VHFA Director of Administration Pat Loller received the sixth weekly award in the Agency's walking program.

Pat won a VHFA hat and a Ben & Jerry's gift certificate for being the first to "reach the beach" on the coast of Maine.

VHFA's eight-week walking program encourages staff members to wear Agency-supplied pedometers to count their steps, increase their physical activity and "reach the beach."

We're tracking progress of each participant on a map representing a path from Burlington, Vt., to the coast of Maine.

This morning we revised our "Green Building and Design Standards" document to correct an editing error.

The new version fixes language in Section 6-R3 "Deconstruction and Construction Waste Management" on page 10. This was the only change.

If you downloaded the previous version or received a hardcopy of the same, please destroy it, and download the latest version.

The standards encourage developers who apply for VHFA financing and Housing Credits to embrace green practices, materials and design in the planning and construction of their buildings.

Vermont author Michelle Kennedy has been confirmed to deliver the keynote address at the Vermont Statewide Housing Conference on Nov. 18.

She's the author of 10 books, including 2005's "Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with Kids) in America." The book details her life at 24 as a recent ex-American University student and homeless mother living with three children in her station wagon.

VHFA Multifamily Management Officer Ann-Marie Plank received the fifth weekly award in the Agency's current walking program.

Ann-Marie won a gift certificate to Healthy Living Natural Foods in South Burlington in a random drawing of all participants who are still on the map.

We're in the midst of VHFA's eight-week walking program, encouraging staff members to wear Agency-supplied pedometers to count their steps, increase their physical activity and "reach the beach."