 46 29 C108 Freezer 75 0 0 0 B122 Generator

Room 111 2 51 32 2

B149 Guest Office 139 6 123 78 6A106 Gymnasium 8808 0 0 0 B145 Gymnasium 6221 0 0 0 A118 H.D. Storage 175 12 195 123 12A119 H.D. Storage 292 8 78 49 8C142 Health 238 0 0 0



C109 Janitor 17 0 0 0 E151 Kiln & Clay 249 6 69 43 6C111 Kitchen 751 22 83 53 22C123 Kitchenette 111 4 103 65 4D128 Laboratory 1129 54 136 86 54D155 Laboratory 761 36 135 85 36E113 Library 3020 150 142 89 150E135 Library 377 12 91 57 12A104 Lobby 770 18 67 42 18A111 Lobby 443 14 90 57 14C119 Lobby 720 16 63 40 16F111 Lobby 372 12 92 58 12A115 Locker 1208 34 80 51 34A116 Locker 721 16 63 40 16A129 Locker 1327 44 94 60 44B135 Locker 792 14 50 32 14B144 Locker 1093 56 146 92 56C136 Lounge 334 18 154 97 18E134 Lounge 464 24 147 93 24B105 Machine Shop 1837 84 130 82 84B117 Music

Classroom 1625 32 56 35 32

F113 Music Classroom

1022 60 167 106 60

A113 Office 120 3 71 45 A128 Office 121 3 71 45 3B101 Office 625 32 146 92 32B102 Office 83 2 69 43 2B110 Office 188 6 91 57 6B111 Office 105 4 109 69 4B112 Office 133 4 86 54 4B113 Office 105 4 109 69 4B114 Office 128 4 89 56 4B143 Office 183 4 62 39 4B147 Office 121 4 94 60 4C106 Office 67 4 170 107 4C124 Office 175 4 65 41 C125 Office 123 4 93 59 4C127 Office 136 4 84 53 4C129 Office 148 2 39 24 C144 Office 76 2 75 47 D108 Office 166 8 137 87 8D109 Office 166 8 137 87 8D112 Office 168 4 68 43 4D115 Office 168 4 68 43 4E133 Office 120 4 95 60 4B108 PC Lab 1073 30 80 50 30E148 PC Lab 1193 54 129 81 54C112 Prep 660 20 86 55 20C121 Reception 572 22 110 69 22



C139 Reception 397 8 57 36 D107 Reception 420 21 143 90 21C138 Rest 36 2 158 100 2C152 Server 68 2 84 53 2A121 Shower 244 8 93 59 8A131 Shower 235 6 73 46 6B137 Shower 235 6 73 46 6B127 Stage 1321 0 0 0 A101 Storage 567 12 60 38 12A107 Storage 86 4 133 84 4A108 Storage 126 6 136 86 6A112 Storage 206 4 55 35 B100 Storage 1320 36 78 49 36B103 Storage 56 2 102 64 2B109 Storage 94 4 121 77 4B119 Storage 320 6 53 34 6B121 Storage 675 12 51 32 12B129 Storage 65 2 88 55 2B132 Storage 23 0 0 0 B146 Storage 111 6 154 97 6B148 Storage 1063 28 75 47 28C105 Storage 229 8 100 63 8C141 Storage 25 0 0 0 C146 Storage 114 4 100 63 4C147 Storage 80 4 143 90 4C148 Storage 80 4 143 90 4C151 Storage 106 4 108 68 4D101 Storage 192 4 59 38 4D119 Storage 239 8 95 60 8D123 Storage 37 0 0 0 D124 Storage 33 4 345 218 4D133 Storage 289 6 59 37 6D153 Storage 122 4 93 59 4D161 Storage 122 4 93 59 4D162 Storage 61 2 93 59 2D163 Storage 61 2 93 59 2D164 Storage 53 2 108 68 2E106 Storage 196 6 87 55 6E112 Storage 322 8 71 45 8E124 Storage 121 3 71 45 3E128 Storage 120 2 48 30 2E137 Storage 354 12 97 61 12E149 Storage 135 3 63 40 3E153 Storage 115 4 99 63 4F116 Storage 25 0 0 0 F118 Storage 25 0 0 0 E136 Taping 123 4 93 59 4B151 Vending 140 10 204 129 10A110 Vestibule 327 4 35 22 A126 Vestibule 209 0 0 0



