Vermont Housing & Conservation Board - Vermont Legislature

s The Randolph Area Community DevelopmentCorporation cleaned up a brownfield andcompleted 14 new family rental apartmentsadjacent to the downtown on this vacant industrialsite sold to them at minimal cost by EthanAllen Furniture. t Following a fire, the City ofMontpelier donated this vacant, former schoolbuilding to the Montpelier Senior Center and theCapital City Housing Foundation. Fourteen newapartments (12 with project-based rental assistance)were developed for seniors and personswith disabilities; the Senior Center operates onthe ground floors. Highly energy-efficient, thebuilding has a wood-pellet burning furnace anduses solar photovoltaics to generate electricity.Gossens Bachman Architects photovhcb undertook a significant amount of policy work in 2012, adopting newmulti-family energy efficiency standards, a policy for service-supported housing,updating the core vhcb housing policy, and adopting new standards and guidelinesfor administration of home program funds. vhcb also led a policy initiative tofind energy efficient alternatives for older, energy-inefficient mobile homes, andworked with the State’s Thermal Efficiency Task Force to advance the delivery ofenergy efficiency services to the affordable multi-family housing sector.In 2012 we wrapped up a few grant-funded special projects: an ARRA-fundedenergy efficiency initiative, MacArthur Foundation housing preservation activitiesand a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation initiative tracking energy usage in permanentlyaffordable housing with deep energy retrofits. Federal housing resourcesavailable for housing production, renovation and preservation diminished significantlyduring 2012, increasing the competition for resources that remain. In lightof these substantial federal cuts, vhcb remains extremely grateful for the State ofVermont’s support of housing programs that serve lower-income Vermonters.25• Supporting the acquisition, renovation,and preservation of subsidized,federally assisted affordable housingdevelopments in perpetuity• Revitalizing downtowns and historicneighborhoods• Supporting innovative ideas (theHomeland program for shared appreciationhousing, the SASH programthat uses housing as a platform forservice delivery to frail elders, alternativeenergy systems, and assistedliving)• Encouraging projects that meet multipleVHCB goals, often includinghistoric preservation and, in somecases, land conservation• Correcting environmental or healthissues to create safer, healthierliving environments (remediation ofbrownfields, lead paint hazard reduction,replacement of failing septic orwater systems, especially in mobilehome parks, mold and fire hazardremediation)Years Investing in Vermont’s Housing10,780 affordable homes and apartments• Responding to urgent communityneeds such as funding redevelopmentafter a fire has destroyed a keydowntown structure• Expanding existing programs anddeveloping new programs to meetidentified needs• Building, expanding, and improving astrong professional housing deliverysystem• Helping the State of Vermont meetits overall objectives (Irene recovery,energy conservation, and housingthe poorest and most vulnerableVermonters)• Promoting conservation and theefficient use of resources in affordablehousing (energy efficiency,water conservation, renovation ofexisting buildings to create affordableapartments)• Increasing our focus on asset managementand stewardship to ensurethe public investment is protectedover time4 / Celebrating 25 Years