Discover Jazz. 2015. Festival, Burlington, VT.

Photo: Just one of the many performances at the 2015 Discover Jazz Festival on the iconic Church Street.

Burlington will be bustling a bit more rhythmically starting June 3^rd until the 12^th. Discover Jazz’s 33^rd annual jazz festival presented by Northfield Savings Bank kicks off early this month featuring artists such as Juan De Marcos, Randy Newman, and Long Trail Live to stimulate Burlington’s streets. This is continuously one of the largest annual events in Vermont. Discover Jazz hosts the festival every year in hopes of raising awareness and appreciation for jazz music, showering the local community with education, and provide an opportunity for local artists to showcase themselves. The event is produced by the renowned Flynn center, so we’re all in for a treat. Steve and the LipVT team will definitely find themselves catching a few shows this June between showings!

To purchase festival tickets: https://discoverjazz.com/

An interesting business opportunity has slid on to the plate of Burlington multifamily property owners.

Photo: Building performance specialist Jeremy King inspects a Burlington multifamily property for heat fluctuation using an infrared camera.

There's been a long time tug-of-war between Burlington landlords and tenants. Why would a Burlington landlord fret over a tenant's high heating bill? On the contrary, why would a tenant give thought to maximizing a landlord's long-term investment in their property?

The simple answer: neither does. And that's exactly why numerous Burlington multifamily properties have been neglected as far as improvements go in the past years. 

Energy Champ, a program developed by Vermont Gas Systems and Burlington Electric Department, is a possible solution to the predicament. The program is split into two stages. Stage one for a landlord is having energy auditors conduct a walkthrough of the entire building. The auditors use tools such as infrared cameras to determine how well the structure retains heat, and calculate the investment a landlord would need to make to achieve total heat efficiency. Stage two of the program for the landlord is making the improvements suggested by the auditors.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Vermont Gas Systems and the Burlington Electric Department will cover up to 75% of the total improvement cost the landlords incurr. 

This has created an awesome opportunity for Queen City landlords. Not only can they do their part in making our planet energy efficient, but they can keep tenants in their properties longer as tenants tend to stay in an apartment longer the lower the heating bill is. They also have a darn good chance at increasing the resale value of their property more so than what they invested in Energy Champ. 

To read the full article: https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/life/green-mountain/2016/02/21/landlords-burlington-leap-energy-upgrades/80397658/