Ever wonder what your friends and neighbors are doing in terms of sustainable technologies and renewable energy solutions? Time to come on inside and find out for yourself! NESEA’s highly successful Green Buildings Open House is scheduled for October 2, from 10 AM to 4 PM in locations around the Northeast, including here at Yestermorrow. Last year, more than 16,000 people toured some 500 sites from Maine to Pennsylvania, and this year’s event is expected to be even bigger!

For a complete list of locations in your area (or to learn more about building features or fuel types) go to http://www.nesea.org/openhouse/listings/ and search the NESEA GBOH database.
For the past 14 years, the GBOH program has inspired thousands of individuals to learn about and implement energy efficient and renewable energy solutions in their homes. The goal of the GBOH event is to enable participants to see, firsthand, energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements in their communities and subsequently motivate them to adopt similar solutions themselves. At host sites, participants are able to talk with home and business owners, ask questions, and see how their renewable energy technologies actually work. GBOH also connects building owners and managers with professionals who can provide them with sustainable energy services or energy efficiency retrofits.

As host sites register, detailed information and photos of the buildings' innovative energy features are posted, providing an ongoing educational tool (see Yestermorrow's listing at http://www.nesea.org/Scripts/googleMaps/detail.php?id=610). Just a few of the features you can see here at Yestermorrow include: a composting toilet, daylighting, Energy Star appliances, FSC certified wood, two green roofs, grid tied photovoltaics, heat recovery ventilation, local materials (slate, stone, wood), passive solar, recycled materials, solar domestic hot water, straw bale, and super insulated walls/roofs.

Talk to the people who are in the trenches – what worked, what didn’t work, what they may be thinking about doing next. There is something really powerful about homeowners talking to other homeowners and sharing what they’ve learned. This is how change happens ‐ be a part of it!