Yestermorrow in the News

Two articles were published this week featuring Yestermorrow faculty and alumni.

The first is one in today’s New York Times Home & Garden section by Karrie Jacobs which features Yestermorrow instructors Tom and Yumiko Virant, who designed and built an innovative (and beautiful) small home outside of Charlottesville, VA.

An excerpt:

“Mr. Virant, a skilled carpenter and licensed contractor who teaches workshops at the influential Vermont design-build school Yestermorrow, incorporated the strategies the school stresses, especially passive solar heating (which means windows are positioned to mitigate heat gain in summer and maximize it in winter). The result is a modernist house with traditional detailing (tongue-in-groove wooden ceiling, exposed beams), highly efficient heating and cooling, and a clever layout.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/garden/in-virginia-a-house-built-on-trust-on-location.html

The second is a feature in this week’s New Yorker magazine by Alec Wilkinson entitled “Let’s Get Small: The Rise of the Tiny House Movement”. He interviews Yestermorrow alum Elizabeth Turnbull, who designed her tiny house in a Yestermorrow Home Design/Build class, then built it and brought it to graduate school with her at Yale.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/07/25/110725fa_fact_wilkinson
(unfortunately unless you are a New Yorker subscriber you can only read the abstract online without paying).

Mosaic Scene Transforms the Arches

Typically students in our weekend Mosaics workshop create small mosaic palettes designed to be taken home. This year’s workshop had a more collective project. Inspired by renowned mosaics artist Isaiah Zagar's (very distinctive) style, Yestermorrow instructor Bette Ann Libby envisioned a mosaics piece that stretched the length of a 30-foot wall here on-campus and resonated with our hands-on approach to teaching. The project was ambitious and was completed in under one week with the help of the students, interns, and work-traders.

Completed mural

Bette Ann shares the details of the project with us: 'Fifteen people worked on the 30-foot long, 8-foot high mosaic wall. My sketch for the design used figures taken from photos from the Yestermorrow website. Mirror and tile (that were being discarded) were collected from local businesses and friends. We used about 15 gallon-sized containers of cut-up mirror and 25 laundry-sized bins of ceramic tile scraps!! The sketch was painted as a line drawing on the wall. Then each line was outlined in cut mirror rectangles. After the mirror outline was complete, the rest of the wall was designed using broken tile. The following day, the grout was applied in-between each piece of tile and mirror using colored grout which we mixed on-site. Although the design was pre-determined, there was a lot of latitude for the students to express themselves in the placement of the tile and the color of the grout. The group was very inventive, hard-working, and resourceful. We learned from one another and accomplished the transformation of the arched wall facing Route 100 in front of Yestermorrow.'
Join us on-campus August 27 from 4:30 - 6:30 PM for a public opening in celebration of the mosaic installation.

Nine students cut glass and tile, mixed and applied grout/cement,
and hodgepodgedly formed the mosaic construction scene

Mirror is applied around the outline of the mural figures

Mosaic progression: outline, tile placement, colored grout

Betty Ann paints the final outline

Colombian Organization Reflects Yestermorrow Sensibilities

Nothing excites the Yestermorrow community as much as finding a kindred-spirit out there in the world. Ana Maria Gutierrez is one such person.

The Colombian-born, American-educated architect recently traveled from her home country to attend Yestermorrow’s Advanced Plasters course. During her stay, she made a presentation to the students on campus about her own organization, Fundación Organizmo, which she founded in 2008 along side Itamar Sela, an Israeli horticulturist and landscape designer at the New York Botanical Garden.

Organizmo is an education and design center for sustainable habitats, bio-architecture, and intuitive technologies. Their goal is to take concrete steps toward the development of vulnerable communities by educating, empowering, and promoting the rescue of indigenous construction techniques and the revitalization and rediscovery of local resources.

At their EcoCampus in Tenjo, about 30 kilometers from Bogota, Gutierrez and her cohorts are experimenting and teaching workshops in building with straw, earth and recycled materials, utilizing alternative technologies, promoting the principles of Permaculture, and creating unique living roofs, walls, and eco-domes.

