Past Event:

Christmas Tree Showcase Saturday, December 3, 2011 The First Congregational Church Williamstown

The annual Christmas Tree Showcase was held this year on Saturday, December 3rd at the First Congregational Church in Williamstown. Our goal was to raise funds as well as to educate the community about Habitat for Humanity and to give back to the community during the holiday season by offering a wonderful display of trees for all to enjoy.

The Showcase is part of the annual Williamstown Holiday Walk. Members of the community, schools, churches, local businesses and community organizations are invited to purchase miniature artificial trees for $5 each and to decorate them for the showcase and raffle.

In addition to the display and raffle of the miniature trees, the Showcase also has an Angel Tree, where an angel ornament could be bought in memory or honor of someone. We will also had a craft sale; the theme for the craft sale this year was decorative Christmas wreaths and we also had a wide selection of small gift baskets. All proceeds go towards our expenses on our current building project on Main Street in Williamstown, helping the Tim and Alecia Briggs family make a step up.

We would like to thank the many, many individuals, businesses, schools, non-profit organizations and youth organizations who purchase and decorate trees for us every year. We also thank Aladco Linens for their yearly donation of tablecloths for the showcase, and we thank the Mount Greylook and Williams students for their setup and takedown work. We greatly appreciate your support and generosity of time and money.

Past Event:

The Deep Energy Home Efficiency Workshop was co-sponsored by NBHfh and the Center for EcoTechnology (CET), Bershire Photovoltaic Services, COOL Williamstown and Northern Berkshire Transition. The workshop was held at the current NBHfH project and included demonstrations and examples of: Advanced Insulation and Air-Sealing Construction Techniques; Superior Window and Door Flashing Techniques, Infrared Thermal Scanning; Blower-Door Building Envelope Air Leakage Testing; Solar Sighting Evaluation; Indoor Air Quality; Concepts of Deep Energy Retrofits. The workshop was designed for building professionals as well as homeowners considering a major home renovation, addition or new home construction.

Past Event:

Deep Energy Retrofit Open House
Sunday, June 26, 2011 • 1 PM — 4 PM
37 Main Street • Williamstown, MA

National Grid will be sponsoring an Open House, with Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, showcasing the Deep Energy Retrofit of our project home.

NBHfH purchased this Williamstown property in November 2009. The Danaher House project, as it is known, has been designated to the Briggs family. Habitat collaborated with Ann McCallum of Burr and McCallum Architects to expand the house to include a half second story with bedrooms. As for all Habitat homes, this retrofit project has depended on donated materials and labor. Technical guidance provided by National Grid and Building Science Corporation along the way was crucial for helping the many volunteers reach the high construction standards demanded by the DER program.

The super-insulated enclosure includes an exterior insulation wall build-out, high performance windows, efficient heating equipment, balanced ventilation with heat recovery, and careful attention to air sealing. This is the first of two Habitat Deep Energy Retrofit projects receiving National Grid incentives in Massachusetts in 2011.

Here are some of the highlights of this Williamstown Cape retrofit project:

• Roof: R-60 with up to 18” loose fill cellulose in the attic
• Walls: R-36 with 4” of XPS rigid foam on exterior and dense-pack cellulose in cavities
• Basement walls: R-20 with XPS rigid foam on interior walls
  
• Basement floor: R-10 with 2" XPS rigid foam under a floating plywood floor
• Windows: R-5 Paradigm triple-glazed argon low-E double-hung replacement units
• Doors: R-5 Jeld-Wen insulated fiberglass units
• Heating and DWH: 95% efficient DOE AFUE condensing boiler with 52 gal. indirect water heater
• Ventilation: Balanced ventilation with 67% efficient Heat Recovery Ventilator

Heading east from Williamstown on Route 2, the house is on the right, just before Dion Management and the North Adams line, and diagonally across from Renton's Farmland Market.

Our new homeowners:

We have selected the Briggs family of North Adams as our new homeowners - Tim and Alecia and three children, Marleigh 8, Aurora 7, and Caelan 3. Tim recently received his bachelor's degree from MCLA with a major in Sociology and concentration in Social Work and plans to continue working toward a master's degree in Social Work at Spring field College. He works at the Brien Center in Pittsfield. Alecia is enrolled at Berkshire Community College in the Culinary Arts program. We look forward to working together with the family to renovate our current home.

List of 2011 Christmas Tree Showcase participants. Thank you one and all for your tree donations!!