A133 Vestibule 50 2 114 72 2C118 Vestibule 128 4 89 56 4C133 Vestibule 26 0 0 0 C134 Vestibule 26 0 0 0 D106 Vestibule 42 2 136 86 2D147 Vestibule 26 0 0 0 D149 Vestibule 23 0 0 0 D151 Vestibule 193 4 59 37 4E146 Vestibule 208 0 0 0 F102 Vestibule 120 2 48 30 2F112 Vestibule 76 2 75 47 2C101 Walk-In

Freezer 63 0 0 0

A102 Water Closet 369 6 46 29 A103 Water Closet 369 6 46 29 A114 Water Closet 33 0 0 0 A123 Water Closet 256 6 67 42 6A132 Water Closet 171 8 133 84 8A134 Water Closet 44 2 130 82 2B131 Water Closet 120 2 48 30 B133 Water Closet 74 2 77 49 2B141 Water Closet 217 6 79 50 6B142 Water Closet 33 0 0 0 C103 Water Closet 75 2 76 48 2C115 Water Closet 237 6 72 46 6C116 Water Closet 236 6 72 46 6C126 Water Closet 65 2 88 55 2C132 Water Closet 33 0 0 0 C135 Water Closet 33 0 0 0 C137 Water Closet 27 0 0 0 D122 Water Closet 234 6 73 46 6D125 Water Closet 220 4 52 33 4D148 Water Closet 280 4 41 26 4D166 Water Closet 236 4 48 31 4E125 Water Closet 27 0 0 0 E126 Water Closet 27 0 0 0 F117 Water Closet 24 0 0 0 B104 Wood Shop 1199 56 133 84 56B106 Wood Shop 1444 72 142 90 72E129 Work Room 160 4 71 45 4E139 Yearbook 279 8 82 52 8



AppendixC

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<http://www.epa.gov/chp/basic/methods.html>.

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<http://www.epa.gov/chp/funding/funding/penpaalternativeandcleanenergy.html>.

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Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 05 Apr. 2011.

<http://www.epa.gov/chp/funding/funding/compenelecsefofthecfforthealle.html>.

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Electric, Hybrid and Clean Transportation, Carbon,

Emissions and Climate Change, Energy Storage, Grid & Efficiency. 16 Nov. 2007. Web.

24 Nov. 2010.

<http://epoverviews.com/articles/visitor.php?action=search&page=2&start_date=1900-

01-01&end_date=2010-10-23&search_newsletter=&keyword=Anaerobic Digester>.

"Pennsylvania Code." The Pennsylvania Code Online. Web. 03 Apr. 2011.

<http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/052/chapter75/subchapBtoc.html>.

“State Rep. Tina Pickett - Energy Harvest Grants Awarded to Local School District and

Development Council, Announces Pickett." State Rep. Tina Pickett. 26 Nov. 2007. Web.

23 Nov. 2010. <http://www.reppickett.com/NewsItem.aspx?NewsID=2659>.

United States Green Building Council. "USGBC: Intro - What LEED Is." USGBC: Intro

- What LEED Is. Web. 24 Nov. 2010.

<http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988>.

https://www.firstenergycorp.com/corporate/PAinterconnection.html



Sincere Appreciation I want to say thank you to all the people and companies who have helped answer my

questions to finish this study. Thanks to all my friends who love me and make life worth

living. Thank you to all of the people that create grants for students like me, mine have

helped me immensely in times of dire need. Thanks Mom and Dad, you guys have

supported, encouraged, and pushed me to be the best I can be. Thank you God for always

being by my side, and thank you America, for giving me this chance!