Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Waitsfield, Vermont offers over 80 hands-on courses per year in design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft and offers a variety of courses concentrating in sustainable design. Now in its 35th year, Yestermorrow is one of the only design/build schools in the country, teaching both design and construction skills. Our hands-on 1-day to 3-week workshops, certificate programs and semester programs are taught by top architects, builders, and craftspeople from across the country. For people of all ages and experience levels, from novice to professional.

Monday, April 19, 2010

The solar trackers are UP!

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1 comment:

  1. John Benjamin10:11 AM

    Dear Yestermorrow community,
    A tremendous amout of public comment has been aired regarding the siting of this project, and it well merited. I will start this post with a quote from your mission statement "Yestermorrow is committed to design in the broadest sense that will enhance human and natural communities—both today and for future generations—and create a healthy, beautiful, timeless, and diverse world filled with inspiration."
    I see the enhancement of the human and natural communities being juxtaposed to each other through this project. while this is an important and groundbreaking investment in the future of Vermont, it has created much more NIMBYism than it should have.
    Using the the scenic RT100 corridor as an advertisement for the future of Vermont's sustainability is regressive in regards to public adoption of this technology. I see the mission of yestermorrow as on of integration of the built environment into the natural environment. The siting of the solar generation project has had the opposite effect on our community. Your planning of this project should have taken into account the size of the array and proximity to the roadway. the plant is located on the inside of a gentle bend in the road that is home to a vibrant ecosystem of flora and fauna that have been allowed to coexist withing a region that frequently drains and reclaims these grounds for human habitation. While i understand that there is no sizable loss of this habitat as a result, the visual disturbance has made its mark. it underlines the priorities we humans exact on those precious and sacred spaces in the name of progress.
    The projects scope is significantly larger that that of the Edgecomb project and the kingsbury Farm project. Your project is 350% larger in fact. the smaller project have both been sited in such a way as to minimize the intrusive character of the panels from a public viewpoint. the Edgecomb project is the most successful in achieving this goal. That project is minimally visible from traveled roadways and is partnered with a large barn in the background, lending a smaller size to the visual appearance of the project. The Kingsbury Farm project became less obtrusive with the completion of the Yestermorrow project! Kingsburys has the advantage of a roadway high above the project. placing it well into the backdrop of a bucolic Vermont landscape.
    I wonder if you all had thought of siting this above the parking lot or in the field north of the main building? or perhaps on a section of the old tennis courts? this project is now complete and I doubt that moving it will be a financially feasible.
    The future lessons need to be learned from your current errors in planning. Openly admitting your errors to the greater Vermont community and too the current town planning committees should a part of your mea culpa. Any good designer woth his muster would always look to the past mistakes to ensure that they are not repeated by them selves or their prodigy!

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