Courtesy of our friends at Yestermorrow Design / Build School

Beginning in 2009, the $2,000 cap on photovoltaic systems will be lifted and the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will apply to the entire system cost. The $2,000 ITC cap on solar hot water systems remains. Detailed information on federal and state rebates, incentives and tax credits for all solar technologies and energy efficiency is available at the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy website - www.dsireusa.org.

A generous anonymous donor has created a $25,000.00 scholarship fund at Yestermorrow Design/Build School. The donor has urged the School’s staff and Board of Directors to spend these monies before the end of the School’s fiscal year in March of 2009.

This fund will be used for potential students who want and need to take a Yestermorrow course, but do not have the resources for tuition, travel expenses or child care. Those interested in applying should do so as soon as possible, either by visiting the School’s website at www.yestermorrow.org, or calling the School at 888.496.5541. Email questions about the scholarship application should be directed to designbuild@yestermorrow.org.

More information can be found on the Yestermorrow web site.

Also of note, the History of Vermont’s Design/Build movement show at the Fleming Museum at UVM is definitely worth the trip.

In light of the financial mess that the world is in right now, and reflecting on what Willie Nelson said on Saturday at the Farm Aid 2008 launch, we are looking to solutions:

“agriculture is the backbone of our economy…if the bottom rung of the economic ladder is agriculture, and it falls in, everything else falls down”

Some folks in Tennessee are holding a Financial Permaculture conference using the small rural town of Hohenwald, TN as a prototype.

Join community investment experts, permaculture designers and sustainability entrepreneurs for this dynamic gathering and integrative educational experience of Greening an American Community. Learn valuable tools and skills in real life scenarios to address the economic and environmental challenges of 21st century America. In this real-time Green Business Development Summit we will explore creating forward looking sustainable businesses, money cycling, local investments, and optimizing the local natural and human resources to implement models of regenerative business and local sustainability.

Click for more info about financial permaculture and the conference.