Yestermorrow welcomes winter intern crew

We're excited to welcome our new winter session interns, who started their internships today with a rousing round of introductions, campus tours, chores, and more. Our orientation week will include time in the shop going over tool safety, a tour of the Mad River Valley, picking classes, starting renovations in the Chalet, and getting ready for next week's classes.

Meet our 6 new interns:
Zachary Hunter- Though periodically departing to live in and experience other regions of the world, Zachary was born in and continues to call Vermont home. With an educational background in forestry, Zach felt a growing necessity for independence and building experience. This desire has gained momentum in the past several years as he acclimated to working as a carpenter. Currently three years deep in his "education", Zach looks forward to expanding his skillset as a tradesman, and meeting with individuals who are committed to more progressive and size-appropriate building strategies.

Kendall Barbery-- Most recently from Olympia, Washington where she's imbibed the water from the artesian well (and vowed to return), Kendall has spent the past several years fishing in the pristine waters of Bristol Bay, gardening/farming in Alaska, Washington and Hawaii, and taking things apart (primarily houses) with her friends at Olympia Salvage. Originally from Virginia, she carried her art degree west and north (to the future) at the prompting of a very smart and considerate friend. Now that she's spent so much time deconstructing homes and ogling salvaged materials, she's looking to figure out how to put them together again, responsibly. Kendall loves scraps of paper people leave between the pages of books, attics, old photographs, bikes and bike rides, knots, birds, boats, potlucks, friends and, increasingly, snow.

W.L. Schebaum-- Hailing from the flood plains of Richmond Vermont, W.L. Schebaum is a philosopher/farmer/carpenter/musician currently enthralled by the endless possibilities of the human experience. Spending his early years in the fields and forests of Gravesend New Hampshire instilled a sense of unity with the natural world which was later solidified by philosophical studies at the University of Vermont. Will has worked as a historical restorationist, organic farmer, deck hand, touring musician, and most recently carpenter. He hopes to spend his time at Yestermorrow fusing the principles of creative and balanced living in order to achieve a higher state of awareness and build a few things along the way. He spends his free time riding bicycles, exploring rivers, uphill skiing, entertaining cosmological paradoxes, and of course breathing.

Tressa Gibbard-- Tressa comes to Yestermorrow most recently from Lake Tahoe, California and the wide world of watershed management. Previously, as an undergrad in environmental studies at Penn State, she was involved in alternative, community-based building projects in Montana, Mexico and North Carolina. After college, however, wanderlust got the better of her and led her to pursue field-based watershed research in the West as well as Mongolia and Russia. Fine wooden crafts in Siberia and a desire to work with her hands to build something other than databases of numbers and picutres about the natural world inspired her to come to Yestermorrow to further her building and design skills.

Tim Pierce-- Although Tim has lived most of his life in Michigan, he has traveled and lived all over the U.S. while pursuing assorted dreams. Tim has spent excessive amounts of time as a computer engineer, and just enough time as an Appalacian Trail thru-hiker, boat builder, social worker, and pig-shelter architect/builder. All of these experiences have led to a desire to make a sustainable life that combines work and pleasure in one place at one time. He and his wife Stephanie are passionate about good food and hope to eventually own a farm in efforts to spread the joy of eating well.

Stephanie Pierce-- Raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Stephanie migrated south to attend Albion College where she studied communication and philosophy. Her first job out of college found her at a large foundation doing communications support work for sustainable agriculture grantmaking. She partnered with a good friend to create the working structure for a small communications consulting firm where she did writing, analysis, and odds 'n ends after leaving the foundation. Along the way, the light dawned that she needed to balance mental work with physical work in order to remain sane. While doing a work-for-trade at a rotational grazing farm in Michigan she began to figure out with her husband Tim how to pursue their burgeoning dreams of 21st century homesteading and small scale vegetable farming. The kitchen/garden internship at Yestermorrow is one of her first major steps toward that dream.

Happy Snow from the Yestermorrow crew!

