The Ohio Florist Association Short Course is the biggest greenhouse industry trade show in America, so it was with a fair amount of excitement that we set up the Thayer booth and unveiled our intentions of providing heating solutions to commercial growers and industry partners.

The show gathers businesses that supply commercial greenhouses, as well as retail growers looking for new varieties of plants and academics interested in new technologies being offered. It’s a great cross-section of networking opportunities, and gave us a good chance to develop relationships with commercial growers as well as other suppliers who might become partners.

Thayer Corp has core strength in designing and installing HVAC systems using traditional fuels, so this was a great opportunity to develop leads and make contacts. We’re excited by the prospect of applying our expertise in fossil fuel systems to the commercial greenhouse industry. We create biomass systems as well, which was the biggest surprise of the show: the interest in biomass. In general, the greenhouse industry has not been a big consumer of biomass systems, so we were a little surprised that so many folks were interested in our biomass offerings. We think it’s a reflection of the “greening” of the industry as well as increased efficiency in biomass systems. In the Northeast, biomass systems usually burn wood chips and pellets, but it other parts of the country, the fuel might be hay, switch grass, even barn waste. It makes for very efficient and localized fuel use, which is often a cost savings. We’re glad Thayer Corp can be a resource for biomass information too.

The end result of our long weekend in Ohio has been some great new contacts, several solid sales leads, and a good introduction for Thayer Corp to a new industry.

Heather Blease, Terry Russell and I are heading off today for the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio. (The Ohio Florist Association’s trade show is one of the biggest in the nation.) We’ll be at Booth 1350, ready to show off Thayer Corp.’s heating solutions for commercial greenhouses. We’re also offering  a raffle for a Maine lobster dinner for two, shipped to your door, so stop by and see us if you’re at the OFA Short Course.

It’s the first time we’ve sent a team out to talk about our greenhouse heating options. Of course, there are lots of variables by grower, so solutions are tailored to the fuel needs, environment challenges and growth requirements of each operation.

I’m excited, because Thayer is a leader in biomass boilers, and we have 30 years experience in engineering heating systems. Biofuels, including fuel crops like straw, switch grass, miscanthus, dried corn and agricultural waste, as well as the wood pellets and chips we’re more used to in the Northeast, can be a very cost efficient way to produce heat in a commercial application. With our experience in natural gas/propane and fuel oil installations, we’re very well versed in the criteria and parameters of cost-effective, low-maintenance systems.

In fact, with our experience in biomass at any scale, renewable and traditional fuels, and 24/7 support, we expect to offer a lot of value to an industry that is very tuned in to fuel efficiency and reliability.

Our modular boiler room should also generate a lot of interest at OFA. It’s a containerized solution, a real turn-key product. All you have to do is connect the power and plumbing and you have a heating system ready to operate in your commercial greenhouse. And since we have in-house fabrication, modular units are customized to each application.

Expert engineering, experience in all heating systems, and great customer service—we’re all set to introduce Thayer Corporation’s commercial greenhouse solutions, and have fun doing it.

Like many of you I grew up with the innocent “don’t let the bed bugs bite” mantra before being sent off to bed as a kid. Heck, we all knew there were no more likely “Bed Bugs” than monsters under the bed. Or did we?

Bed bug infestation in the United States is increasing at an alarming rate, especially in the Northeast. Some pest management firms have reported more than a 10-fold increase in bed bug treatments in recent years.

Why? A number of theories exist:

• the rise of international travel
• recycling of furniture
• the ban of some of the more potent insecticides such as organophosphates and carbamates

bed bug bites can cause allergic reactions

Identification of infestation can occur in several ways. Common signs include blood spotting on bedding and a characteristic sickishly sweet odor. Certainly allergic reactions to bug bites are a sign hard to ignore. The insects are very good a flattening their bodies and can be very difficult to find because they can run very quickly. Pest control professionals are usually required to make positive identification and speciation. They use physical inspection which is relatively difficult compared to the use of canines. Yes canines (dogs)! These specially trained dogs are very good at identification, especially useful in larger buildings such as dormitories and hotels, since they can identify infested rooms individually to avoid overtreating the entire building.