In addition to running courses, Organizmo has created a robust volunteer/intern program, welcoming individuals looking to learn and experiment. For more information about courses, programs, volunteer opportunities, or other ways to support their mission, visit their website.

-Dan

Woman In Focus: EVA GRIFFIN FROM BEREA

Individuals from all over the country travel to Vermont to take classes at Yestermorrow prompting our halls and grounds to be filled with two inter-related questions: What's your story? Why are you at Yestermorrow? Berea College student Eva Griffin joins us on-campus for two months this summer and offered to share her story.

For several years, I have seen the unfulfilled potential in my family’s four wooded acres in Tracy City, Tennessee. However, lacking the skills and knowledge to bring that potential out—or the money to hire those who did—we have instead waged a constant battle with decay and disrepair. As an example, the water situation is particularly frustrating: when the well works at all, it gives about fifteen minutes of water at a time, and we have no running water in the house. While taking an Ecological Design course for my minor in Environmental Studies at Berea College, a small liberal arts school in Kentucky, I clarified a sense that I needed to take responsibility for knowing how to turn my ambitions for this land into a reality. For this reason, I chose to spend two months as an intern at Yestermorrow this summer. My primary goal is to develop a preliminary design for a house to be constructed on an existing foundation on our property. In addition, I hope to begin acquiring the skills and knowledge to work on the design I come up with, and to make repairs on our existing home.

Toward that end, I have already taken the Beginning Furniture Making course, and will also take Home Design/Build. Through my classes and work trade, I have begun to feel competent in areas such as woodworking, plumbing, gardening, and tool use and maintenance, for the first time in my life. As a woman from a low-income background, I have found my experience at Yestermorrow particularly empowering. As a member of a close-knit, but economically-distressed community, in the beautiful and remarkably biodiverse Cumberland Plateau, I find the worldview espoused by Yestermorrow and the culture of Vermont an inspiring and practical long-term alternative to the path of “progress” in my region. As a non-traditional student, I am glad to be part of a learning environment which helps me take responsibility for designing my own future and that of my community.

Yester-Interns at the Waitsfield Farmers Market.

8:00 am, Waitsfield green, Saturday June 18^th, 2011. We’ve just pulled two Yestermorrow vans up to the Waitsfield Farmer’s Market loaded to the gills with various things made out of wood, twigs, plywood, and plastic. We begin unloading the goods and transporting them to our designated spot in the center of the market. Onlookers are mystified, to say the least.

We work quickly and quietly, politely declining questions about our “booth.” Are they going to fly away in it? Does it generate electricity? The crowd is jovial, yet uneasy, circling gently as we place rounded plywood panels next to one another and hoist canoe–shaped trusses overhead. Finally, with the help of YM accomplice Kathy Meyer, set-up is complete and the contraption, though unusual, is a recognizable booth. The Yestermorrow kiosk, designed and built by the Kate Stephenson of yore as part of a Lightweight structures class, acts as a wonderful subsample of the YM ethos: in every structure lies an opportunity to create, to illicit feedback and dialogue, to call into question the everyday patterns – in this case rows of standard canvas market booths – that define our lives. From this vantage point we interacted with lots of great folks, including longtime community friends and curious visitors from afar. We also enjoyed some yummy tamales from Grace’s Tamales.

Many fun conversations were had this sunny Saturday, and we look forward to our once-a-month visits to the market this summer season. A big thanks to all the great folks at the Waitsfield Farmers Market for putting on a fabulous community event, and for welcoming nonprofits so warmly. See ya next time!

Malena & Jess

Practicum project reaches out to DC neighborhood gardens

Certificate in Sustainable Building and Design student Jesse Cooper, advised by Yestermorrow instructor Lisa DePiano, has partnered with Washington, DC organization Beet Street Gardens to use his facilitation, design and building skills to assist them with a Permaculture plan and cabana design for completion of his certificate practicum project.

