Step It Up II: Don't Be A Fool...Carpool

On Saturday morning November 3rd at 11:00 AM Yestermorrow will host our second Step It Up event. This one--the Pre-event, Local Lunch and Valley Carpool Rally--will start with some very short inspirational speeches; continue with a group picture and a local food tailgate feed; and end with carpooling to the max to get folks to the Step It Up II: Who are the Leaders in Montpelier. Check out what's going on at: http://stepitup2007.org/ and if our 05674 event is not in your neighborhood, find one that is!

Barn Raising Sunday October 27, 2007

Costa Rica class graduates Gillian and Russell Comstock are hosting a barn raising this Sunday at the Metta Earth Institute in Lincoln, Vermont. The structure composed of hand-hewn, on-site harvested timber and materials recycled from a post and beam barn will be transformed into one of the new buildings at their retreat. So come one and come all and help them raise their barn. For directions, details, contact information and to learn more about MEI visit: http://www.mettaearth.org/

We wish them well!

Friends of Yestermorrow offer Thailand Workshops

Our friends at Seven Generations Natural Builders will be offering two natural building courses in Thailand this winter. Read on to learn more about these opportunities:

In less than a decade, earth building has been embraced by many Thai communities as an appropriate building technology---economically, environmentally, socially, and spiritually. The speed by which earth construction has been adopted, the community support and training, and the number of homes and structures built provides an outstanding example and inspiration for those of us in industrialized countries. These two two-week natural building courses in Thailand will bring together Thai and non-Thai students to work on the building of a kitchen and children’s play house at the Whispering Seed community. As a collaboration with Whispering Seed (http://sgnb.createsend3.com/t/1/l/dittu/ptljlt/www.whisperingseed.org ), a children’s home and community living and learning center on the Thai-Burmese border, students will spend two weeks learning the fundamentals of earth construction, gaining an understanding of the characteristics of different sediments (clay, sand, silt), and how to use a variety of techniques to create earthen building materials----from abode block, to cob, to wattle and daub, plaster, and more. The Thailand courses are unique in several respects: the student body will combine Western students and local Thai, Burmese and Karen students to facilitate cross-cultural experiences and learning; construction of a kitchen and children’s play building using earth and local resources at a Thai children’s home is one of the purest examples of the possibilities and benefits of natural building in bringing people together as a community to help others; unlike most cob courses in temperate and desert North America, students will learn techniques for earth construction in tropical and subtropical climates incorporating bamboo, thatch, and round wood carpentry. Tuition covers room and board at Whispering Seed, as well as subsidizes the Thai, Burmese and Karen students’ participation. Tuition for one of the two-week courses is $1000, for students that wish to enroll in both classes the total tuition is $1500. Enrollment is limited to 10 foreign students per workshop and because of travel/logistic issues the enrollment deadline is December 7, 2007. For more information, or to register, visit the Seven Generations Natural Builders website, http://sgnb.com/workshops.php.

Yestermorrow Featured in Seven Days

This week's Seven Days newspaper out of Burlington included a feature story on Yestermorrow entitled "Raising the Roof: A Waitsfield design/build school drafts post-carbon plans". Check it out at: http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2007/raising-the-roof.html.

Fly South for the Winter

Do you want to find a warm place to learn this Winter? Are you dedicated enough to take Yestermorrow's longest class? If you answered both of those questions in the affirmative you should consider Design/Build in the Dominican Republic running from January 3-2o, 2008. But you better act now because spaces are limited and the deadline for this popular class is November 16th.

So what does that have to do with the building at right? This is a tea house built here in Warren by Sandy Lawton who is one of the course instructors. To see more of pictures of this wonderful structure please visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/arrodesign/BlackTreehouseCompletedProject

And think seriously about hanging out with Sandy and Kyle Bergman in the Dominican Republic. You will be very glad you did!

THANKS!!!!!!