Remediation historically used a variety of insecticides but a new method is becoming increasingly popular: thermal remediation.

Thermal remediation consists of warming the interior of the house and/or infested furnishings and contents to approximately 135 deg F for a period of approximately five to six hours. During this heating process the interior temperatures are monitored and logged continuously to assure a thorough kill. Room heaters powered by either a remotely connected electric generator or gas-fired heaters are typically used to generate the heat in various sections of the building and supplemented with high velocity circulating fans to homogenize the temperature. The goal is for all contents that could harbor bugs and/or eggs to reach the desired temperature for the bake out period. Sometimes, especially in hotels or dormitories, the contents of the room are removed and placed in a large box truck outdoors equipped with a high-powered heating system. This is easier than “cooking” the room depending upon the number and size of the infested rooms.

This is where Thayer Corporation comes in. As experts in the field of heating, cooling and ventilation, we were consulted to offer methods of improving this heating process.  We have already identified several improvements to the process and are currently working on even more comprehensive enhancements.

Thermal Remediation has several advantages over traditional methods. While use of chemicals remains the most popular method, it requires a significant quantity of insecticide and it may be necessary to perform multiple applications as well over a period of time. It isn’t unusual for applicators to dismantle furniture in order to get the chemical to all bugs and egg laying places. The chemical approach requires the applicators be licensed and well trained.

Vacuuming and steaming is yet another method of remediation. The affected areas are both steamed to kill the bugs and eggs and removed with HEPA vacuums. This method isn’t as effective as other methods since the critters are very good at hiding in the smallest cracks and crevices. The other concern with the method is the potential damage may have to furnishings and the wetting that can lead to mold and/or microbial growth.

And since we’re a company working with many alternative energy sources, let me add that sometimes clothing and smaller furnishings can be removed to the outdoors, bagged in black plastic bags and allowed to bake in the sun.

Regardless of the method(s) used to remediate an infested space the most important thing to remember is that the process is only as good as the weakest link. The kill must be thorough or the space will soon become reinfested.

So the next time you send the kids off to bed a loving “good night, sleep well” might suffice.

We recently learned that the rig being used to drill the two relief wells is the new Development Driller Three (DDIII) owned by TransOcean. This rig was just brought to the gulf from the shipyard in Asia and represents the absolute latest in drilling capacity and technology. We recently completed projects on the sister rigs DDI and DDII. We currently have a project on DDI that has been delayed not surprisingly. The ductwork has all been fabricated and the equipment received. The project is fully staged and loaded into shipping containers here at our plant. We were ready to deploy our skilled crews until the recent work delay. Those of us who have been out on the rigs all have been through a compulsory three-day safety training program including specific training on the type of disaster that just occured. We are all amazed that this could have happened. I personally have been in hundreds of industrial plants and environments yet never any with the focus and work-safe discipline as these offshore rigs. It will be interesting to wait for the results of the investigation. Meanwhile…drill on DDIII and godspeed.

Can solar be an efficient alternative energy in Maine? Absolutely, when you are using it for the right application and viewing it as a long-term investment.

In Maine, that generally means using solar thermal, a system for heating water. It might be potable water for domestic uses, but you could also be using a hydronic system in your swimming pool or for radiant floor heating. The drain back systems Thayer installs routinely provide 140 degree water year round, as long as the sun shines. On sunny days in the winter, that’s 4 or 5 hours of hot water being stored, and longer in the summer. The drain back system means that any time a solar collector on a rooftop or other southern exposure detects a temperature variant of 8 degrees between the collector and the storage tank, water is pumped into the collector and continues heating and circulating until the storage tank reaches an optimum temperature or the sun goes down. When the collector cools, the water drains back into a storage tank and stays there until the collector is exposed to the sun again. There is no water in the panels or outdoor piping if the system is not running.

There are several different solar tank configurations that can be used, with various secondary systems like electric, gas or oil boilers or a gas water heater. Since water in Maine comes out of the ground at approximately 45 degrees summer and winter, even pre-heating the water to 85 degrees before it enters the water heater can afford huge savings on your electric or gas bill.