Building Energy 2009

Yestermorrow is heading to the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA)'s Building Energy conference again this year in Boston March 10-12, 2009. This is a great event which we are excited to attend every year, bringing together nearly 200 of the country's best presenters to define the leading edge of smart building, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Yestermorrow will have a booth at this year's conference, and we're looking for a like-minded organization or business who might want to split the booth with us in order to lower costs. If you might be interested, please email Kate at kate@yestermorrow.org for more details on logistics and expenses.

Instructor Mark Chalom's project named Green Home of the Year

Albuouquerque Journal
Sunday, November 23, 2008

Santa Fe Residence Named Green Home of the Year

Santa Fe architect Mark Chalom has won the 2009 Su Casa Magazine/Build Green New Mexico award for Green Home of the Year by pushing sustainable building to a new level of overall excellence. Chalom won for the Santa Fe area Bechtold residence, which had earned the top-level Gold certification under Build Green New Mexico. It showed excellence in sustainable building practices by its placement on the land, its use of solar energy for heating, widespread use of nontoxic materials and its innovative approach to combining super insulation with interior adobe walls, according to a news release from Su Casa editor Charles Poling. The magazine is a publication of the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. The house also has a system for harvesting rainwater and reclaiming household water. The home was built by Custom Homes by John DiJanni.

The Green Home of the Year Awards program is in its second year, honoring builders, designers, architects, homeowners and companies that reach the highest levels of green building. Awards were presented Thursday at the Homebuilders Association's annual dinner. Homes this year competed in two broad divisions: those certified under Build Green New Mexico or U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Homes certification programs and those that were not certified. Winning the Innovative Green Home award for projects not certified was the EcoHouse Santa Fe, designed and built by Klaus Meyer of EcoHouse Santa Fe, with architectural designer Andreas Frick and energy consultant Joaquin Karcher of One Earth Design in Taos. The home adheres to the "passive house" concept, which means it consumes 20 percent to 30 percent of the energy of a conventional home, the news release said. The builder relied on locally available natural materials such as adobe, locally harvested lumber and recycled newspaper insulation. Interior finishes are toxin- and solvent-free clay plaster. "We saw an impressive array of entries in this year's competition," Poling said in the release. "Green builders in New Mexico are exploring all kinds of new and innovative solutions to problems like how to reduce energy use, conserve water, and create a healthy indoor environment. It's a time of amazing creativity."

Other winners were for best green remodeling project — Earth and Straw, an Albuquerque-based building and remodeling company; for energy efficiency — Kreger Design Build; for water efficiency — Mark Chalom, architect; for lot design, preparation, development and environmental responsibility — Verde Design Group and Sam Sterling Architecture; for use of materials and resource efficiency — EcoHouse Santa Fe; for indoor environmental quality — Artistic Homes and EcoHouse Santa Fe; for operation, maintenance and homeowner education — Panorama Homes; and for environmental impact — The Dream Home, a house in Santa Fe owned and designed by the husband and wife design/build team of Jody Fayas and Cara Leig.

Yestermorrow at GreenBuild

Yestermorrow has hit GreenBuild by storm-- this year's annual US Green Building Council conference is in Boston this week and Yestermorrow is well represented. We have a booth (#463- come say hi!) which we're sharing with our friends from the VT chapter of the Congress of Residential Architecture (including YM faculty John Connell, Daniel Johnson, and John McLeod). We also wandered around the (huge) expo hall and ran into instructors Bill Hulstrunk (National Fiber), Jim Newman (Building Green), Buzz Ferver (Filtrexx), Gunnar Hubbard (Fore Solutions) and Brad Guy (Building Materials Reuse Association). Not to mention all the other instructors and students who are attending the conference and stopped by to say hello. It's exciting to see how big this green building movement has become and what a diverse group of people are attracted to it. Today I went to two education sessions-- one on greening high school trades programs, and another on the future of sustainable design education in architecture schools. Tomorrow the focus will be on residential green building, then things wrap up on Friday with closing speakers and sessions.

