Paige Radcliffe interviewed Dr. Sonja Birthisel with the No Coal No Gas Campaign, which is working to shut down the Merrimack Generating Station (last coal-fired power plant in New England without a shutdown date) in Bow, NH. 

Carolyn Nevin interviewed Steve Davis and Ashley Andreas from Vermod Homes.

Anna Rose Marion and Kai Parlett who did the “call to action” are with the 350NH Youth Organizing Team.

Peg Breault and Jennifer did the “host chat” with Carolyn Nevin.

Carolyn, Peg and Paige are with the 350NH Outreach Team.

The two musical breaks were Black Lung by the Dead South, and Here Comes the Sun by Bon Jovi.

The post State House Watch appeared first on Vermod.

The post Vermod Home Wins 2020 Housing Innovation Award from US Dept of Energy appeared first on Vermod.

Vermod was bestowed the 2020 Best of the Best Innovation Award for a 700-square foot home in White River Junction. The two-bedroom home features an innovative two-box “T” configuration.

The home includes all Vermod’s standard high-performance features including LED lighting, triple paned windows, and energy efficient appliances and heat pump technology. With these construction methods this very small home takes very little energy for heating and cooling making it affordable for the long-term.

“We are thrilled and honored to win the Best of the Best Innovation Award,” said Kristen Connors, General Manager of Vermod. “We are so proud of our team for not letting building site challenges stand in the way and for meeting the overall mission of our company: building another high quality, affordable, and zero-energy modular home for a Vermonter.

Due to restrictions of the building site we worked with the homeowner to create a small, uniquely shaped home that could operate on very minimal energy consumption with limited solar access. With innovation, partnership and determination we successfully managed to build a home without disrupting existing drainage and grade, allowed for a roof design that placed solar in the most optimal position and kept costs low for a tight, affordable housing budget.”

In addition to the energy benefits, the home also enjoys ideal access to public transportation, amenities, and community spaces, and was built with an innovative landscape and house design on a small budget. The home is designed for aging in place and the landscape design has led to the property becoming a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

“This home has a special ingredient: it came about because people collaborated to make it happen,” said homeowner Judith Engle. Vermod worked with commitment and skill, kindness and caring with the Twin Pines Housing Trust and USDA. They communicated with each other seamlessly to solve problems and address obstacles. Far above and beyond any normal job description.”

Vermod designs and builds affordable zero energy modular homes to meet the highest standards of durability, energy efficiency, comfort and indoor air quality. Following Tropical Storm Irene which disproportionately affected mobile home residents, the High Meadows Fund, VHCB and Efficiency Vermont formed the Modular Housing Innovation Project. Vermod was born out of this effort.

Today, Vermod has set over 100 zero-energy modular homes around the state and employs 20 Upper Valley residents. Partnering with Efficiency Vermont’s Zero Energy Modular (ZEM) Program, Vermod continues to provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income Vermonters with a special focus on replacing mobile/manufactured homes with ZEM.

Better Buildings by Design is the region’s premier design and construction conference, which features interactive learning about building durability, efficiency, and value for both residential and commercial projects.

This annual not-for-profit conference sponsored by Efficiency Vermont brings together top talent in building technology and design from across the country, and helps keep Vermont-area professionals at the forefront of their fields.

Source:
vermontbiz.com / South Burlington, VT / February 2020

The post Vermod’s Zero-Energy, Affordable Modular Home wins Best of the Best Award appeared first on Vermod.

Leading the effort was Steven Davis, Vermod owner, a local builder with an energy-efficient construction background.“The pilot program moved along very quickly. The concept of replacing traditional mobile homes with energy efficient modular homes really appealed to people. It all took off without doing any real advertising. So much was word of mouth,” said Kristen Connors, Vermod General Manager and Davis’ niece.

As a result of the pilot program’s success Vermod was born. The company set up shop in an old maintenance garage on Maple Street in Wilder, a village in Windsor County just north of White River Jct on the Connecticut River.

From top left: Kristen Connors, Vermod General Manager; Richard Broughton; Donald Hufault; Steven Davis, Vermod Owner, and Kristen Connors; A Vermod zero-energy ready home.

Vermod quickly outgrew that space and moved to its current location on Route 5 in 2015.

