The Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) at VEIC has launched a web-based tool for tracking the advancement of modern wood heating throughout North America. The new searchable database houses extensive information on community-scale modern wood heating and combined heat and power systems across the U.S. and Canada, as well as an archive of links to case studies. Some examples of community-scale facilities include schools, campuses, hospitals, prisons, community district heat, multi-family or senior housing, government buildings and complexes, commercial or office buildings, and farms and greenhouses.

The database was originally created with funding from the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the US Department of Energy through the support of Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. It is meant to be an interactive tool that collects information on a continuing basis. This resource will provide stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds with a better understanding of the current demand for wood fuels as an energy source and the success of modern wood heating projects throughout North America. BERC’s database is intended to be complementary to the larger Wood2Energy database that covers a broad spectrum of biomass energy facilities, including wood products manufacturing facilities and biomass power plants.

The database already contains more than 500 entries; however there may be projects that BERC is not aware of and have not been entered. To ensure that this publicly available resource is complete and representative of the state of biomass heat throughout North America, BERC is asking for public participation. As people add new entries for facilities that are missing, and edit existing entries that are incomplete, the database will continue to grow and improve. BERC is committed to building this database and maintaining it over time so that it becomes and remains a useful and reliable tool.

Learn more about using and contributing to the database.