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The EnergyFirst Mortgage

An energy efficient home is more comfortable, more valuable, and can offer long-term savings but upfront costs often keep people from upgrading. To help you prioritize energy efficiency in your home, the EnergyFirst Mortgage reduces your costs by offering discounted interest rates and wrapping the costs of your home and your energy saving projects into one affordable loan.

What is the EnergyFirst Mortgage?

The EnergyFirst Mortgage is offered by VSECU as part of the Vermont Energy Mortgage Pilot Program, which is supported through a Department of Energy grant and Energy Futures Group (EFG).

The EnergyFirst Mortgage is available to VSECU members interested in incorporating home energy improvement projects into the refinancing of their mortgage. These energy improvement measures can include home weatherization, home heating system updates, energy efficiency appliance upgrades, and solar photovoltaic installation. The cost of the improvements must be at least 10% of the total loan amount.

VSECU offers a discounted interest rate for the EnergyFirst Mortgage as well as up to $1,000 to cover additional green appraisal and project inspection costs. Homeowners have free access to an Energy Coach, who will help to facilitate the process and answer questions about energy improvement projects. VSECU also offers a Savings Guarantee (click for Savings Guarantee).

From January 1-June 30, 2021, this product is only available to participants in the Vermont Energy Mortgage pilot program. The pilot is limited to 10 projects.

Project Partners

EFG has partnered with VSECU and others to develop this low-cost, innovative approach to financing energy improvements in existing homes. Additional partners on this project include ClearlyEnergy, which has developed the Energy Estimator tool and a web platform for this mortgage process, and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), which has worked to assemble an Advisory Committee to provide input on the process. Efficiency Vermont supports the EnergyFirst Mortgage through their suite of energy efficiency services, programs and incentives including Home Performance with ENERGY STAR and the Vermont Home Energy Profile building energy label. Members of the Building Performance Professionals Association of Vermont provide home energy assessments, complete the energy improvements, and deliver U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Home Energy Scores.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, SC-1 under Award Number DE-SC0020825.

Participating Contractors

Business Contact Name Address Email and Office Phone
Building Energy Northeast VT Tim Smith 1570 South Brownell Road, Williston, VT 05495 tsmith@buildingenergyus.com
802-859-3384
Montpelier Construction Malcolm Gray 164 Plainfield Brook Road, Barre, VT 05641 malcolm@montpelierconstruction.com
802-479-5882
Reiss Building and Renovation Chuck Reiss 756 Buck Hill Road West, Hinesburg, VT 05461 vbrreiss@gmavt.net
802-482-3295; 802-238-7802

Contact Information for Participating Homeowners

Get started or learn more: Call Lisa LaSante at 802-371-3170 or apply today at www.vsecu.com/mortgages.