Wentworth I

Wentworth Community Housing

Located in White River Junction, Vermont, gbA teamed with Twin Pines Housing and Evernorth to create 30 one and two bedroom apartments, 21 of which are rented at rates affordable to low income Vermonters. The project received the majority of its funding from federal tax credits and a loan awarded by VHFA.  Construction included three stories of apartments over a parking structure for residents.  There is also a business office and community room with a kitchen on the first floor, and site amenities that include: shared laundry, common outdoor space, a community patio, raised garden beds, a playground, and access to natural trails and woodlands.

Each unit has views to the woods and offers ample natural daylight.  The property is pushed back into the slope of a hill that overlooks Lily Pond in one direction and Sykes Mountain in the other. “The project feels like you are in a treehouse,” according to Twin Pines Housing Trust’s executive director, Andrew Winter.

The project’s sustainable features include one of the tightest building envelopes ever tested in New England with a blower door test result of .0375 CFM50/sf which is well below the Passive House standard for air tightness.  Most of its energy is coming from the sun per a 70KW DC photovoltaic array.  The array supplies the tenants’ electrical demands as well as powers the buildings HVAC and ERV system.  This produces 80,500kWh of energy a year which offsets much of the annual carbon emissions of the tenants.