All solar thermal domestic water installations should have a very good tempering valve installed on the hot water outlet of the storage tank to protect against scalding.

To make a solar thermal water system feasible, you need ample storage and a good southern exposure. The solar panels are angled toward the sun, eliminating issues with snow cover in the winter. Even on overcast days, the solar thermal system gains some heat, though rainy, dark days and night time often mean that the back-up system will be in force.

Other types of solar panels must use glycol (made for solar installations) instead of water as the heat storage medium. These are called closed loop solar thermal systems. One advantage is that you don’t need pitched piping for the drainback, but glycol solutions can lessen the heat transfer value of the solution as much as 34%. This closed loop system is used for both flat plate and evacuated tube systems. Unlike the drain back system which shuts off when the stored water reaches a set heat point, the closed loop system must operate whenever it can make hot water. In order to avoid damaging the system, closed loop systems need a dump zone to divert the excess heat, such as a baseboard in the cellar. To avoid over heating the house most closed systems are usually undersized for year round use.

Photovoltaic systems are a little trickier in Maine. PV systems produce electricity.  PV panels need to be installed flatter than domestic water panels, which means that there may be trouble with snow in the winter, which can be inconvenient. The electric energy generated is stored in a battery and then converted to household current. It’s difficult and expensive to get a battery array and inverter big enough to power the number of electric appliances most people have in their homes, so some applications use PV to send power back into the electrical grid for a credit. This is called net metering. Since most households in Maine are unoccupied during the best solar hours, net metering is a more practical way to go unless somebody wants to go off the grid. While net metering doesn’t equal a household’s 24 hour usage, it can make a significant difference in the electric bill, especially during the cooling season. 

As PV shingles, films and paints become more widespread in the marketplace, PV as an alternative energy source may increase.

Thayer Corporation engineer Jeff Wingate spends a fair amount of his time scoping out old basements and boiler rooms, trying to figure out the engineering that will save Thayer’s customers big bucks by utilizing alternative energy.

For Wingate, it’s all about the building and the space, because the challenge of retrofits depends on the structure of the envelope—the building. When engineers look at replacing an oil boiler with a biomass unit, they generally figure on doubling the space requirements. It’s not that the boiler unit is that much bigger, but the biomass fuel has to auger in from one side, while the ash augers out from the other. Thayer also installs the silo and feeder systems storing the biomass fuel, usually chips or pellets, which have their own space requirements.  While the chips are significantly cheaper, the storage requirements are greater and capital costs greater, so Thayer helps the customer evaluate this trade off. Thayer is already talking with various interested parties about offering other non-woody pelletized fuels (fuel crops), which is an exciting look into the future.

The biomass boilers weigh about 4 tons each, and are built to order with a lead time of 8-12 weeks Thayer uses several European companies, often OkoFEN, Viessmann/KOB of Austria, and Reka from Denmark. The units ship to a local crane operator who has the experience and equipment to move an 8,000 pound unit into place accurately.

Why Europe?  Europe has a history of innovation dating back to World War II, when a bombed-out Europe found oil expensive. When they rebuilt, they rebuilt using modern technology and biomass. Oil was cheap in the United States for decades, and it wasn’t until the Arab boycott that people started installing wood burning appliances in their houses, although there was still nothing available for the commercial/industrial user. When oil reached $4 a gallon, business owners got serious about alternative heating sources in large existing buildings. Based on the biomass experience of a generation in Europe, we feel the best units come from OkoFEN, Viessmann/KOB, and Rika.

Thayer Corporation engineers the system, installs it and often creates ductwork or other pieces. Biomass boilers need to run hard in order to maintain efficiency. When a building uses a biomass boiler for heating and hot water, engineers often add the services of a back-up unit during the few really cold weeks in the winter, because biomass units are sized little under. Providing a back-up heat source for extreme conditions allows the biomass boiler to work at peak efficiency 90% of the time without venting extra heat.

These boilers are fully automatic and do not need much more attention than a large oil boiler.

