Eco Friendly Real Estate Blog

For those of you who don't already know it I am a big fan of edible landscaping. I am also a big fan of Commity Supported Agriculture so when I found a project that combined them, I had to share.

Obviously, I am among those thrilled at the prospect of a vegetable garden on the South Lawn.  It will be the first vegetable garden grown at the White House since Elanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden.

Closer to home for most of us are the stories I have read lately about folks organizing their neighborhood into mini farms. Some use backyards, some use front yards. The general arrangement is that the vegetable garden is planted in the yards of the participating homeowners who donate the use of their land for the project. The CSA farmers then plant and tend all the gardens which is especially easy to do if they are on what used to be the front lawn. Most are tended using only hand tools so thee is little danger of damage to power lines of any infrastructure that might be damaged with heavy equipment. All the work is performed for the homeowners- their contribution is the land and usually the water. Most groups also have a fee to cover the cost of seeds, and at least some of the labor., some sell the excess produce not distributed to members at the farmer's market (if you have ever grown zucchini or tomatoes you know there can be bumper crops!)

 Here are some links to articls and Information about this idea:

Natural Home Magazine article

Virginia Home Gardener supplies the neighborhood

Spin Gardening

2009 National Cohousing Conference

Frequent and regular readers know about my interest in the cohousing movement so I am thrilled to be able to pass this information on to everyone in the rain.

Friday, June 26, 2009 - Sunday, June 28, 2009
The 2009 Conference is the first-ever annual conference. There will be a wide range of programs to satisfy  Cohousing neophytes as well as old-timers, professionals and planning officials. There is lenty fo current cohousing residents too. In addition to high quality educational programming, there will be many social networking opportunities - both formal and informal. Click on the links below to learn more about what we have in store for you, or take a look at the conference schedule.

The conference will offer both day-long and two-day workshops. Workshops will range from Free, Introductory Presentations for those new to Cohousing to in-depth offerings for Forming Groups, Established Communities, and Cohousing Professionals according to the conference materials. There will also be tours to existing cohousing communites. With 13 built Cohousing Communities, Washington state has the second largest number of Cohousing Communities in the United States - and all 13 are in Puget Sound, making Seattle a wonderful place for you to visit examples of different Cohousing Communities.

If you want detailed information about Cohousing in general or the conference in particular, visit the website at http://www.cohousing.org/

I have always been a fan of simplicity. I have come to believe that simple solutions are also often the most elegant as well. Here are two of my favorite ideas which have stood the test of time. These are technologies that work in every place and period of time. That is part of their brilliance.

THE MASONRY STOVE AKA RUSSIAN FIREPLACE

These are woodburning fireplaces designed to burn very hot wood fires. They create very little smake because they burn so hot (1600 degrees Fareheit or hotter) and are said to be 90% efficient. They burn with the air supply and chimney damper wide open. This results in a clean burn, with little visible smoke. The distinctive feature of the heaters is a series of baffles to pull the heat out of the exhaust. The masonry absorbs the heat of the fire, then radiates it gradually back into the room. Masonry stoves have been widely used in Europe and Asia for centuries. The stoves provide clean combustion at a high temperature to avoid pollution and creosote build-up. If you have ever been inside an adobe house in the southwest or a well designed passive solar home anywhere it is the same principle as having the sun shine on a brick floor  or a Trombe wall all day and radiate the heat back at night.

The fireplaces are usually massive (that's the point after all) and some are amazingly beautiful. Since wood is a renewable resource and these use quite a bit less than you might imagine given their size because they burn so hot we may well see more of them again soon. They had a brief resurgence in the 70's and 80's but they may be due for another comeback. According to the Masonry Heater Association

The main thing that distinguishes a masonry heater is the ability to store a large amount of heat. This means that you can rapidly burn a large charge of wood without overheating your house. The heat is stored in the masonry thermal mass, and then slowly radiates into your house for the next 18 to 24 hours.

If you burn wood fairly rapidly, it is a clean fuel. If you try to burn it too slowly, the fire will change from flaming to smoldering combustion. The burning process is incomplete and produces tars. Atmospheric pollution increases dramatically. This is important if you are planning an energy-efficient house. The average energy demand of your house will be quite low. For most of the time, it may require only 1 to 2 kW of heat. For most conventional woodstoves, this is below their "critical burn rate", or the point where they start to smolder.

