CLF’s Vermont office is getting connected to the District Heat Project’s renewable biomass energy.

Local, renewable wood will heat CLF’s Montpelier office this winter.  Construction is now underway for the Montpelier, Vermont District Heat project. This will steer many of Vermont’s capital city’s buildings away from using fossil fuels for heat. With this project, CLF and Vermont are well on their way to kicking the fossil fuel habit through renewable heat.

The project will replace Montpelier’s outdated central heating plant with efficient, modern wood-fired biomass boilers. Heat will travel underground through insulated pipes to connect the State House, City Hall, and other State buildings as well as privately owned downtown buildings – including CLF’s office.

The new boilers will process 12,200 tons of sustainably harvested green wood chips per year, replacing an estimated 300,000 gallons of oil and reducing Montpelier’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 3,100 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents. This is equivalent to taking 646 cars off the road annually.

The system will be fully complete by February and will provide heat to many of Montpelier’s biggest buildings. The project advances CLF’s and Montpelier’s renewable energy economy, creating green jobs, stabilizing fuel costs and increasing Vermont’s energy security – all while keeping us warm in our cold Vermont winters.

CLF Intern Ari Rockland-Miller amidst the construction outside the Vermont office