Efficiency Vermont announces Vermont homebuilder of the year
Burlington, VT
Builder Chet Pasho of Hartland, Vermont, has been named Residential New Construction Partner of the Year by Efficiency Vermont. The award recognizes exceptional achievement in constructing energy efficient homes that provide lower energy and maintenance costs, superior comfort and air quality, strong resale value, and durability.
“Chet has been a leader in the residential building industry for decades,” said Peter Schneider, Senior Energy Consultant with Efficiency Vermont. “Chet started incorporating advanced framing and air sealing techniques into his projects well before other builders and he is still at the forefront of homebuilding innovation.”
Case in point: After 35 years of building custom homes, Mr. Pasho came out of retirement to plan and develop a New Hampshire production facility for efficient modular homes. It was there, at Preferred Building Systems, that Mr. Pasho spearheaded the development and construction of the first modular home in North America to meet the Passive House standard for low-energy demand met by renewable energy sources.
Five years later, he attempted retirement again. Within a year, Tropical Storm Irene hit, damaging more than 15% of Vermont’s mobile homes. Mr. Pasho returned to the workforce to help develop specifications for replacement mobile homes. The effort grew into his collaboration, in 2013, with Vermod High Performance Mobile Homes, manufacturing the first high-efficiency mobile homes. These structures are designed to be more weather resistant, provide better indoor air quality and comfort, and have much lower energy costs than typical manufactured homes. Features include super-insulated shells, renewable energy systems, and efficient lighting, appliances, and ventilation. The first of these homes, completed in 2013, is expected to have energy costs of less than $16 per month.
Self-described as having a “curious, twisted mind that wants to know why”, Mr. Pasho explains his approach as “how can we accomplish this” instead of “it can’t be done because that’s not the way we do it”.
“Chet practices what he promotes, which is high-performance homes,” said Peter Schneider. “With this award, he receives deserved recognition for his ongoing contributions to the efficient homebuilding industry.”
The Residential New Construction Partner of the Year award was presented on February 5th at Efficiency Vermont’s annual Better Buildings by Design conference in Burlington. This is the Northeast’s premier design and construction conference, focusing on building efficiency, durability, and value. More than 1,000 leading building design professionals and construction tradespeople attended. Also recognized at the conference were the designers and builders of the year’s top energy efficient residential and commercial renovations and new buildings.
About Efficiency Vermont
As the nation’s first Energy Efficiency Utility, Efficiency Vermont has helped Vermont avoid over 13.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence award for the last eight consecutive years. Efficiency Vermont works with partners to help our state transition to more affordable, low carbon energy use through education, incentives, and support for our clean energy workforce. Learn more at www.efficiencyvermont.com.
Efficiency Vermont Press Contact
Matthew Smith
Phone: (802) 540-7662
[email protected]