The discussion between Jesse and Beet Street Gardens began as a request for a simple garden shed. By facilitating a holistic design process, Jesse's project reaches a broader community including a variety of partner organizations and their staff, residents and volunteers for a series of meetings and site visits. After an initial meeting the project quickly developed into something more substantial including a Permaculture assessment for the community garden at their flagship site, the Sasha Bruce House, and a versatile garden "cabana" constructed mostly out of reused materials. When completed the cabana may include a composting center, picnic and grilling facilities, veggie washing station, tool storage, herb drying, garden starts, information boards and more.

Here's what Jesse has to say about this very cool project:

"During early conversations about the shed project, it became clear that the new structure could serve a number of purposes beyond just storing garden tools. The initial design charette was attended by about a dozen people from several organizations. We brainstormed and walked around, mapping and making observations. Administrators from the house expressed the desire for food prep equipment for frequent BBQs and a place to have outdoor, group learning activities. They also expressed concerns about the high-visibility to the surrounding neighborhood, and some safety concerns. The Beet Street gardeners wanted a place to wash fresh veggies and a greenhouse for early-season planting. The location of the garden was a good distance from the areas where residents tended to congregate, so there was some disconnect there, and linking the two became an essential goal.

"It was a fruitful first meeting both for identifying a number of important constraints and existing assets, and for generating some potential design solutions. People were quite excited at the prospect of reinvigorating the property. I am currently working on the first design iteration through site mapping, listing goals, assets and constraints, doing bubble charts, analysis and assessment summaries and 3D modeling on SketchUp, and am just getting ready to send out the first set of images for feedback."

Congratulations Jesse, great work!

Slow Living Summit

I just got back from two fascinating days at the first ever Slow Living Summit in Brattleboro, VT. Designed to bring together a variety of people from business, education, government and non-profit organizations from New England and beyond, the Summit was an intensive exploration of ways to build healthy, thriving local economies while encouraging, mentoring and supporting a new generation of activists, entrepreneurs and engaged citizens. It was also scheduled as part of the lead up to the 10th annual Strolling of the Heifers, a parade focused on highlighting our agricultural heritage and featuring scores of heifers ambling up the town’s historic Main Street, along with many, many farmers, future farmers, cows, bulls, horses, goats, poultry, floats, tractors, bands, clowns, and much more. We were able to set up our Yestermorrow kiosk at the Live Green Expo which is held in conjunction with the parade.

I was intrigued by the idea of the Slow Living Summit partly because of my recent interest in Slow Food and Slow Money, recent initiatives to organize community based renewable energy projects, and the overall concept of how through our everyday actions and purchasing decisions we can help support a local economy rooted in sustainability. The Summit brought together participants from all over New England interested in exploring these themes, through five tracks: Food and Agriculture, Energy and Resources, Economy/Business/Finances/Entrepreneurship, Education for Sustainability, and Quality of Life. In addition, we heard from keynote speakers Chuck Ross, the Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Gary Hirschberg from Stonyfield Farm, Christine Bushway from the Organic Trade Association and Bill McKibben from 350.org.

Over the course of the 2-day Summit, I met a whole host of interesting folks. One was Leah Cook, whose story and family business, Crown of Maine, was really inspiring. Starting out as a small family potato farm in northern Maine, their business has grown to distribute a wide variety of locally grown products from 150+ Maine farms to stores, restaurants, and buying clubs across the state. Another was Jesse Laflamme, who runs Pete and Gerry's organic egg farm in NH and who talked about how the egg farming industry is consolidated in an amazingly small number of (mega) farms in this country, and why buying organic eggs makes a difference. I also heard from Andrew Meyer from Vermont Soy and Vermont Natural Coatings talking about some of the many changes and innovations happening in Hardwick, VT around the creation of an integrated local food system. It's particularly inspiring to me to see so many young people involved in farming, entrepreneurship, and new ways of thinking about how to support local economies. In many ways these are the same sorts of people who are drawn to what we're doing at Yestermorrow, whether they want to know how to create a piece furniture, a farm, a landscape or a house. It's nice to know there are other folks out there working on these many related issues, and that there's a new forum for discussion of these topics.

