Ferrum College Begins Building Biomass Boiler

Ferrum College, Ferrum, Va., has announced that construction has begun on a biomass boiler designed to provide “low-cost, green energy” to its campus.

According to a news release issued by Ferrum College, the boiler will provide approximately 65 percent of heat and hot water to the campus. “The boiler will burn by-products from the lumber industry, which in many cases would be considered waste,” according to the college. “In the future the boiler may also burn agricultural products such as locally grown switchgrass.”

The news release also states the boiler “is designed to burn sustainable fuels at extreme temperatures in which emissions, primarily in the form of steam, fall well within the guidelines prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Quality.”

“We are proud to be building a facility that serves as an example of Ferrum’s commitment to sustainable initiatives,” says the college’s president, Jennifer Braaten. Braaten says the biomass boiler also will include an instructional area and research boiler to provide Ferrum faculty and students with a working lab in which to study green energy technologies.

The facility, to be known as the English Biomass Research Complex, was designed by English Boiler and Tube Inc., of Henrico County, Va. The company also is installing the boiler in cooperation with the college.

Construction on the site began in August of 2011 and completion is expected by March of 2012. Once finished, the project is being predicted to save the college approximately 25 percent annually on its heating costs.