BCT Students involved in energy assessment of local food co-op

Together with BCT faculty member Ben Weil, several energy auditing BCT students participated in the project mentioned below. They conducted a thermographic scan and pressure test of the building and will be calibrating an energy model to allow the co-op to size a heating  system that will primarily use waste heat from the refrigerators and the freezers. QUABBIN HARVEST ZERO NET ENERGY BUILDING GRANT February 25, 2015 The Massachusetts Pathways to Zero grant program of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources has approved the application from the North Quabbin Community Food Coop for funding a Zero Net Energy Design.  Quabbin Harvest, a community based grocery store is, by nature, an energy intensive operation.  A zero net energy building is very energy efficient produces what little energy it does consume through on-site renewable energy (over the course of a year). The task is to find ways to operate both the building and the store without any extra energy that would normally be required from traditional sources. “Massachusetts is supporting...
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Sustainable Urban Forestry Summer Course Announced

Sustainable Urban Forestry Summer Course Announced

Sustainable Urban Forestry - Umass Summer School July 13 - July 17, 2015  The Arboriculture & Community Forestry program will once again host the course "Sustainable Arboriculture". This course emphasizes the art, business, and science of caring for trees in our communities. Last year, students spent their time on campus, learning all the basics of tree care. Umass faculty (Prof. Harper, Dr. Kane, and Dr. Ryan) taught classes in pruning, cabling, fertilizing, PHC, tree ID , and tree climbing and pruning. The course is a 1-week intensive course which balances academic study of the science and business of arboriculture while offering an introduction to the basic skills required to work in the field with trees. Please visit http://www.umass.edu/summer/precollege.html and click on the link for "Urban Forestry" for more information....
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