Five organizers are winners of Green Energy Grant program

MIDDLEBURY — Addison County Economic Development Corp. (ACEDC) announced the five winners of its Green Energy Grant program at its recent annual meeting. Each grant is valued at $500 and will be used for innovative green energy projects that will have an impact on businesses and residents of Addison County.

The five winners are:

• Caroline’s Dream in East Middlebury, for the purchase of a cargo bicycle for wholesale delivery and pickup of supplies in Addison County. This company has been a leader in recycling, green packaging, and organic and sustainable ingredients from the beginning. This bike will provide the opportunity to take Caroline’s Dream to the next level of environmental leadership.

• Vermont Integrated Architecture in Middlebury, for daylight harvesting blinds and cellular shades to take advantage of natural light and reduce overnight heat loss. This grant will allow VIA to demonstrate the advantages to clients and reap the resulting energy savings.

• Vermont Adult Learning in Addison County, for insulating window shades as part of a larger project to reduce energy costs. This will also allow HOPE, their current landlord, to reduce costs and provide more revenue to disburse to community members in need. It will also allow VAL to spend more of its resources on students than operating costs.

• Middlebury Safe Routes/town of Middlebury, for a Navigating Middlebury by Bicycle outreach pamphlet to educate the community on how to navigate Middlebury safely and in observance of Vermont’s rules of the road and Middlebury’s new bike ordinance. A companion piece will be an MCTV video project.

• Bixby Library in Vergennes, for installation of four interior storm windows in the basement multi-purpose room. Due to the historic nature and unusual design of the windows, the storms need to be custom-made and set on the interior (not the exterior) of each window. This project will result in a savings on fuel (and therefore a reduction in the carbon footprint), a more comfortable work and meeting space, and a springboard of awareness and success from which to tackle other large and small energy-related problems in the building.

ACEDC member Efficiency Vermont will be available to assist each organization with finding the best possible products to achieve their goals. Three of the five winners, Caroline’s Dream, Vermont Integrated Architecture and the town of Middlebury, are members of ACEDC.