The City of Burlington, Vermont’s goal is to reduce, and eventually eliminate, fossil fuel usage. In this podcast series, Burlington’s Director of Sustainability Jennifer Green and her guests will be sharing ways we can all reduce our energy usage for heating, driving, and everything else we plug in.
Episodes
Walk To Shop | Debra Sachs
About 90% of people who live in Burlington live within 1,500 steps or a short 15-minute walk of a market. While grocery shopping is a universal task, most people are in the habit of driving to the grocery store. Debra Sachs came by our studio to discuss Walk to Shop, a non-profit program that offers shopping trolleys at cost – or fully subsidized to many Burlingtonians in need.
Electric Lawn Equipment | Peggy O’Neill-Vivanco
Peggy O’Neill-Vivanco from the Vermont Clean Cities Coalition talks about residential and commercial advantages of switching your lawn care to electric tools. O’Neill-Vivanco and host Jennifer Green also discuss the many rebates available for helping Burlingtonians make the switch.
Burlington City and Lake | Chenoa and Finley
Burlington High Schoolers Chenoa and Finley discuss their semester in the innovative Burlington City and Lake program learning about how every aspect of the city affect our lives.
New Construction Charter Change | Sebbi Wu & Darren Springer
Sebbi Wu, Climate and Equity Advocate at VPIRG, and BED GM Darren Springer discuss the City of Burlington charter change that affects new construction. They also talk about the equity ballot question, our new Net Zero Energy yard signs, and the new rental weatherization policy.
Electric Cooking With Induction – Chef Chris Galarza
Chef Chris Galarza is the founder of Forward Dining Solutions which is a resource for electric induction cooking. Chris consults with large commercial restaurants and with homeowners about the co-benefits moving away from gas cooking to electric.
Burlington 2030 District – Jenna Antonino Dimare
Directed by Jenna Antonino DiMare, the Burlington 2030 District is public-private partnership that encourages commercial property owners and building managers in our city to reduce fossil fuel use from buildings, transportation and through stormwater mitigation.
Chief Forester Betsy Lesnikoski
Betsy Lesnikoski, BED’s Chief Forester, ensures that the wood burned at McNeil is harvested sustainably and ethically.
Burlington Architect Jesse Beck
Burlington Architect Jesse Beck discusses his unique house in Burlington — that his wife calls “the boxcar on stilts” — and how they’re “cutting the pipe” and transitioning it to Net Zero Energy. Jesse also shares his work with the Burlington 2030 District, a private/public partnership working to reduce building energy consumption. Jesse and Jennifer also talk about the City of Burlington Historic Buildings’ Path to Net Zero Energy guide.
Driving EVs in New England – Suzanne Garrity
Burlingtonian Suzanne Garrity shares her experience driving her new electric vehicle all over New England – not just around town. She was able to make the transition more easily than she had expected.
Passive House – Arthur Chukhman
Arthur Chukhman specializes in Passive House which is a standard for constructing homes with ultra-low energy use for heating and cooling. Arthur built and lives in Burlington’s first passive house located in the Old North End. Even if this level of efficiency isn’t possible for you, there are so many individual ideas and strategies we can take away from the standard and apply to our own homes.