To read summaries of many of the panels and keynotes from the Summit, check out the Slow Living Summit blog at http://slowlivingsummit.wordpress.com/.

-Kate Stephenson, Executive Director

Master Planning Update

Imperative:
Yestermorrow is poised to address pressing needs that have long hampered the school’s effectiveness. The school’s 38-acre campus has evolved in such a way that it does not represent the design ideals and environmental goals that are at the core of the school’s mission. At the same time, to grow to an optimal level of students and instructors on campus, Yestermorrow needs additional space for learning and living.

Response:
For much of 2010-2011, the Board of Directors has wrestled with how to move forward with the campus master plan through a thoughtful planning process, and has committed resources towards the first phase of campus master plan development, with the second phase to be completed by the end of 2011.

Timeline and Phasing:
November 2010 – March 2011:
Yestermorrow hired Bill Reed to facilitate 2 day-long board meetings on 11/20/10 and 3/5/11 focused on achieving alignment around Yestermorrow’s Purpose and Principles.

May – June 2011:
Yestermorrow has hired Regenesis Group* (including Bill Reed, Joel Glanzberg, and John Boecker) to complete Phase 1 of the Campus Master Plan, focused on an assessment of socio-ecological context and evolutionary potential of our place, which will influence and guide the master plan. This is intended to assist Yestermorrow in laying the groundwork for informed design of school buildings, infrastructure, operations, teaching opportunities, and larger opportunities for social and community integration.

Through on-site research, interviews with stakeholders, and the facilitation of their course “Regenerative Design and Development” June 19-24, Bill, John and Joel will work to understand the potential for positive interrelationships between Yestermorrow and the larger community. Then they will facilitate a day and a half board meeting June 24-25 focused on the essence and purpose of Yestermorrow, and developing a set of Design Principles that will guide the development of a site plan in Phase 2. The deliverables for Phase 1 include: the “Story of Place” (essence) in PowerPoint Form, list of principles, site forces, bubble locations diagram, and framework for master plan.

July –October 2011:
Yestermorrow will hire a design team (TBD) to complete Phase 2 of the Campus Master Plan, focusing more specifically on the physical development of the campus, including: site analysis, soil analysis, phased development budgets, and story lines for each building. This work will be performed working with the School’s Board and Staff to develop the programming for the build out. Simultaneously, the Staff will develop a Strategic Plan for 2011-2016 which will guide the School’s operational, curricular, and financial objectives. The design team for phase 2 will not be chosen until Phase 1 is completed.

2012 and beyond:
Yestermorrow is currently seeking funding to support a new position of Design/Builder in Residence who would:
· Develop a site plan for the campus based on the vision articulated in the master plan, which will identify existing and future utility infrastructure, septic, water, drainage, parking, trails and lighting;
· Work with Waitsfield’s Development Review Board to obtain required permits and steward the proposed changes through the State’s Act 250 process;
· Solicit requests for proposals from design firms and coordinate the design firm selection process, ensuring that critical stakeholders are involved;
· Involve stakeholders in identifying programmatic needs for all Phase One buildings, manage design charrettes to elicit input and feedback on various schematics, and coordinate with the design firm on revisions and changes;
· Integrate as much of this process into appropriate class work so as to deepen experiential learning opportunities for students;
· Generate excitement about the school’s bold new campus plan and buildings; and
· Offer interns real life experience helping to manage large design projects—an important professional development opportunity.

Vision:
This project will ultimately strengthen the school for decades to come. The campus changes will transform Yestermorrow into a vibrant place of learning that fosters creativity in those who visit, learn, work, and teach here. It will enhance our ability to provide a top quality educational experience for our students. It will be a model both in Vermont and nationally—serving as a beacon to inspire others to push new boundaries in designing and building.

By moving the Campus Plan forward, Yestermorrow will:
· Raise the bar for sustainable design across Vermont and New England;
· Showcase regenerative design principles in action;
· Infuse the experience of visitors, students, interns, instructors, staff, and guests with state-of-the-art design and sustainability practices;
· Provide a dynamic learning experience for students;
· Offer instructors a vital setting for teaching; and
· Create a stronger and more vital organization.