Thinking about going solar next year?

NEW SOLAR INCENTIVES
Beginning in 2009, the $2,000 cap on photovoltaic systems will be lifted and the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will apply to the entire system cost. The $2,000 ITC cap on solar hot water systems remains. Detailed information on federal and state rebates, incentives and tax credits for all solar technologies and energy efficiency is available at the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy website - www.dsireusa.org.

Check out new photos from Welding and Cutting

We've posted a new album of images from our recent Welding and Cutting class. Thanks to instructor Ben Cheney for the photos!

Whole Systems Design Completes New Studio

Our friends and colleagues at Whole Systems Design in Moretown, VT have recently completed a beautiful new studio and shop. The WSD team includes many Yestermorrow faculty and alumni, including Ben Falk, Michael Blazewicz, Buzz Ferver, Keith Morris and Micah Whitman. The WSD team now operates out of a dual purpose studio-workshop that models principles in passive solar design, site-building integration, site-based materials use, optimized indoor air quality and more. View Photo Gallery

Yestermorrow Public Lectures

Interested in finding out more about Yestermorrow but can't make it to Vermont? We'll be doing public presentations at a variety of schools this fall and winter:

October 22
School of Architecture Media Classroom, 6 - 6:45 p.m.
Philadelphia University
Kyle Bergman

November 7
Ecosa Institute
Steve Badanes

November 19
Berea College
Steve Badanes

December 12
Rural Studio
Steve Badanes

March 27 or 28
BAC
Steve Badanes

June 3
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (Newport VT)
Kate Stephenson

Music at the 'Morrow

Who knew the acoustics in the shop were so good when you turn off the dust collector??? Regular jam sessions have been happening all over campus-- on this occasion it was the last intern morning meeting with both the summer crew and the incoming fall interns, led by Dave Warren, facilities manager on standup bass.

Kate Stephenson to serve as interim director of Yestermorrow

The search for Yestermorrow’s next Executive Director is underway. The Search Committee is made up of current and former members of the Board of Directors and will conduct a nationwide search for the individual to succeed Bob Ferris as executive director of Yestermorrow. Director of Operations Kate Stephenson has agreed to serve as interim director beginning October 1, and to remain in that role until a new director is employed. She will then remain as Director of Operations for the new director’s orientation period. Stephenson, who early on alerted the Yestermorrow Board of Directors that she had decided not to be a candidate for the executive director’s role, has been at Yestermorrow since 2002. Her commitment to continue to manage Yestermorrow’s exceptional 9 member staff—and the full scope of Yestermorrow operations in general—provides the School with extraordinarily valuable administrative leadership and continuity and provides the Search Committee and the board of directors with the opportunity to engage in a thorough search for the next director without any deadline constraints.

More information on the executive director search will be published at www.yestermorrow.org in the coming weeks.

Mac Rood
President, Board of Directors

$25,000 in Scholarship Funds Available

A generous anonymous donor has created a $25,000.00 scholarship fund at Yestermorrow Design/Build School. The donor has urged the School’s staff and Board of Directors to spend these monies before the end of the School’s fiscal year in March of 2009.

This fund will be used for potential students who want and need to take a Yestermorrow course, but do not have the resources for tuition, travel expenses or child care. Those interested in applying should do so as soon as possible, either by visiting the School’s website at www.yestermorrow.org, or calling the School at 888.496.5541. Email questions about the scholarship application should be directed to designbuild@yestermorrow.org.

“I don’t think that I have to tell anyone that times are tough out there,” stated Bob Ferris, Yestermorrow’s Executive Director. “As a hands-on school we obviously believe that thinking and doing go hand-in-hand — teaching and action. And the action in this instance is to see what we can do to help those that need a little extra help.”

“We value diversity here at Yestermorrow and want to spread what we teach and how we teach it to the widest possible audience. We owe a lot of thanks to our donor for helping us to open our doors wider to the very students who will benefit most from a Yestermorrow experience,” added Yestermorrow’s Board President Mac Rood.