The White Mountains National Forest headquarters in Campton, NH produces heat with a biomass boiler engineered and installed by Thayer. There is also a biomass electric generator providing electricity for the whole complex that Thayer helped install. It’s a great example of alternative fuel use in a public space, and it’s open for tours.

Recently, Heather Blease became an advocate for clean energy legislation on behalf of Thayer Corporation and Savi Systems. She traveled with a group of Mainers to Washington to ask our senators to finish what they started, and move forward on comprehensive policies supporting clean energy in America.

Right before they arrived in Washington, the Senate was expected to unveil a comprehensive clean energy and climate proposal. Unfortunately, a partisan dispute has led to a delay in its introduction. The group urged our leaders to move forward now. Every day the Senate fails to act on comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation is another day when millions of American jobs aren’t created, our country becomes less secure due to our overreliance on foreign oil, and our planet becomes more polluted because of harmful fossil fuels — while other countries leap ahead in this race for our clean energy future.

In a time when so many of us are out of work, our economic problems are in plain sight. At the same time, our country is facing an energy crisis — one that threatens our economic recovery if we don’t solve it.

Today, America spends about a billion dollars a day buying oil from abroad. That’s about $42 million every hour, $694,000 every minute and $12,000 every second — and it’s money we could be investing in our communities.

The path forward is to invest in clean, renewable sources of energy that can create millions of new jobs and make our country more secure. Clean energy is our future ― it’s one of America’s fastest growing job sectors. With comprehensive policies to build a clean energy economy, we can create new jobs in all 50 states and up to 1.9 million jobs nationwide.

Maine is an energy rich state poised to take full advantage of federal clean energy and efficiency initiatives. By investing in technologies already in existence, Maine can harness our vast clean energy potential, reinvigorate our manufacturing sector, and create thousands of good paying jobs in Maine. We can build the components required for wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and tidal projects right here, instead of outsourcing those jobs overseas to China, India or Europe.

We know that Maine has the oldest housing stock in the country and that our houses are predominantly heated with oil. Comprehensive efficiency programs can create the jobs in Maine required to retrofit our homes, and save Maine families thousands of dollars per year in heating costs. Overall, the Center for American Progress projects that 10,000 jobs in Maine can be created through the passage of comprehensive federal reforms.

So it’s time to end the delays. Maine needs action from our leaders in Washington on a bold, comprehensive energy policy. This should include a limit on carbon from dirty energy sources, which can help make clean energy profitable. A cap on carbon will level the playing field and signal that clean energy is a safe, long-term investment. Clean energy businesses can expand, entrepreneurs can innovate,  and we can invest that money here at home on clean energy technologies that will make us more secure.

Now it’s time for our leaders to finish what they started, and introduce their comprehensive clean energy and climate proposal.

Ozone generators are devices that produce ozone from oxygen. Ozone, an air pollutant that has harmful effects on our respiratory system, is present at low levels in the earth’s atmosphere. Ozone generators have been in the news lately because several companies have claimed that ozone can treat diseases, and have manufactured and sold ozone generators for medical purposes.

The Food and Drug Administration seized ozone generators from Applied Ozone Systems of Auburn, California, a few months ago, saying that the devices posed a public health hazard. AOS was claiming cures for cancer and respiratory disorders, and the FDA was concerned that buyers might self-treat instead of seeking qualified medical information. There is no medical evidence that ozone generators cure disease.

In fact, companies have sold ozone generators as air purifiers for years. The EPA has developed a document on ozone generators that starts with this paragraph:

“Ozone generators that are sold as air cleaners intentionally produce the gas ozone. Often the vendors of ozone generators make statements and distribute material that lead the public to believe that these devices are always safe and effective in controlling indoor air pollution. For almost a century, health professionals have refuted these claims (Sawyer, et. al 1913; Salls, 1927; Boeniger, 1995; American Lung Association, 1997; Al-Ahmady, 1997).”

