Unprecedented increases in the cost of energy mean owners and managers of multifamily properties will face budget challenges this coming winter.

VHFA Director of Multifamily Programs Sam Falzone has just issued a memo outlining these challenges and offering a number of tips to owners and managers of VHFA-financed properties to help lessen the blow of growing heating costs.

"Clearly, energy savings are no longer just desirable but are now absolutely necessary," Sam writes. "If you have been reluctant to implement previous efficiency recommendations, now is the time to call us and discuss doing so."

Read the complete memo (57 KB; PDF).

I had the good luck to attend An Event Apart, a Web designers conference in Boston, earlier this week.

During the final session of the two-day event, I had the even better luck to join Jeffrey Zeldman, arguably the "godfather" of modern Web design, on stage for a quick, impromptu critique of Vermont Housing Data, the Web site I designed/developed as part of a team of staff members from VHFA and the University of Vermont's Center for Rural Studies.

VHFA Staff Accountant Ashley Lamell received the seventh weekly award in the Agency's walking program.

Ashley won a bagful of VHFA-branded goodies for continuously improving her mileage for the past three weeks.

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.

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.