Potential students interested in the scholarship program will be asked to complete an application that includes financial information and personal life-long learning goals. Decisions about disbursement of the funds will be made by a committee comprised of Yestermorrow staff and Board members. Scholarships will be awarded on a rolling and timely basis.

A Note from Bob

Dear friends,

It is with a mixed sense of accomplishment and the regret associated with moving from one challenge to looking for the next, that I announce that I'm leaving Yestermorrow Design/Build School. (Now, I have said the difficult part.)

During my tenure we accomplished great things in terms of building needed infrastructure, increasing the visibility of the school, and managing our often extraordinary growth. I firmly believe that the school's reputation, overall visibility, and staff strength have never been better or higher than at this point in time. But they need to and will improve.

The bottom-line is that as Yestermorrow enters this next and important phase of its growth, the organization needs an Executive Director to be someone with well-developed skills in architecture and design rather than my wider experience in natural systems, advocacy, and sustainability. I believe this is the right decision for the school and for me, but I will miss working with this dedicated staff, the instructors, students, and board.

I have grown so close to many of you and thank you all for you loyalty, cooperation and friendship. I sincerely hope to retain these relationships long after I leave my current position at Yestermorrow.

Here is looking forward to our next encounter,

Bob Ferris
Executive Director

WCAX Story on History of the Design/Build Movement in VT

This story on the history of design/build in Vermont originally aired on Burlington, VT's WCAX station on September 23rd and features the work of a variety of Yestermorrow faculty members, as well as a few shots of our campus, students and interns. Check it out!

Sellers at the Fleming

Our own Dave Sellers will talk about the origins of the Vermont Design/Build movement at the Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont. Dave's talk with take place at 6:30 on October 2nd. It should be an interesting talk and all are encouraged to attend.

Bob Ferris

Carbon Shredders Do Radio

Gregor Barnum from Seventh Generation and I found an open door at the radio station and took advantage of the situation. We hope you enjoy and get on the carbon shredders bandwagon. Enjoy. Good news radio.
http://tiny.cc/LRbM5

Fleming Museum Exhibit on Vermont's Design/Build Movement

Architectural Improvisation: A History of Vermont's Design/Build Movement 1964-1977

September 24 - December 19, 2008, East Gallery, Fleming Museum, Burlington, Vermont

Architectural Improvisation: A History of Vermont's Design/Build Movement 1964-1977 documents a radical, Vermont-based architectural movement characterized by organic forms, improvisational processes, hands-on methods, and natural materials. Predating the back-to-the-land movement but motivated by similar values and principles, the Design/Build movement focused on a new mediatory role for architecture both in creating community and in the then-newly charged relationship between humans and the environment. A number of the documented projects from the mid-1960s pioneered technological and social experimentation such as solar heating, wind power, and co-housing.

Guest-curated by Norwich University architecture professor Danny Sagan, the exhibition traces the development of the Design/Build movement from its roots in Bauhaus theory at Yale School of Architecture in the early 1960s to its radical social, technological, and aesthetic experimentation. It examines the work of a group of young architects who moved to Vermont from Yale and the University of Pennsylvania Architecture program in the mid-1960s, among them, David Sellers, Bill Reineke, Jim Sanford, Bill Maclay, Ellen Strauss, Charles Hosford, John Mallary, and Barry Simpson. The exhibition documents for the first time the exemplary Vermont projects created by these architects, including Sibley/Pyramid House, Tack House, and Dimetrodon on "Prickly Mountain" in Warren, Vermont; Goddard College in Plainfield; and the Anthos housing project in Waitsfield; as well as Skidompha House in Maine. It presents previously unpublished photographs and drawings, contemporary photographs, artifacts from the houses, and other documentary materials that reflect both the process and the resulting structures. An accompanying catalogue will be published by the University of Vermont Press.

