For generations, the triple decker home provided a reliable path for thousands of immigrants who dreamed of becoming homeowners. But, today, things are changing.

Andrea French is the VP of Sustainable Comfort, a property firm that designs thoughtful buildings with minimal environmental impact while maintaining the architectural integrity of Worcester’s housing stock. Andrea talks about setting goals and shaping attitudes in both her personal and professional life. 

We are proud to announce the winning Developers and Design Teams and spotlight the visionary projects. The winning buildings demonstrate that our low carbon future is beautiful, livable, and 100% possible.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the completion of a newly constructed $12 million affordable housing development in downtown Rochester. Charlotte Square on the Loop is the first residential development in Rochester's Inner Loop East Transformation project, the city's effort to convert the 1950's era below-grade Inner Loop highway into a vibrant, walkable, safe, and at-grade residential and commercial community. The development has 50 affordable and supportive apartments.

Sustainable Comfort is a green building and energy efficiency consulting, construction and property management firm in Worcester. Last week, President Albert LaValley arranged for his employees to tour Assawaga Farm, where farmers Yoko Takemura and Alex Carpenter create and maintain fertility using organic practices. The couple focuses on amplifying flavor in their vegetables rather than yielding a massive harvest.

Sustainable Comfort, a Worcester construction consultant, was 19th in the state and 1,061 nationally.

Provides green building and energy efficiency consulting services in Worcester, MA. Focuses on development of multi-family construction.

2019 Inc. 5000 Rank: # 1061

LEED in Motion: Residential highlights the numbers, knowledge and resources you need to keep pace with the rapidly growing green homes market. In this free report you will find key statistics on the size and growth of the green residential market, a deep dive in to LEED for Homes numbers, a close look at the human health aspects of homebuilding, and much more.

Today, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the recipients of the annual LEED Homes Awards, which celebrate residential projects, developers and builders using LEED to improve quality of life for residents, reduce a building’s impact on the environment, and create healthier and more resilient communities. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the world’s most widely used green building rating system. Recipients represent multi-family, single-family, and affordable housing projects and companies that participated in LEED in 2018.

Sustainable Comfort Inc. is a multifamily-focused green building consulting firm receiving ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year recognition. Sustainable Comfort continued to expand in the affordable housing space in 2018, certifying more than 660 homes as ENERGY STAR, representing a 60 percent increase compared to 2017.

Sustainable Comfort, Inc.is a green building and energy efficiency consulting and construction firm based in Worcester, Massachusetts. It helps developers, architects, contractors, and residents achieve healthier, resilient, and sustainable multifamily buildings through better construction practice and management and by providing clear, concise, and value-focused consulting on sustainable, energy-efficient, healthy housing.

Andrea French has been promoted to the ownership team at Sustainable Comfort, a Worcester environmentally sustainable construction and consulting firm. French has been with the company since 2015 and was most recently the vice president of administration, managing the company's strategic human resources, marketing, branding, administration and insurance efforts. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism and sociology from UMass Amherst.

The Albany Damien Center is a champion for the less fortunate.

That title became official when the nonprofit received the 2018 Community Champion Award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) New York Upstate, which recognized a construction project that "addressed the needs of an underserved community while meeting USGBC's vision of healthy and sustainable building."

Worcester, MA – Sustainable Comfort, Inc. (SCI) announced that its Stanton Loop Neighborhood Revitalization Project in the Bell Hill area of Worcester will expand onto Vinson Street, that runs perpendicular to Stanton Street and is part of the community “loop” that SCI is working to achieve.

The Stanton Loop Revitalization Project started in 2016 as a collaboration between SCI, Civico Development, and WalkerThomas, with SCI acting as the general contractor.

Worcester, MA – Sustainable Comfort, Inc. (SCI) announced the promotion of Andrea French, VP of administration, to the ownership team.

She has been with the company since August 2015, managing the company’s strategic human resources, marketing, branding, administration, and insurance efforts.

From the views of the highways and all along the side streets, the distinct clapboard and shingled triple-deckers of Worcester are prominent in the city’s landscape. Rich in stories of family ties, neighborly connections and friendship, the buildings have weathered changes in the city’s economics, demographics and more. And although not all are historical by designation, these three-story houses are, indeed, important to Worcester’s history and serve as a bridge from the past to the present and future.

Worcester, MA – The recent completion of 24 and 30 Stanton Street in Worcester has created shared housing; restored and upgraded dilapidated buildings for health, sustainability, and function; and preserved rich neighborhood history for the next century.

When he was a toddler, LaValley built an elaborate system of levees, dams and canals in his family's driveway to manage stormwater runoff properly. By the time he co-founded Sustainable Comfort in 2014, energy efficiency had long been in his blood. At Sustainable Comfort, he and his team rehab 100-year-old triple-deckers around Worcester to make them viable for working-class people. Since its founding, the company has grown an average of 65 percent annually and now employs more than 30. Firmly bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, LaValley partnered with chef Jared Forman and drinks connoisseur Sean Woods to launch the downtown Worcester restaurant deadhorse hill in 2016, followed by simjang in 2018. Because of his experience founding a business and dealing with administrative and regulatory issues, LaValley's title – paperwork – at the restaurant reflects his behind-the-scenes role. Through simjang and deadhorse hill, LaValley is involved in the public mural program POW! WOW! Worcester, feeding the artists who graffiti the city's outdoor walls. LaValley volunteers with the Seven Hills Foundation in Worcester and the children's museum EcoTarium.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal recently broke ground on The Eastman Reserve in Rochester, the first large-scale new construction development to occur in Eastman Business Park in decades. The development will be located on a previous Kodak parking lot along the western portion of Eastman Avenue. The $52.9 million mixed-income development will feature 187 rental units and commercial space within 17 buildings; 27 units will be targeted to homeless young adults who will have access to on-site support services.

When Worcester was a booming industrial city at the turn of the 20th century, three-decker homes were built to house working-class families near the factories.

The dwellings provided an affordable place for workers -- many of them immigrants -- to live, while staying away from "tenement" style apartments. With their ability to house multiple families, three-deckers made economic and social sense.