The company along with its 16 employees builds a variety of modular homes. They range anywhere in size from 14 feet by 40 feet to 14 feet by 72 feet and can be built wider should the owner choose.

The homes layouts have changed as well. Originally the homes were one box, but then Vermod started designing homes with two boxes side by side and then homes that are side by side with a third box on top.

“Steven is more of the creator. He comes up with the concepts and the exterior design. Much of what we do and learn is thanks to research and development. Many people don’t understand that what we may have been doing last year is not what we are doing this year because we are always finding new ways to improve our product. It is kind of like a car manufacturer. Last year’s 2019 model is probably not going to be exactly like the 2020 model,” said Connors.

The company works to provide net-zero ready homes by densely packing each home with insulation, mounting solar panels on the roofs and installing efficient heat pumps.

“Because the homes have so many energy efficient features, it takes longer to build a Vermod home than a traditional manufactured or modular home. Most of the time the energy-efficient systems we install are more complex and can cost more than a traditional modular home.”

The energy-efficient systems they install perform remarkably well, but there is a high-level of maintenance that comes along with owning a Vermod home.

“In the beginning I think we may have missed the boat a bit educating and training homeowners. With all our homes the performance is there, but when maintenance is not conducted regularly there can be some setbacks and we are working with homeowners on how to maintain their homes.

As the company grew hiring more employees and building more homes, Connors said each day could be hectic. 

“You are trying to run a business that is growing so fast and you are trying to do all sorts of things all at once. Suddenly I’d look at the clock and say ‘Wow! It’s already 5 o’clock,’” she said.

In 2019 Connors heard about the Small Business Administration’s Emerging Leaders Program, a free executive-level training program for entrepreneurs wanting to expand their small businesses.

“We were creating a great product, but there was a lot of organizing that needed to be done. We were growing so much it can often be hard to make sure you are always checking off your boxes, so I thought I could really benefit from this class,” she said.

During the seven-month course, the 20 students selected for the program meet once every two weeks at Vermont Technical College in Williston to work with their instructor and a network of industry experts to create a three-year strategic growth plan.

“It was great to sit in a room with people who are experiencing the same issues as me. At first you think it’s going to be difficult to get away from work, but a big part of the class is to learn to step away, examine your business, come up with solutions and implement them” said Connors.

When the opportunity came, Connors decided to look at Vermod from top to bottom.

“I dug thru the entire business. From the web site to the production schedule. I broke it down into 16 areas and looked at ways to improve each area. A few of the things we did was to create a training manual for our employees, which has everything they need to know about Vermod,  implemented a plan to better educate our customers about Vermod homes and rearranged much of the front office space to improve administration functions,” Connors said.

Soon Vermod will finish its 100th home and start building its 101st. As much as Connors says she wants the company to grow, Vermod’s mission is to continue to build an affordable energy-efficient home one at a time.

Source:
Danny Monahan, Small Business Administration
vermontbiz.com / South Burlington, VT / January 2020

The post Wilder Company and Irene Rebuilder Reaches Milestone appeared first on Vermod.

The post Vermod presents at Tiny House Fest Hosted by Yestermorrow Design Build School appeared first on Vermod.

Source:
Lucy Wang / Dwell Magazine / November 2019

View full article:
https://www.dwell.com/article/prefab-homes-new-england-cfdfaf2b

The post Vermod Featured in Dwell Magazine appeared first on Vermod.

The post Vermod Home Owners Win NH Net-Zero Homes Award appeared first on Vermod.

The post John and Anne’s Story appeared first on Vermod.

The post Vermod: Proud Partner to Efficiency Vermont Zero Energy Modular Program appeared first on Vermod.

The big excitement on Bethel’s North Main Street yesterday was the installation of Scott and Nelda Putney’s new, energy-efficient Vermod home, now set next to their older home of 26 years.

Starting at 8 a.m., or so, a small crew of workers—including the operator of a huge crane and Steve Davis, owner of Vermod—carefully moved through the stages of lifting the three pre-built components of the home from a flatbed truck and fitting them together on a previously installed cement frost wall.

Vermod homes, which are built in an old UPS warehouse in Wilder, are all based on variations of 14-foot wide units. The finished product can be as simple as a 1000-square-foot rectangle, 14-by-70 feet, the standard dimensions of a mobile home.