If you have any questions about how this planning process will unfold over the next 6 months, please do not hesitate to contact me at kate@yestermorrow.org.

Kate Stephenson
Executive Director

*For more information on the work of Regenesis, and to see some of their past projects, please visit: www.regenesisgroup.com, www.regenerativecommunities.com, www.delvingdeeper.org, www.integrativedesign.net, http://edgeregenerate.com/

New Orleans youth visit Yestermorrow.

The Yestermorrow campus is generally brimming with all sorts of folk, but most days an astute observer may notice a genuine dearth of children. Not the case the last week in April when we were blessed with not one, not two, but five child visitors ranging in age from 12-16. The kids were part of a group from New Orleans called Rethink, and were here in Vermont to gather ideas for their entry in a competition to design a new "Oil Free School" in their community.

Rethink began in early 2006 when a group of community organizers, artists, architects, media experts and educators came together to help give middle school students a voice in redesigning and rebuilding their schools post-Katrina. Students from New Orleans were scattered across the country for six months to a year after Katrina, and in the words of these students, “for the first time most of us saw bathrooms with toilet paper and soap, libraries with books and hallways with lockers. It made us realize what good schools actually look like.” Our five visiting students and two leaders are part of a growing group of Rethinkers in New Orleans who are redesigning schools and implementing school-based projects that promote respect, communication, justice and sustainability.

Despite some pesky spring rain showers, George, Ory, Alana, Vernard, and Ashley, along with leaders Mallory and Dominique, spent the morning exploring Yestermorrow alongside interns Malena Marvin and Gillian Davis. Although the kids were eager to discuss the different ways we Yestermorrowans are harnessing the sun's energy (photovoltaics, solar hot water, outdoor shower batch heater, garden cold frames), they were most exuberantly interested in touching the seasonal creek flowing out of the spring near the cabins. It was amazing to see their delight with the clear, cool water we so often take for granted. They were particularly enthused by the tree house, and so we spent some time under its cover connecting with the sounds and feel of a rainy spring day in Vermont, a notable contrast from their familiar southern city. We explored natural building practices such as strawbale and cob, the smile-inducing term “humanure”, took a look at our garden bursting with tiny greens, and had a great time feeding the chickens, collecting eggs, and mastering the art of the rooster call.

In the afternoon the talented middle-schoolers headed to the woodshop where they practiced using tape measures, squares, saws and drills to construct a new cold frame for our garden. Our woodshop Fun Meter traveled from "Boo" to "Woo" as the children completed the project successfully, and we brought the day to a close with a bit of reflection on what we appreciated most about the visit.

We were all truly impressed with the students’ curiosity, energy, and bright spirits, and look forward to seeing how they design their Oil Free School. We were also reminded of how inspiring and uplifting it is to have young people lending their fresh ideas and frank curiosity to our community.

Gillian Davis

George attaches the corner board.

Woodshop enthusiasm boosts our fun meter from 'boo' to 'woo'!

The cold frame starts to come together.

photo cred: Malena Marvin

A Solar Story

Late last April, here at Yestermorrow we took a huge step towards our goal of producing renewable energy on campus with the installation of a 28kW photovoltaic array. It wasn’t just a token demonstration project, this was a statement—seven tracking units each measuring 22 feet wide and 17 feet tall right out in front of our main building on Route 100. One year later, we were curious to see how the performance of the PVs matched up with our projections. The AllSun Trackers which we used on the project are designed to change their angle and their orientation throughout the day so they are always directly facing the sun. This means they produce up to 40% more energy than a fixed panel. Each of our trackers is projected to produce 5,640 kilowatt hours per year. Multiply that times seven units, and our anticipated production is 39,480 kWh per year.

The next question inevitably is… “so, how much did they really produce??”. Between April 20, 2010 when the trackers went online, and April 20, 2011 they pumped out 37,367 kWh – pretty close to our original projections! (You can check out the production day by day on the AER website at: http://www.allearthrenewables.com/energy-production-report/detail/163).

