Nova Scotia Issues Tender to Convert Five Public Buildings to Wood Heat

The Nova Scotia government has issued a tender for the conversion of five public buildings to wood-heat systems. The sites named in the tender are the Nova Scotia Community College’s Kingstec campus, Roseway Hospital in Shelburne, Digby General Hospital, Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Middleton, and St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish.

Under the tender, successful bidders will design, build, own, operate and maintain each system for a 20-year term. Each site will be awarded as a separate contract, and bidders will also procure the wood fuel. The documents state that 100 per cent of the lower-grade primary wood fuel must be harvested within Nova Scotia, with an expected focus on small private woodlots.

Zwicker, board member of Forest Nova Scotia and COO at Harry Freeman and Son, said the plan offers benefits to contractors and woodlot owners. Wood heat is cheaper and more efficient than fuel oil, and the systems must displace at least 90 per cent of the oil currently used at each site, Zwicker stated.

Public Works Minister Fred Tilley told reporters Thursday that the province has committed to converting as many buildings as possible to wood heat. The tender closes June 24.