Energy audit shows 119-year-old Abbott library is in good shape, but could improve
By Mike Lange
Staff Writer
DEXTER — When Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter was built in 1895, energy consumption probably wasn’t much of a consideration during the construction phase. After all, fuel oil was cheap and plentiful. A barrel of oil on the commodities market that sells for $100 today was 77 cents back then.
Observer photo/Mike Lange
RECAP — Mike Bonney, a certified energy auditor with Penquis, summarizes the results of the energy audit at Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter on Jan. 30.
But after the oil embargo of 1974, energy efficiency became an important factor in everything from automobile engines to refrigerators.
Last week, Abbott Memorial Library underwent a comprehensive energy audit, thanks to Penquis and the Dexter-Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT), a non-profit group that’s trying to steer people toward a more sustainable lifestyle that doesn’t depend on fossil fuels.
Mike Bonney, a certified energy auditor with Penquis, said the Abbott Memorial Library was in “much better shape than we expected. This is a classic building, so you want to take great care in preserving its beauty.”
Bonney and Randy Bridges, another energy auditor from Penquis, inspected the premises literally from top to bottom accompanied by a handful of onlookers. To preserve the integrity of the audit, no one was admitted to the library after work began so cold air wouldn’t penetrate the building, or warm air escape from it.
Observer photo/Mike Lange
A LITTLE LEAKAGE — Even sealed fireplaces, like this one in the children’s room at Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter, can allow cold air to infiltrate a building at times.
Bonney and Bridges first looked for gaps in insulation and heating. He and Bridges installed a big fan on the basement entrance door which blew air out of the building so that any small gaps in the exterior walls or ceiling (such as around poorly-sealed windows or chimneys) could be easily detected.
Librarian Liz Breault said that the basement was insulated during a renovation project in 1984-85. “But there are areas of the library that definitely need attention. This has been an eye-opener,” Breault said.
The inspectors then used an infrared camera to “look” into a wall or ceiling and determine where heat was retained by good insulation and where it’s escaping, which is something impossible for the human eye to do.
Some of the more adventurous guests climbed a ladder into the spacious attic with Bridges and Bonney as they checked the ceiling insulation levels. The attic is used to store old furniture and part of the library’s original card catalogue.
The auditors also inspected the “chimney bypass” from the closed-off fireplace in the children’s library. Bonney explained that if a chimney goes through the ceiling and is not tightly sealed off with sheet metal, cold air can still infiltrate the building. “A lot of dampers on these fireplaces are also loose,” Bonney said.
Breault gave Bonney the heating oil and electricity data over the last seven years to provide a good annual average of the building’s energy use. Last year, the library used 1,800 gallons of fuel oil, and Bonney said that this figure can be cut down significantly.
Breault conceded that it’s nearly impossible to insulate every corner of the building, such as the interior walls. “But during the recent cold and windy days we’ve had, you can put your hand around the window casings and feel a draft,” said the librarian. “So there are some things I hope we’ll look at.”
A full report on the inspection will be complete within a week or 10 days and forwarded to the library’s board of trustees. “We’ll need to make an investment,” Breault said, “but I think it will be well worth it and it will pay off in the long run.”
(DDATT President Sam Brown also contributed to this article.)