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The Canaday Family Charitable Trust recently announced a two-year, $204,950 grant to fund projects that will enhance the energy efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency of the Bridgewater Area Community Center (BACC) and Bridgewater Community Childcare (BCC).
After six years of transforming the historic Bridgewater Schoolhouse into a community center and childcare center licensed for 45 children, the Bridgewater Area Community Foundation (BACF) is now implementing the critical steps to make the entire building sustainable and resilient. The project includes adding solar energy, maximizing heat pumps, and installing two highly efficient furnaces and electric water heaters. Installing a backup generator and battery (electricity) storage capacity will help achieve resiliency and critical emergency preparedness. The sustainable upgrades to the heating, hot water, and electrical systems alone will reduce the use of fossil fuels, lower heating costs (currently $14,000/year), reduce air pollutants children are exposed to, and cut the building’s greenhouse gas emissions by some 11 tons of CO2 per year.
BACF will oversee the project, which will build upon previously completed work that made the center energy-efficient, which was spearheaded by Sustainable Woodstock and supported in 2020 by a $77,000 grant from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust. The already completed components include the installation of air sealing and insulation in the walls and ceilings throughout the building, meticulous restoration and energy-efficient upgrades to historic schoolhouse windows, installation of energy recovery ventilation (ERV) with heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC) and individual heat pumps with related controls to regulate the climate in each childcare classroom.
The new 2024-2025 Canaday-funded projects will further reduce fossil fuel use, decrease demand for energy consumption, generate renewable solar energy, and transform the center into Bridgewater’s emergency shelter. The project will also cut early child exposure to air pollution, fight climate change, and moderate the operating budget of childcare.
Michael Caduto, who represents Sustainable Woodstock on the BACF board of directors, will serve as project co-director for the energy projects with President Brian Bontrager and Vice President Charlie Shackleton.
In August/Sept. 2023, the Bridgewater Community Childcare extended into three classrooms. It will expand again later this year with a fourth classroom and space for afterschool programming, in addition to the construction of several community program-based rooms and rental spaces. With these expansions, annual electricity usage will increase proportionately.
Solar generation will offset most of the center’s electricity consumption (19,778 kWh in 2003), saving more than $6,000/year.
The addition of solar electricity generation, combined with energy-efficiency enhancements, will decrease the center’s greenhouse gas emissions by some 57 tons/year, significantly lowering the building’s carbon footprint. This footprint is equivalent to the carbon emissions produced by driving an average automobile six times around the Equator (150,000 miles). The building’s Earth-friendly systems will also present a role model and on-site teaching tool for the childcare and program educators.
The Bridgewater Area Community Center and Bridgewater Community Childcare will have independent electrical power sources and backup systems to create a resilient emergency shelter that will meet peak power demand during extended power outages. When completed, the emergency shelter will provide heat, shelter, water, food for community members during future floods, power failures, and other emergencies, and a stable environment for children attending childcare. The existing kitchen will also be revitalized for the emergency shelter and center programming.
Project details, 2024
- Replace the oil-fired hot water heater with two electrical water heaters that will run on solar power.
- Make existing heat pumps the primary source of heating and cooling and replace the center’s oil-fired boiler with two 98%-efficient propane furnaces to serve as backup to the heat pumps when ambient temperature drops below 20°F.
- Install system controls to prioritize using energy-efficient heat pumps for cooling and heating in ambient temperatures down to 20°F.
- Install a robust 55.5kWh battery backup electrical storage system to augment electrical power and serve as an electricity reserve during short-term power outages.
- Install an 80kW generator to power the entire center and emergency shelter during long-term power outages.
Project details, 2025
- Install a 21.34 kW ground-mounted solar array that will produce renewable electricity to service the center.
