The green in Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity (GMHfH) will be greener in 2010. For more than 10 years, GMHfH has been building 5-star energy-rated houses for their Partner Families in need. This spring in Charlotte, GMHfH will begin building the first house in New England to meet the new passive solar standards set by the Passive House Institute. Not only will it be the first of its kind in terms of energy efficiency, it will also be the first affordable Habitat house to meet this stringent green standard.

As we began thinking about all of the exciting possibilities this new project holds for us, we decided to expand this green thinking to other parts of our organization. In the coming year, we hope to involve our volunteers, our Partner Families, and our supporters in this new initiative.

We plan to offer educational workshops to our Partner Families and the general public. These workshops will focus on ways everyone can make their home more energy efficient. We will look for opportunities to use our material resources more creatively and form new partnerships to allow us to expand the scope of our work.

We will be using e-mail to communicate more efficiently and effectively in the months ahead. You can help us go green by signing up to receive our newsletter and other announcements via e-mail by visiting our website: http://www.vermonthabitat.org/gmh/sign-up