These heaters are meant to be sized for the space they are heating so if you have a small house you will also have a small heater. Just as in a passive solar application, you want the mass to be in proportion.

RADIANT FLOOR HEATING

Okay, those of you who know me knew I could not get through this without at east a nod to Frank Lloyd Wright. Radiant floor heating is not a new idea. It is, in fact an ancient one. It was old hot when Wright introduced it to his homes in the 1930's. Wright went to Japan to work on the design of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. In 1923 he was invited to the home of a nobleman who had discovered Ondol in Korea and could not forget it. After returning from Japan he had an Ondol room built in his home. "The indescribable comfort of being warmed from below" impressed Wright.

A traditional Ondol floor heating system conducts the flue gases of a fire (traditionally from the kitchen where the fires were kept going for cooking) under the floor of a living space. Horizontal flues passageways for heat and smoke ran beneath the room's floor, connecting the fireplace and the chimney. Hot air from the fire passed through the flues and heated the stone and mud floor. Wright invented modern radiant floor heating, using hot water running through pipes instead of hot air through flues. From the meeting of Eastern and Western architecture came a true hybrid heating system.

The Romans had a similar idea, a bit more complicated but still in the realm of simple, elegant solutions.Instead of a fire in each room, Romans had a special fire room built against an outside wall. The floors were raised on pillars and the walls of the villa were hollow. The heated air from the fire went to all the other rooms, through these spaces under the floor and in the walls.

This is a picture of the hypocaust at Rockborne in Hampshire. These pillars (red) held up the floor and allowed the hot air to circulate underneath, heating the room.

SIMPLE AND ELEGANT 

PERHAPS SLIGHTLY IMPROVED WITH NEWER BUILDING TECHNOLOGY BUT THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

I had a closing last week. I got a commission check on Thursday and ran right to the bank to deposit it. I wrote checks to my creditors but the first two checks were to a commitment I made for this year. I donate one per cent of every commission check to my local public radio station because I believe that public radio is an important source of music, news and information about various points of view that are not commonly available through other sources. Whether I necessarily like or agree with all of them is not the point. The point is that they should be freely available so that people can hear a diversity of opinion, news,music ,and drama.

The other check was for another one percent to THE HOUSE THAT ACTIVE RAIN BUILT  for the MAKE IT RIGHT NOLA Foundation. Whatever your commission, 1% to help enrich someone else's life will be enhanced and multiplied when it is joined with the funds of others. It is not enough for you to miss it in the larger scheme of things but it can make a huge difference. Mu counter shows almost 137,000 Active rain members. A Make It Righthouse only costs $150,000. The House That Active Rain Built has $153.00 in donations so far.....even one dollar will help. Donations of five dollars or more can be made online. Donations of less than five dollars must be mailed but all you have to do is put a note i the envelope saying that the donation is for the House that Active Rain Built and it will be credited to our house. 

Here are just some of the events coming up in the near futureto help you learn about gardening here in the Land of Enchantment.

• Friends of Rio Grande Community Farm are hosting work days at the farm over the next several weeks and volunteers are needed.  Come out and contribute your time to assist with the development of a state of the art agricultural project designed to increase local food production for APS and beyond.  Volunteers are particularly needed this Friday 1-5pm and Saturday 8:30 - 5pm (Feb 20 and 21).  All volunteers are appreciated and greatly needed!  For more information contact Minor Morgan at (505) 379-1640. 

• High Value Fruit Production for Small Acreage, the last session of the Urban Farming Series conducted by the Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension will be held on February 21^st from 9-4pm at the Historic Hubbell House in the South Valley of Albuquerque.  A $10 lunch/workshop fee applies.  For more information contact Jeff Bader at (505) 243-1386.