Why else do people buy ozone generators? Advertisers claim they kill odors, and destroy mold, mildew and bacteria. But we know that mold and mildew grow in damp conditions, so unless you get rid of water problems, clean the area completely, and control humidity, you’ll still have mold and mildew, plus unhealthy levels of ozone! Given that we regularly follow ozone levels on the weather report (especially in the summer) and we’re told not to exercise outside when ozone levels are high, it seems a little counter-intuitive to buy an ozone generator as an air purifier. According to the EPA, relatively low amounts of ozone can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and throat irritation.

If you’re concerned about indoor air quality, read through the EPA’s material. Then give us a call if you want further information about HEPA filters, dehumidifiers and air conditioners.

In conversation today it dawned on me that this volcanic cloud problem, jet airplanes and certain biomass boilers have something in common. Really!

If you’re wondering why planes can’t fly through volcanic clouds, it’s not just a matter of vision or air quality for the pilot and crews. The risk of jet engines ingesting volcanic ash is that the abrasive, mineral rich ash turns to a glass-like substance in the heat of the engine. The material becomes obsidian. Obviously this causes immediate engine failure. This process is called sintering.

Biomass boilers that don’t precisely control fuel quality and the combustion process experience the same sintering process. While these boilers don’t carry hundreds of passengers and fall from the sky, the sintering fouls the boiler and creates a very expensive mess. The minerals typically come from contaminated fuel sand, gravel and mud on the woodchips and chips used to make pellet. Minerals can also get into the biomass fuel in less understood ways via the species and quality of the feedstock.

Wood fuel quality assurance has generated international interest as renewable energy sources become more economically feasible. Here in Maine, we considered a wood pellet labeling bill last year which would have required wood pellet manufacturers to label their product as a way to provide quality assurance for consumers. The bill would require wood pellets and other biomass heating fuel sold in Maine to be labeled, identifying whether the fuel meets state Department of Environmental Protection standards. The legislation would also require the environmental protection department to create standards for wood pellet quality, but it failed to move through the legislative process.

Perhaps interest in the bill will be renewed, since Federal officials announced funding of up to $150 million dollars over the next year to boost Maine’s biomass industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program will essentially double the income of Maine loggers and aggregators who provide wood materials to facilities that turn them into energy.

Assuring quality of your biomass fuel supply and regular maintenance of your boiler and system are your best bets for avoiding sintering issues that compromise your heating system.

A study released last week by the National Wildlife Federation and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation warns that allergic reactions may be on the rise as more highly allergic tree species spread, the result of changing weather patterns.

Maine (along with New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) was tagged as a “hot spot” state at risk of high increases in allergenic tree pollen from species like oak and hickory.

Massachusetts is at moderate risk. An article in the Portland Press Herald about the study confirmed what many of us already know: it’s going to be an early and long allergy season.

While the study blames global warming for the spread in allergens, which has created debate, there’s no arguing with the documented increase in ER room visits by sufferers, earlier bloom of allergy-causing flora, or spread of tree and plant species.

Our early pollen in Maine can be attributed to a wet and mild March and a warm and beautiful start to April. The first 13 days have averaged nearly 10 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service.

Our warm spring means an early spring. The weather that stopped the sap from running and created havoc in the maple syrup industry has also caused maple trees to start budding earlier. Tree pollen levels are unusually high for April, especially maple, cedar and alder. Pine blooms later in the spring, causing another rash of allergy outbreaks.

If your family members or coworkers suffer from allergies, there are simple steps that might help. Of course, your family doc or your allergist will have more detailed information, and you can find allergy information at sites like the Weather Channel.

• Keep windows shut
• Use HEPA filters in vacuums
• Dust work and furniture surfaces with a tacky cloth
• Make sure your filters are clean in room air conditioners, or that maintenance is up-to-date on commercial systems
• Use your car and house air conditioners, even without cooling, to filter the air
• Change clothes when you come in from working in the yard
• Shower before going to bed to wash off pollen
• Try to time outdoor activity for after rain, when pollen counts are lowest

HVAC system maintenance is a specialty at Thayer Corps, and we get frequent questions about mold and allergies. Give us a call if we can help (207)782-4197.