In fact, these super-insulated, “net-zero” homes were initially designed, after Tropical Storm Irene, as quality replacements for damaged mobile homes. According to the Vermod website, although mobile homes make up just 7% of Vermont’s housing stock, 15% of the homes damaged during and after the storm were mobile homes.

Today, many variations in the Vermod design are available, including stacking one unit on top of another, and a one-bedroom “cottage” with a pitched roof.

The Putneys opted to have two boxes, 45- and 55-feet long, melded together, side-by-side, to create a home that is wider than the standard 14-by-70-foot model. The Scotts’ new home, at about 1400 square feet, will also sport a couple of add-ons—a mud-room entryway on the north side of the home and a sunroom and porch to the south. Instead of the flat roof typically seen on a Vermod, the roof on the Putney home has a slight pitch.

The Putneys had enough acreage at their current home so they could sub-divide off a parcel for the site of their new home.

Complex Delivery

On Wednesday, workers first transferred the 55-foot-long unit from a truck bed to the foundation. Then came the more spectacular step of having the crane hoist the 14-by-45-foot unit from the truck, and over the unit already in place, to its designated location.

Once the crane operator had the perfectly balanced second unit hovering just above its final destination, Davis and his crew used only body weight and crowbar manipulation to fit it in place like a puzzle piece.

The third and final unit set in place was the small entryway.

Because the Putneys’ design is a little more complex than some, some portions of the project remain to be done, including installation of the seven 1000 kw solar panels on the roof.

‘Net Zero’

These panels, along with a Vermod’s high-efficiency appliances and heat-pumps, are key to the “netzero” promise of a Vermod home.

Thanks to those panels and net-metering, a Vermod home produces as much energy, or more, as it uses—which means no heating or electrical costs, averaged out over a year.

The highly insulated homes are all-electric, with heating—and summer cooling—provided by heat pumps.

Scott Putney figures he will save about $3000 a year in heating and electricity costs. He also is looking forward, he said, to the end of hauling in firewood to help heat their older home.

Time To Down-Size

Putney, the former owner of Bethel’s Spaulding Press who now works part-time as an advertising representative for The Herald, said he settled on buying a Vermod after exploring several downsizing options, including moving into a retirement community.

After visiting the model Vermod home at the Wilder plant, the Putneys worked with a company representative to design and outfit their future home.

“You get to pick everything,” Putney said. “You even pick whether you want doorknobs or handles.”

Like other seniors moving into new digs, the Putneys opted to have handicapped accessibility built into their home.

Putney said this week that moving in will be a gradual process. He plans to have their current home ready to go on the market by the spring.

At the Vermod Plant

Ashley Andreas, one of the home ownership advisers at the Vermod factory, said that potential buyers can peruse design options available to them in three “books.”

The first focuses on “the affordable package”—the original, 14-by-70-foot Vermod; the second is the “income-friendly” book with more options, and the third is the “customized home” book. Prices for a Vermod generally range from $120,000 to $200,000.

It takes about seven weeks to build a Vermod, she said, and buyers will spend anywhere from a few weeks to more than a year on the design process.

Andreas pointed out that the Vermod “started with mobile home replacement and we remain very passionate and focused on affordable housing.”

There are multiple options—including low- and no-interest loans and other incentives—to make a Vermod affordable for those with limited incomes.

Because of its energy-efficient features, the Vermod costs more up front than a manufactured home, but offers savings in terms maintenance and operation.

Vermod representatives are well-acquainted with the loan and incentive programs available to Vermonters, which include grants to cover the cost of removing an old mobile home, she said.

By the end of this month, Andreas said, there will be 78 Vermod homes set in place, many of them in towns along the Connecticut River Valley. The Putneys’ home is the third in the White River Valley, with one already in Royalton, in a mobile home park, and in Sharon.

The Randolph Area Community Development Corporation, which owns the still largely undeveloped Salisbury Square acreage in Randolph village, is exploring the use of Vermod homes for the 21 remaining lots in the development.

According to Andreas, Vermod has been experiencing substantial growth in the last year.

“We’ve been changing a lot within the company to meet that demand,” she said.

The goal, she said, is to continue “to provide homes made with quality, health, sustainability, and energy efficiency in mind.”

Source:
Sandy Vondrasek
The Herald / November 2017

The post Guess What Dropped In: A House! appeared first on Vermod.