• Come out to Community Garden Seed Exchange on Sunday, February 22, from 12-4pm at the South Valley Economic Development Center located at 318 Isleta Blvd. SW in Albuquerque, just south of Bridge.  "Bring the seeds you have to share, take the seeds you need to grow!  Come have some fun with the whole family!"  For more information please contact Heather Rowley at heather_rowley@hotmail.com or Tim Nisly at timn@svedc.org (see flier attached)

• Cold Frame Workshop- Learn how to start you plants early!!  This event is scheduled for Saturday, February 28 at 1pm.  The workshop is hosted by Project Renaissance and will take place at Dragon Farm, 3416 Blake Rd. SW.  Master Gardener Ron Jobe will direct the workshop. $5.00 Donation Appreciated.  For more information contact Richard Brandt at  rembrandtrocks@yahoo.com 

• 2009 NM Organic Farming Conference will be held on February 27^th and 28^th in sunny Las Cruces.  For more information, contact Farm to Table at (505) 473-1004 or ladams@cybermesa.com

• 2009 International Xeriscape Conference and Expo will be held on February 26^th and 27^th at the Marriot Pyramid Hotel.  The sub-topic of this event is Watershed-Foodshed. The conference will be followed by a two-day Expo at the NM fairgrounds on February 28^th and March 1^st.  For more information contact the Xeriscape Council of NM at (505) 468-1021

• Creating an Urban Food Forest, a free workshop will take place on March 22, 12-4pm at Sanchez Farm Open Space in the South Valley of Albuquerque.  The hands-on workshop will be led by Jen Prosser, a practicing herbalist, farmer, permaculturist and owner of Sunstone Herbs.  For more information, or to RSVP contact Colleen Langan at  calangan@bernco.gov 

Whatever you might think about Prince Charles his commitment to the environment is indisputable. Highgrove has been a model of sustainable agriculture for decades. He has funded many projects and foundations aimed at developing sustainable goals for many years. His philanthropy has mostly been overshadowed by Diana's because she was in the news but he has been a powerful voice for sustainable living for a long time.

Last week he made a statement that got the attention of a lot more people than usual. TheGUARDIAN  article gives an overview. At a conference in Mumbai the Prince said:

"I strongly believe that the west has much to learn from societies and places which, while sometimes poorer in material terms are infinitely richer in the ways in which they live and organise themselves as communities," he told planners, charity workers and government officials.

"It may be the case that in a few years' time such communities will be perceived as best equipped to face the challenges that confront us because they have a built-in resilience and genuinely durable ways of living."

Many of us are old enough to have parents or clients who lived through the Depression who say that they did not really notice much of a difference because they were already poor and it did not change a lot for them. They already lived lives of simplicity and frugality because they had no choice. If you have know these people for very long, you notice that many of them still live well below their means and are quite content to do so because they are content to have "enough". Prince Charles has a foundationwhich studies the built environment and which assist in the study of the impact and practicality of traditional architecture. One of the things sustainable agriculture and sustainable housing have in common is being rooted in their location. He argues, among other things that the application of global housing solutions is part of the problem rather than the solution. Building skyscrapers in India to house the poor is not an appropriate local housing solution.

In the same speech he quoted Robert F. Kenedy saying "One might well argue that a relentless quest for near-term growth has failed to recognize all the hidden assets and values which are vital to longer term sustainability. In the memorable words of Robert Kennedy, over forty years ago, ‘the Gross National Product measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile'."Perhaps these are the principles that we need to remember as we move forward in our efforts to create a new greener economy with safe, sustainable housing available for all.

There is an ever growing selection of recycled materials that can be used in remodeling or building a home today. Before we look at those though, let's consider another form o recycling. I touched upon this is REUSE but if we consider recycling to be using an object or the materials from which an object is constructed to make a new object or the materials for a new object what about recycling a building for another purpose?

There are examples all across the country of churches, hospitals, barns and lighthouses that have been transformed into living spaces. Firehouses, grain silos and 1950's era bomb shelters (talk about a unique underground home) have all been candidates for transformation into housing after their original use has been discontinued. I have occasionally wondered if it is possible to convert a deserted strip mall into condos--cohousing maybe? There would be plenty of parking...... Just because a structure was originally built for a different purpose doesn't mean it can't become useful as shelter. Witness the apartment houses, lofts and condominiums that now occupy what were once warehouses, manufacturing plants or hospitals.

Here is an example of a bathroom in a converted warehouse for those of us who have always craved a large bathroom and been stuck with a 7 foot by 6 foot cubicle.

 This is the outside view of a warehouse conversion in London.

This interior view could probably use some staging,but you get the idea

In terms of using recycled materials for renovation there are carpets made from recycled milk cartons and soft drink bottles and the padding to go with them. The last clients I helped with choosing carpet were amazed to find that the recycled carpet and padding was less expensive than the same grade of "regular" carpet and padding. Using lumber recovered from another building in construction or or flooring is a good form of reuse and recycling. Counter tops can be purchased that are made from recycled paper, glass, and aluminum shavings. One of my favorites, just because of the sheer outrageous nature of it is this one, made from porcelain terrazzo created by recycling tubs, toilets and sinks.

