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Upper Valley Community Transit

Bradford, Vermont

The new Upper Valley Community Transportation Center is a net-zero, fossil-free facility, located at the Bradford Park and Ride, on Interstate 91.  It includes a bus wash with rainwater harvesting, bus drive-through storage bays for up to eight 36’ buses, and administrative space for drivers and staff.  The facility is designed for future conversion of two bus storage bays to bus maintenance, and has room for future growth on the site as the need for public transportation in the area increases.  The wood-pellet-fueled radiant slab in the bus storage bays keep buses above freezing between routes, while air source heat pumps warm or cool the administrative space.  Using both rooftop and ground-mounted solar arrays, the facility produces more than twice the electricity it currently uses, with excess electricity helping to power other TVT locations.  In the near future, this excess power will be used for charging electric buses.  Replacing the pellet boilers with an air-to-water heat pump, powered by the solar array, would make the facility net zero for energy.  This option was studied and recommended but could not be implemented due to federal funding guidelines, as no domestic manufacturer could be identified for the heat pump.  Low embodied carbon materials were selected wherever possible, within the limitations of the budget.  Some choices that were made include wood framing in the office wing, instead of steel, and polished concrete floors instead of carpet.

 

Project Team

Civil Engineer: Otter Creek Engineering

Structural Engineer: Engineering Ventures

Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineer: Engineering Services of Vermont

General Contractor: E.F. Wall

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