A Windhanger wood chip Bio Mass Boiler at Norbury Park Estate, Staffordshire, will be heating the Environmental Training Centre (ETC) this autumn and winter, keeping students warm as they train to become tree surgeons at a new facility offering high quality arboricultural training with an indoor tree!
The 60kW system will deliver cost effective carbon neutral heating for the purpose-built classrooms, a fully equipped workshop, the barn housing an indoor training tree and the Shelmore Timber show room also located on the estate. Qualifying for the Renewable Heat Incentive also ensures that the system will deliver a return on investment for the estate within 10 years and will then provide an income until 2039.
The wood chip fuelling the biomass boiler is created as part of the woodland management and timber process making the heat produced totally carbon neutral. A 9kW roof-mounted Solar PV installation, also installed by Geo Green Power, makes the purpose-built facility even greener and almost entirely self-sufficient for energy.
Estate Manager, John Braithwaite said: “Since 2009 the Norbury Park Estate has focused on sustainability and forest resilience. The forest is managed to maximise carbon storage, and we harvest only when necessary and remove material that will generate healthier woodland.
“When we looked at how we were going to convert the existing Dutch Barn and Cowshed into this training facility it was very important that it was done in the most sustainable and environmentally aware manner. Partnering with Geo Green Power to specify and install our system made that happen.”
The Environmental Training Centre delivers courses including tree climbing and aerial rescue, chainsaw maintenance, felling and cross-cutting, pesticides, rigging and CPD.
Rob Keyzor, director of The Environmental Training Centre and Rob Keyzor Tree Surgeons and Arboricultural Consultants, said: "There has been a gap in the arboricultural industry for high quality training for some time now and we aim to fill that gap by providing arboricultural courses and forestry and land-based training to the highest standard.
“We are delighted by the new facilities that we have been able to provide for our students at the Norbury Park Estate and hope that this is the start of a long and successful partnership between our two organisations.”
Find out more about the Environment Training Centre at www.etctrees.com