Wood-Chip Heating Systems - Biomass Energy Resource Center

Green Acres, Barre, Vermont
Facility Type: 50-unit public
housing development
System Size: 2.2 MMBH
Manufacturer: Messersmith
Manufacturing
Bottom photo shows the
maintenance building,
which houses the boiler
plant for 8 buildings of
family rental apartments.
The district heating
system supplies heat in the
winter and domestic hot
water year-round.
the content of the performance spec. In the process of
talking to prospective bidders and looking at examples
of their systems, the owner or the consultant may
pick up new ideas that can be incorporated into the
performance spec. These ideas may be proprietary, in
which case they would not be written into the spec and
would strengthen the proposal of the manufacturer
who owns them.
One variation on these approaches to system
selection is to write the job specifi cations based on
one manufacturer’s system. If a single supplier is
preselected in this way, the owner should be clear about
the reason for the preselection. Using a spec based on
one manufacturer’s equipment makes it impossible
for other manufacturers to have a fair chance to bid,
reduces price competition, and limits the owner’s
options.
Whether the bid process in formal or informal, the
owner should consider carefully the extent to which
the selection decision is based on vendor marketing.
It is important to give the competing vendors the
opportunity to make marketing or sales presentations
on their products, but it is also important to
build in objective criteria that prevent the owner from
selecting a system based on the strengths of a vendor’s
marketing approach.
Selecting a Wood-Chip System: Assessing
Bid Forms to Make the Selection
It is best to solicit written bids by using a bid form.
The bid form is structured to collect information and
cover all the important areas of concern to the owner.
WOOD CHIP HEATING SYSTEMS
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