Thanks to our loyal students and blogsters (I have no idea if that is a word) Yestermorrow seems to be maintaining a comfortable, fifty-three percent lead in the Yert.com Vermont video choice poll. That means that the Yertians (also not sure this is a word) will be issuing a new video that will feature more on Yestermorrow. Stayed tuned, but until then, here is a new link for the current Yert video with Yestermorrow clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM09pV05DV0

as well as the link to Yestermorrow's own video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5amc7ULrOkg

It’s Not Your Daddy’s Factory Built Home

It is often wondered whether people of normal means can afford a truly green, energy efficient house designed by an architect for their lifestyle and their particular site – especially if that site is in the snow-belt. Five Vermont architecture firms have spent over a year studying this question and their explorations have revealed the remarkable potential of factory built homes.

Five different design solutions were created for an actual 3-acre site in Manchester, Vermont. All went beyond the highest Energy Star rating and some even met the highest LEED rating (US Green Building Council’s national metric for green buildings). Designs ranged in cost from $75/s.f. to $200.00/s.f. depending on the size and number being built. While most designs were around 2500 s.f., some studio designs are as little as 800.

These designs will be on display at the Burlington’s City Hall in the Metropolitan Gallery Nov. 1 thru Nov. 15. Additionally, on November 7th at 5:30 pm, there will be a special presentation and panel discussion led by the architects and manufacturers of the projects. Refreshments will be served and there will be printed information available for those interested in green, affordable housing.

This effort is organized under the auspices of the Vermont Chapter of the Congress of Residential Architecture (CORAvt) and sponsored by CSI, RK. Miles Building Supply, Hastings Inc. and others.

Congrats to Bill Maclay and NRG Systems

Congratulations to long-term Yestermorrow board member Bill Maclay and his architectural team for having their design for the NRG Systems building in Hinesburg, Vermont selected as the cover photograph for the fall 2007 issue of Northeast Sun. The magazine which is published by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association is one of our favorites--as are Bill (whose office is constantly helping us with the campus plan and far too frequent printing assistance) and NRG's co-founder David Blittersdorf (who spoke here during our summer lecture series). Congratulations and many thanks to both of you for supporting Yestermorrow and having the collective vision to produce a work environment that not only produces 70% or so of its own power but also supports programs that reduce the collective carbon footprint of those that work in this cutting edge structure.

Green Shirts Invade Yestermorrow

Ten young people from the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps recently descended upon Yestermorrow as part of the perfect barter arrangement. They were seeking cob building skills, Yestermorrow was seeking laborers to help finish a cob garden wall. Five days later and voila: the cob wall is much closer to completion, and the VYCC'ers are now cob-handy. Gotta love it!

Too much fun!

I'm muddier than you.

Next generation of natural builders.

Crew chief Josh says, "Awesome! Less work for me."

The garden wall, closer to completion.

How Can We Make Everywhere Vermont?

Ever wonder why Yestermorrow evolved in Vermont and not somewhere else? Part of that question is answered in the video below. The short clip shows that Vermont is a veritable hotbed for sustainability. We rock in that regard, but the good news is that we also wish that we could export this valuable commodity as far and as fast as possible. So take a gander at the video and ship it far and wide. And vote for your favorite segment. (Hint: From our perspective, Yestermorrow would be a choice).

http://blog.yert.com/2007/09/22/new-video-yertpod10-seeding-is-believing-in-vermont/

Also, take some time to follow the travels of the YERT team. Invite them into your homes and let them tell your stories of sustainability.

