Kensington board authorizes staff to pursue state grant for school heating electrification

Kensington School District board members voted to authorize the superintendent’s office to work with the town energy committee and school staff to prepare and submit a grant proposal to the New Hampshire Department of Energy to convert the Kensington School’s heating to electric heat pumps.

The request stems from a Department of Energy program that, according to a presenter from the town energy committee, offers annual grants that can help schools replace fossil-fuel heating with electric heat-pump systems; the presenter said the program offers awards worth up to $150,000. The energy committee told the board it can help gather vendor quotes, perform a building assessment and assemble technical details for an expedited application window.

Board chair Tiffany opened the public-input discussion and the board then heard a detailed presentation from an energy committee member identified in the meeting as Zeke, who described efficiency, air-quality and safety benefits of switching away from oil-fired boilers. Zeke said the Department of Energy program "offers 2 grants in the state to a school...worth up to $150,000" and described trade-offs between air-source and geothermal heat pumps, noting geothermal is more expensive up front but can be materially more efficient over time.

Principal Becky Ruehl and other staff answered technical questions about the school facility. The presenters discussed current conditions: the school building footprint was described during the meeting as roughly 25,000 square feet, with two existing boilers and three separate ducted HVAC systems. The energy committee said a school-scale geothermal or commercial heat-pump…