.

Housing Vermont
Applegate Apartments – Bennington, Vermont

Constructed in 1973, Applegate Apartments is among the largest affordable housing developments in the state. Half of the 104 households who call it home earn less than $20,000 annually. Housing Vermont initially purchased the property in 1997 ending nearly 25 years of poor management and beginning a round of moderate renovations.

Twenty years later it was time to address new concerns. Applegate was reportedly the highest heating oil user in Bennington County, consuming an average of 50,000 gallons of fuel oil annually. The centerpiece of the 2017 redevelopment was the construction of a central biomass plant which replaced 23 oil burners. The biomass system features a 1.8 million Btu wood chip boiler housed in a new mechanical building which also serves as wood chip storage. An insulated underground piping system was trenched and installed to deliver hot water to each of the 23 buildings. The system is projected to save about $80,000 in fuel costs and 422 tons of CO2 annually.