Kate Stephenson's Page

Hi all,
In case you missed the opportunity in the fall to have a volunteer come to your home for a free energy efficiency assessment, here's your second chance! We still have some products left from the VCEM/Montpelier Energy Team project, and they are free to those in the Montpelier area who need them and can put them to good use in their homes.

These products include:

15W compact fluorescents (60W equivalent)
26W compact fluorescents (100W equivalent)
33W Earthmate 3-way compact fluorescents… Continue

I thought some folks might be interested in this upcoming talk at Norwich U-- more urban focused than rural, but still an interesting concept.

Lecturer: Dickson Despommier
Title: The Vertical Farm
When: Wednesday, April 1 at 1pm
Where: Chaplin Hall Gallery
Wesbsite: http://www.verticalfarm.com/

From Mr. Despommier’s ‘Vertical Farm’: “It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning… Continue

Interested in a permaculture design for your property, but don't have time to come take Yestermorrow's 2-week Permaculture Design Certification course? Here's a great opportunity for you... one of the students in the upcoming class (who also happens to be a Yestermorrow stone masonry instructor) is looking for a project to focus on in our upcoming April Permaculture class.

Dan Bermingham owns a small landscaping company in Huntington, VT focused on organic landcare, stonework, and permaculture… Continue

Hi all,

We're putting the word out to Montpelier residents about the Vermont Community Energy Mobilization project... and I wondered if you might want an energy visit for your home-- or know someone else who does. This is a neighbor-to-neighbor project to achieve reductions in home energy use and increase awareness of home energy savings opportunities and resources.

If you sign up for a free 1-hour home energy visit, a volunteer will do a walk-through of your house with you, and install free e… Continue

A quick update on new initiatives available through the 2009 Economic Recovery Bill recently signed by President Obama (thanks to Enterprise Community Partners for sharing this summary). "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides unprecedented funding for building energy retrofits...The bill extends the current law tax credit for improvements to energy-efficient existing homes through 2010. For 2009 and 2010, the bill will increase the amount of tax credit to thirty percent of… Continue