On Sunday, November 2 the Fleming Museum will host a panel discussion with several of the original architects and residents of an early, experimental, solar co-housing complex in Warren, Vermont, as they discuss and debate the genesis and legacy of the Design/Build tradition in Vermont. For more information, visit http://www.uvm.edu/~fleming/

'The lunch lady with love' Yestermorrow's chef crafts meals from what's at hand

From today's Times Argus newspaper (Tuesday, September 9, 2008):
By Sylvia Fagin, Correspondent

Like a sprite, Heidi Benjamin is everywhere at once – physically and conversationally.

One moment she's explaining the spiral design of the kitchen garden at Yestermorrow, the design/build school in Warren where she's the whole foods chef. The next, she's striding across the field to show off spiky purple plumes of amaranth while explaining how she got the moniker "lunch lady with love."

For almost 30 years, Yestermorrow has provided inspiration and skills in sustainable design and building methods, teaching classes like "green home design," "ecological water systems," and "woodworking for women." The faculty boasts MIT grads, as well as lifelong craftspeople, and although students may not come for the food, they certainly learn from it.

Three times a day, all year long, Benjamin and her crew of cooks provide a tasty, healthy meal, almost entirely from local ingredients, demonstrating that eating locally can be delicious and affordable. A tangible feeling of community is created as students from diverse backgrounds dine and chat together.

"Students want to chill and feel the essence of this place, of sustainability," Benjamin explains in the dining room that's naturally lit by two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the spiral garden — and nearly eliminate the need for artificial lighting. Students learn that "it is possible to serve really good, local food for a pretty OK price. A lot of people are worried about that." Describing herself as a "frugal localvore," Benjamin rattles off some of the meals she creates from seasonal produce and local ingredients: Breakfasts of homemade granola, local eggs and oatmeal, Manghi's cinnamon raisin toast. Lunch buffets featuring cole slaw bursting with green beans, crunchy cabbage and sweet carrots, cold cuts of local turkey and ham, garlicky dill pickles, and Madhouse Munchies chips.

Dinners follow a theme, like Mexican night with fajitas of seitan and local beef; Benjamin devotes an entire chest freezer to the summer's bounty, ensuring local salsa all year long. Indian meals are almost entirely vegan, featuring kale saag, curried cauliflower, and homemade vegetable chutneys.

Benjamin invites student input — it keeps her creating.

"I ask vegans, 'What do you miss? Scalloped potatoes?' I can do that with soy milk. Instead of spanikopita, I do 'kale-kopita,' with tofu."

"I'm learning as I go," she says. "They call me a whole foods chef. I joke and say I'm three-quarters, because every so often a can of Pringles is just so fine. I don't sit and study books to find out what I'm supposed to do. I think, what do I want to eat? Sometimes I really want to eat comfort food — so how can I make that comfort food more healthy?" Benjamin substitutes honey and maple syrup for white sugar, strips of zucchini for lasagna noodles.

The fields and woods of the bucolic campus provide fiddleheads, ramps, a bevy of wild mushrooms, not to mention the foundation of a variety of hot and cold drinks.

"We have 10 different drinks we make for the cost of running the hot water." She lists a few: Sumac, dandelion, cinnamon basil mixed with lemon balm — none more mysterious than the process of letting leaves or roots seep for a while. "Students ask, 'Is that all there is to it?'" she recalls. "It makes it more approachable for people. They say, 'I can do that.'"

By example, Benjamin shows students that they can eat sustainably with ease; in return, she gets accolades, hugs and a dream kitchen where every cabinet, shelf and spice rack is custom-built.

"It's like a mix of camp, college and home here," she enthuses, offering up gifts of funky misshapen tomatoes, homemade jam, an offer to cater a student's wedding. "We feel the love. It's such a yummy feeling."

Heidi Benjamin's yummy meals are available to students of Yestermorrow Design/Build School courses, which range from one day to two weeks.

Sylvia Fagin writes about local foods and food producers. Contact her at sylviafagin@yahoo.com.

Community Design/Build

What a pair--timberframing instructors Josh Jackson and Skip Dewhirst