Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS), the economic development organization behind the CEDS, announced the plan’s top dozen projects during a press event at the River Garden on January 12. The Sustainable Energy Outreach Network (SEON) was one of the 12 making the list.
The selection team recognized the critical role SEON plays to develop the “Green Building Products, Services, and Research” Industry Cluster in the effort to transform our local economy. SEON not only hopes to serve as the coordinating hub for the project, but currently is the premier organization providing learning systems to this region’s green energy practitioners through its Building Science Guild and the invaluable assistance of Peter Yost from BuildingGreen, Inc. SEON serves a key networking role by representing this region’s “Green” assets to prospective entrepreneurs and businesses interested in locating to an area rich with intellectual, natural, technology assets.
The Sustainable Energy Outreach Network (SEON), a network of green-building experts, submitted a new project seeking funds to offset two years of operational expenses and non-employee compensation for future SEON activities.
According to Guy Payne, SEON’s executive director, although SEON’s all-volunteer board has accomplished much, “all-volunteer” will become unsustainable as the organization expands.
In recent years, SEON has facilitated statewide collaborations among workers in the green building sector. The organization hosts a monthly meeting for people in the industry to mentor each other.
SEON member Peter Yost of Building Green is collaborating with the Windham Regional Career Center in Brattleboro to design a course on the fundamentals of green building for high school students.
According to Payne, the course would teach the physics of how air, moisture, and heat move through buildings.
Photo Credit: Patrick Bald