Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative (commonly referred to as VSHI) is a non-profit organization that works to establish sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

 in the Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 heating sector. The organization advocates biomass

Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....

 fuels (especially wood pellets

Wood pellets

Wood pellets are a type of wood fuel, generally made from compacted sawdust or other wastes from sawmilling and other wood products manufacture, but also sometimes from sources such as whole-tree removal or tree tops and branches leftover after logging and which otherwise help replenish soil...

) over fossil fuels. In order to promote sustainability and reduce the expense of home heating for impoverished Vermonters, VSHI installs pellet stove

Pellet stove

A pellet stove is a stove that burns compressed wood or biomass pellets to create a source of heat for residential and sometimes industrial spaces...

s in low-income houses at no cost. VSHI also advocates for the sustainable development of local biomass sources for fuel.

History

In 2007 a group of students from Mount Abraham Union High School prepared a presentation on the subject of grass energy in Vermont. This presentation discussed both the environmental and economic impact that grass-derived biomass fuels would have on the Vermont economy. As of 2008 VSHI morphed from a loose coalition of students and educators to a state-registered nonprofit corporation.

In 2009 VSHI prepared a grant proposal in an attempt to obtain $30,000 to fund a feasibility study into solid biomass fuels. The proposal received support from a number of towns and was approved. As of 2010 VSHI has launched the Chittenden County Solid Biofuels Feasibility Study using the grant money in cooperation with

Pellet stoves

As part of its regular operations, VSHI works with LIHEAP recipients to place pellet stoves with low-income Vermont households. VSHI reviews applications from recipients in Addison, Chittenden, and Washington Counties and gives out pellet stoves in the fall accordingly. A total of seventeen pellet stoves have been given away to date. The cooperation with LIHEAP is currently run as a pilot project, but VSHI hopes to expand it in the future.