Cobbers of the Future

This just in from Certificate in Sustainable Building and Design student Stacey Corbin: "I thought you might enjoy these pictures from this past weekend at Yestermorrow.
Beatrix Holloway took the Intro to Cob class with Tim and Andy earlier this month. This past weekend she drove her entire family back to Yestermorrow to volunteer on the garden wall for a day of cobbing. We spent the day teaching everyone about cobbing, mixing, building, and getting nice and dirty. Now the wall has a few more inches of cob on it as well as even more beautiful joy and energy in there...good times! I thought you might want to use the pics of the kids for the blog to show people neat things like this that happen at Yestermorrow on what seems like a regular basis."

yestermorrow moments

there are some pretty sweet visuals here at yestermorrow, in some unexpected places. these pics were taken one quiet wednesday afternoon.

The house of my dreams

During the summer of 2006 I decided to begin investigating the home building process. I had a nice, sunny building spot that was ready to go and needed to look at all of the different ways I might transform this piece of land into a place to call home.

I'm the bookkeeper at Yestermorrow, so this has given me a great opportunity to talk with instructors and students, and to also be on the cutting edge of new construction techniques that come along.

First I took Danny Sagan's "Green Home Design" class and found out about materials to use for my home - local lumber, asphalt shingles and cement slab v.s. dug foundation. I sketched out a floor plan that was efficient and compact. I looked through Danny's extensive collection of books and magazines and learned about a wide assortment of green home characteristics.

Next, I signed up for Robert Riversong's week-long class on "The Super-Insulated Home". His technique used the "larsen truss" system where the walls were a foot thick, and blown-in cellulose insulation provided the home with an envelope of protection from the frigid Vermont winds and the hot summer sun. The foundation would be a frost-protected insulated slab with radiant heat tubing to keep my toes warm all winter and a terra-cotta color would be added to the cement to give a beautiful finish to the floor surface.

I was very impressed with Robert's knowledge with the building system he has spent years developing, so asked him to help me come up with a design that would work for me, and then I wanted him to get a crew together and build my new home.

The final house plan, which was a result of many hours of work, has the first floor (approximately 1000 sq. feet) completely self-contained and handicap accessible with a mud room/laundry room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, office nook, and living room with a wide window seat. I'll be able to close off the upstairs if I don't need to use the two bedrooms and extra bath up there. I also rent out rooms to Yestermorrow students, so if you are looking for lodging, I'm Chez Carol on the on-line registration page.

Addditions to this blog will happen when I have more time available, but for now, please see the photos of some different stages of the construction, and feel free to visit the house-in-progress! Go up the Sugarbush Access Road in Warren, take the second right (Lower Pines Road) and keep going until you see #168 on the right. If you want a tour, please give me a call at (802) 496-3153 and I'd be happy to take you through my new home.

2 Chances to Own a Piece of Architectural History--The Dimetrodon

Many Yestermorrowites have toured them. Many of the Prickly Mountain babies grew up in them. And now ordinary people have a chance to own a unit or two in this early '70s experiment in communal living. Check out details on the units below:

http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Condos/VT/Warren/593483

http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Condos/VT/Warren/591536

Yestermorrow Solar Trailer Marches for a Better Future

Fresh from its award-winning performance in the Warren 4th of July parade, Yestermorrow's ever popular solar trailer made another public appearance--this time in New Hampshire. Look close at the picture above and you will see the brave little trailer's solar panels peaking out from the back row. The solar trailer is surrounded by marchers from New Hampshire participating in a foot-powered plea to cut fossil fuel use and encourage the use of renewable energy. The walk was part of the Step It Up effort. Let's hear it for fossil freedom.

Natural Building Intensive Open House

Dear colleagues, students, friends, and neighbors,

We would like to invite you to an open house at Linda Lloyd's garden folly on Friday, August 10. This project is the culmination of Yestermorrow's inaugural Natural Building Intensive program, and embodies the design creativity, imagination, sweat and labor of several dozen students and multiple instructors who have put their energy into the project since mid-May. Eight students in particular signed on for the entire project---from start to finish---and will be recognized on the 10th with a graduation ceremony. The Natural Building Intensive enabled these students and instructors to bring together stone, wood, earth, and straw to create a beautiful, whimsical structure.