This is enough electricity to supply 74% of the demand for our main building (just over 50,000 kWh last year).

So what’s next? This year we’re hoping for more sunny days :) but we’re also looking hard at what we can do to reduce our electricity loads—remember, conservation always comes before efficiency and renewables. We’re working with folks from Efficiency Vermont and the Mad River Valley Localvolts to install a TED energy monitor so we can track our consumption patterns more closely and identify trends over time. We’re also using a Kill-a-watt meter to identify energy-sucking appliances and tools so we can plan future upgrades. And thanks to great state incentives, we’re also testing out some new LED light bulbs around different parts of the campus and looking into occupancy and daylighting sensors.

Learn more about Yestermorrow's eco footprint...

Common Ground Center

Ever wonder where you can see more than half a dozen Yestermorrow class projects all in one place (other than our own campus)? Check out the Common Ground Center in Starksboro, VT. It's a family camp (Camp Common Ground) and a retreat and conference center. About ten years ago they purchased 700 acres and have been transforming it into an amazing space for people to gather. Yestermorrow has partnered with them on many projects over the years that have helped to build out their facilities.

I was there on Saturday for the Grand Opening of their new Eco Lodge, designed by architect Carol Stenberg (a YM instructor who teaches courses on SketchUp and AutoCAD). It's a beautiful building featuring year-round guest rooms and common areas, with a green roof, nice daylighting, natural clay plasters, wood harvested on site, and many other green features.

While I was there I had a chance to take photos of the Yestermorrow projects there, which include 4 cabins, a composting toilet, a shed for the tennis court, and a pedestrian bridge. Some of the other cabins on the site were designed and built by Yestermorrow instructors Paul Hanke, Keja MacEwan, and Lisa Williams, and the master plan for the site was designed by Bill Maclay, so there are many Yestermorrow connections to this cool place!

The "Sugar Shack" cabin

Two "twin" cabins built in 2003

The "Butterfly Cabin"

Composting Toilet

Tennis Court Shed - built by a Carpentry class, 2010 (with AllSun Tracker in the background)

The "Bridge to Nowhere" built by a 2004 Bridge D/B class led by Josh Jackson and Jeremy Culver

On Innovation and Collaboration

I recently sat down to read an essay by my friend and colleague, Ginny McGinn, co-director of the Center for Whole Communities. Her writing on leadership and how to create new pathways to collaboration (in the Winter 2010-11 Whole Thinking Journal) touched on something which really resonated with me in thinking about what makes Yestermorrow such a special place.

"Recently on the Canadian Broadcasting Company radio show Spark (an ongoing conver­sation about technology and culture), researcher and author Steven Johnson was talking about his new book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. He spoke about the concept, perhaps the myth, of the “eureka moment,” the instant when an individual is struck by an idea, a lightning bolt of brilliance that will change the world.

What Johnson’s research shows is that such moments are rare. More often what happens is that over time an individ­ual develops an idea in collaboration with one or more other people whom he or she has regular contact with and input from. Rarely does innovation happen in isolation. Just as plants and animals adapt to be better fitted to their environment as a result of what they come into contact with so, too, do human beings. Our best thinking happens when we bump up against other people and their ideas. Johnson’s research reveals that when we humans have relationships with individuals who have different skills and come from different fields, our capac­ity to innovate increases. Specifically he found that inventors typically had social connections to people with very different backgrounds. What fed their new thinking was listening and learning from people with different ideas."

For me, this is a huge part of what Yestermorrow is all about. Bringing people together to share their ideas, their experiences, and their visions for the future. The result is never something that can be predicted, but inevitably the “eureka” moments come when students are working together to help each other figure out a solution neither would have come to on their own. Yestermorrow is a place where people who want to make the world a better place and who are hungry to learn can bump elbows, chat over dinner, and spark innovations that transcend the subject matter of any one class or topic. Good food for thought (thanks Ginny!).

-Kate Stephenson