The applicant is requesting that the definition of renewable energy sources be modified to include all clean urban wood waste, invasive species, habitat restoration programs, clean industrial wood waste (pallets), and tree tops left over from logging operations as a renewable sources of energy for this project. The wood, which the applicant claims would otherwise be diverted to a landfill or burned in piles, is collected from local municipals. The collected wood is then used by the District Energy plant, which includes a Combined Heat and Power plant that is fueled mostly by wood waste.The project may expand the definition of renewables to include tree slashings, invasive species, clean urban wood waste, habitat restoration programs, tree tops left over from logging operations and related clean wood processing with the following additional requirements:
1. The wood must be harvested within twenty-five miles of the CHP plant. Note that LEED Interpretations #2591 and #5332 both require that the project be contiguous to the location where the wood is harvested, so this ruling is considered to be less stringent than previous LEED Interpretations regarding this issue.
2. The district energy owner must either own the rights to the wood; or the district energy provider must have a ten-year contract for the rights to the wood. Note that LEED Interpretations #2591 and #5332 both require that the project team own the wood source, so this ruling is considered to be less stringent than previous LEED Interpretations regarding this issue. Evidence of ownership or a contract with the owner of the wood should be submitted as part of the LEED submittal.
3. Additional documentation should be provided to document that the wood would otherwise be diverted to landfill or directly burned.
4. Information should be provided documenting the air quality measures that will be implemented to limit the particulate and greenhouse gas emissions for the wood-burning Combined Heat and Power plant to be less than or equal to those for a coal-fired plant with similar generation and thermal energy capacities.