Please come and join us from 4-6pm as we celebrate our work and community.

Directions to the site: from the center of Warren Village, cross the covered bridge, turn left and the garden folly will be on your immediate right.
About the project: one of the students has created a blog to document the process, with lots of photos, which you can view at: http://townsquarecreative.com/naturallybuilt/.

Questions? Call the Yestermorrow office at 802-496-5545.

Fossil Free Chariot Wows 'em at July 4th Festivities

Yestermorrow staff and interns, along with some help from the Mad River Sustainability Group (MrsG) put on a dynamic show before 10,000 spectators lining the parade route during Warren, Vermont's infamous 4th of July Festivities.

The parade theme, "Fueling the Future," prompted a variety of energy-related floats, but Yestermorrow had the upper-hand, entering the float conceptualization phase with a prime prop in it's back pocket: the school's solar powered portable generating unit. Some creative thinking by MrsG head Nils Behn got things rolling and the unit quickly was transformed into the "Fossil Free Chariot."

Interns Keith Case, Shirn Kier and Bo White, after much head scratching, then designed and built a yoke with which to harness the trusty steeds for effective chariot pulling. Costumes and capes fashioned by staffer Monica DiGiovianni provided the finishing touches.

But what was the message, you ask? That's where the drama kicked in. The chariot, fueled by the peddle powering Eco-Warriors, is attacked by King CONG (that's Coal, Oil, Nuclear, and Gas) accompanied by his evil atom girls (DiGiovanni and intern Meredith Bridges). Fended off by Captain Yestermorrow (executive director Bob Ferris) and MrsG's Volt Man (Dennis Derryberry), CONG (Kier) reaches into his bag 'o tricks and pulls out copies of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, which he promptly feeds into a paper shredder powered by the solar chariot.

Good drama is all about the symbolism....

The judges offered up the prestigious "Best Bicycle" award for their efforts.

The Fossil-Free Chariot races toward renewable energy future.

Evil King CONG threatens the eco-warriors.

Encore!

Former Intern Wins Tri-State Prize

Jessa Turner (Summer 2006) translated life experiences and her time at Yestermorrow into prize money and fame this past May. Congratulations, Jessa! To learn more about what she did to win visit: http://www.berea.edu/bcnow/story.asp?ArticleID=1021 She is living the Yestermorrow life and making the world a better, more sustainable place.

I Don't Want Another Stinking Tie!

Fathers around the world are united in their frustration regarding Father's Day gifting. We at Yestermorrow have a solution: Why not let old dad pick out his own gift from among Yestermorrow's upcoming classes? So stop looking at that golfing sweater with matching argyle socks and get your father a Yestermorrow gift certificate. Just think about the fun the father in your life will have when the new catalogs come out in mid-July. Check out the options below.

www.yestermorrow.org/gift.htm

Yestermorrow Gets Active for Energy

Dear Yestermorrow Community:

I think it goes without saying that we are in a pickle when it comes to energy, global warming, and a whole host of other issues that revolve around or are related to the way we design and build our homes and communities. The problems are so serious and widespread that the Yestermorrow Board decided that the school could no longer stand on the sidelines and grumble. We took the extraordinary step last Friday of changing our by-laws to allow the board, staff and instructors to lobby where appropriate and needed.

Our first official action under this new regime is to call on Vermonters to contact Governor Douglas and ask him not to veto H-520 which is a key piece of legislation that would provide increased incentives and assistance to promote energy conservation and renewables. It is not a perfect bill, but is one that was fairly negotiated and endorsed by groups such as Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.

We hope that Governor Douglas will listen to reason and take this action that helps all Vermonters take the right steps for our planet and our children. If he does not listen, then there will be an effort to override the veto in the legislature. Contact the Governor now at the below link and also let your local legislators know how you feel.

http://www.vermont.gov/governor/contact.html

Let's lead the way so that others may follow,

Bob Ferris
Executive Director