Delivery: New units arrive at Tri-Park Cooperative Housing

BRATTLEBORO — Thirteen out of 18 homes slated to be delivered to West Brattleboro's Tri-Park Cooperative Housing have made it to the property, and residents are preparing to move in by August. The project, which began in the aftermath of 2011’s Tropical Storm Irene, has involved many local and state groups working to relocate homes from a floodway at Tri-Park Housing. Efficiency Vermont, an organization providing energy-efficiency services, rebates, and free sustainable energy solution consulting, was on scene coordinating delivery, celebrating the arrival of the all-electric, solar-ready, energy-efficient houses that use 65 percent less energy than standard manufactured homes. Matthew Smith, public relations manager at Efficiency Vermont, said the dwellings, known in the industry as advanced manufactured homes, exceed the Department of Energy’s Manufactured Homes minimum efficiency standards. "These homes will be extremely energy-efficient and well-insulated. They will be equipped with all-electric heating, cooling and hot water via heat pumps, high-efficiency appliances, lights and solar-ready roofs. All told, these homes will use about 65 percent less energy than the current federal baseline code, meaning significantly lower monthly bills for years to come," Smith said. Smith said that Efficiency Vermont (EVT) became involved with the project around 2023, with the goal of ensuring homes would have low monthly energy usage and bills. EVT will later assist with performance testing of the new homes before residents move in. "It's worth noting that many mobile or manufactured home residents have extremely high housing burdens, spending over 30 percent of their income on housing and energy, often relying on costly fossil fuels for heating. So affordability was key," he said. The two-birds-one-stone solution to helping residents save money and move from the flood zone, Smith said, is the homes that EVT helped design. "They want people to stay in the community, but they want homes that are actually affordable. So, the homes that Efficiency Vermont helped design that are going in are all electric, super energy efficient, super affordable, and fossil fuel free." The homes were delivered after being manufactured in Sangerfield, N.Y., by Titan Homes of New York. Smith said that EVT worked with the builders to adopt the Department of Energy standard for manufactured homes and raise it to a higher level of efficiency, making them more affordable for people living in them. "They will look like any other home," he continued. "The heating and the hot water are all electric. The other thing you can't really see is what's gone into the building's engineering. There is a ton of additional insulation and a ton of air sealing to keep the building high-performance. That means it doesn't require much energy to keep it at a stable temperature." Also included in the homes are energy recovery ventilation units. Without using a lot of energy, Smith said the units are mechanical systems that continuously exchange stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air while recovering heating or cooling energy from the exhausted air, which keeps air quality high and energy costs low. As for cost per square foot, Smith said that the homes cost $140 to $170 per square foot, compared to traditional affordable housing, which he says costs $350 to $550 per square foot. For current residents moving out of the floodplain, M&S Development Consultant Dan Ridlehoover says the out-of-pocket cost to the residents who are moving is nothing; they own their homes today, but will have to trade their current homes for the ability to participate in the project. Ridlehoover said the houses are largely paid for with grant funding from Vermont's Flood Resilient Communities Fund, but that the remaining amount will have residents take on two mortgages, which actually don't require them to pay anything. "One is a forgivable loan from Tri Park," Ridlehoovver said. "Tri Park has taken out some debt to do this project. Ten percent of that mortgage is forgiven each year for 10 years. There's no interest, so if they stay, they don't owe anything. The other mortgage is from the state's homeowner tax credit program, a down payment assistance program that pays $35,000 toward the homes on these individuals' behalf. When they sell them, that $35,000 goes back to the program. It's like a revolving loan fund." "In the meantime," Ridlehoover continued, "residents don't pay for that program either, so the out-of-pocket cost to the resident is nothing."