Vermont Smart Growth Collaborative Endorsement

Thistle Hill has been endorsed by the Vermont Smart Growth Collaborative for its design features.  After looking at what we at Sterling Construction have been doing for years, and what we try to do on "all" our neighborhoods, we found we met the Smart Growth Collaborative criteria, and we applied for their endorsement. 

We think it is just Smart. 

Noelle MacKay, the Executive Director of Smart Growth Vermont wrote: "On behalf of the Vermont Smart Growth Collaborative, I am pleased to announce that your Thistle Hill project located in Hinesburg has met our Housing Endorsement Criteria and received our endorsement.  We are delighted that you chose to participate in this program.  We hope that your project will encourage more smart growth housing projects throughout Vermont - ones that can also serve as models for developers and communities.

Your project received a high score from our review committee due to its mixture of housing types, trail and recreational opportunities, proximity to key services, and the village core and clustered design that protects farmland and wetlands...Thank you again for your efforts on behalf of smart growth."

South Village In addition to Thistle Hill, Sterling is building its first "Net Zero" home in South Village, located in South Burlington.  This home will generate as much energy as the home consumes.  The solar panels on the roof are but one component of the home: super insulated walls and attic, energy storage tank in the basement, hight-tech windows and more all contribute to the Net-Zero energy consumption.

Efficiency  Some call it "Green", some call it "socially responsible", some call it "sustainable".  Each term comes with it's own baggage but we at Sterling have been doing it since before it was cool, or well... hot.  Sterling was one of the first major Chittenden county builders to begin certifying all our homes to the U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR Home standards and that we have certified over 50 ENERGY STAR Homes since 2001.  We have built five LEED certified homes in South Village and continue to push forward.  Collin has worked hard to lead Home Builders green activities locally and has been certified through the National Association of Home Builders as a Certified Green Professional.   What it all means to our customer is a more comfortable home constructed primarily using time tested methods while always continuing to look for improvements with an eye on overall value.

Collin has been a guest speaker and member at many different venues in favor of Green practices:  Vermont Green Home Alliance; National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Raleigh, NC- May 2010; Build Boston-November 2011; and is continually asked to return to the University of Vermont as a guest speaker.

To learn more about "green" please explore the Vermont Green Home Alliance web site.  This web site is a result of a lot of hard work by like minded organizations who care about green to try to define and simplify a complex and slightly nebulus concept.  Collin represented Home Builders of VT during the creation of this page.

To learn more about National Green Building Certification, please click on the links below to follow Collin through his informational lecture given as a guest teacher at the University of Vermont.

National Green Building Certification (Part I of II) http://vimeo.com/11899729