Tile from recycled glass, aluminum, ceramic, cement and reclaimed brick are all available. You can buy recycled pipe  and most metal roofs contain a minimum of 25% recycled material. In addition, they can be recycled over and over again.

  These are metal shingles for those who want a shingle roof!

This looks like tile, a very popular roofing choice here in the southwest, but it's made of steel coated with aluminum-zinc alloy, and surfaced with stone chips. The stone resists fading and ultraviolet light, and the roof is rated non-combustible, Photo:Decra Roofing

Reduce, Recycle, Reuse. We have all heard the slogan and hopefully most of u do something to try to apply it to our daily lives. How does it apply to housing? When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I recycle houses.  That is almost always good for some questions about what I mean. This series of three blogs will be an attempt to explain what I mean by recycling houses and it may give you an opportunity to look at things in a different way.

REDUCE - Seems obvious, doesn't it" Use less, Build smaller. Okay. On one level, it can be that simple and that will make a difference. Out with the McMansion, in with the cottage. Good first step. Or, you can even stay where you are if you are in one of those larger than it really needs to be houses and make a number of changes that might not affect your lifestyle all that much and still have a significant impact. All of us making a few small changes can have a huge impact on the overall picture. For examples you might look to see what your Carbon Footprint is currently and how you can reduce it.

Yes, the programmable thermostat does work and you don't have to remember anything once it is set. If your home is older and you are replacing a furnace think about getting the most efficient unit yo can and about one that can be paired with your cooling system. CFL and LED lights help a lot, but you do need to be more careful about disposing of them when they finally burn out. A caulk gun and a roll of weatherstripping can be your new best friends. Conservation is the real key to reduction.None of the things I have just listed require lifestye changes. While you are programming the thermostat, you could consider setting it a couple of degrees lower and wearing a sweater inside. If yo want a bigger lifestyle change, make a small donation to Heifer International and help someone buy a sheep or other fiber animal that can provide both fiber and meat for survival. They will give someone else offspring from their animal and you can take up a new hobby or resume an old one. Make the socks and sweaters to keep you and your family or housemates toasty warm with organic fibers or recycled yarn. New hobby, productive time that can be spent with family and friends who will really appreciate it. Try to use fibers produced closer to hope but know that the (carbon)cost of transporting the yarn is a lot less than the (carbon)cost to produce synthetic fibers like acrylic which is a petroleum product).

Insulate your hot water heater. Think about a solar hot water system. Use rain barrels to collect water for landscaping. Use edible landscaping and don't fertilize it except with compost. There are lots of chemicals in many fertilizers that should not be ingested by human beings. They eventually wind up in the groundwater that goes into the drinking water system. Reducing the amount of poisons in the groundwater should be a goal we can all support. While we are reducing chemicals in the groundwater, you might consider rethinking your cleaning products too. Are your windows and mirrors really any cleaner than your grandmother's were when she used vinegar and water to clean them? Probably not. Nor were there any toxic fumes from the vinegar.

If you really want to focus on reduce, you might become one of the number of people who have divided their too large space and morphed it into two or more living spaces. Some limitations may be placed on this option by local zoning regulations but my point is simply that a 3000 square foot McMansion could easily become 2 1500 square foot or 3 1,000 square foot residences given enough creativity, resources  and the will to make it so. Reducing is not necessarily about saving money although if you start with the caulk gun, insulation and programmable thermostat it is likely to save quite a few pennies. It is about using fewer resources in order to preserve them for others who share the planet with us.

As a final comment I would like to note that an early advocate of small, elegant homes was Frank Lloyd Wright. He designed Usonian Houses as small as about 870  square feet. The Jacobs House is generally acknowledged as the first Usonian House and was built in 1937. Never one to tackle small problems, Wright wrote in 1938 " We cannot have an organic architecture unless we have an organic society." I think he would be frustrated to see how long it has taken us to get his message but I think he would be happy to see that we are making progress.

I was intrigued by an article in the NEW MEXICO BUSINESS WEEKLY about a local organization that assists the homeless to gain the skills, the assistance and the confidence they need to reclaim their lives. The event is billed as a STREET RETREAT and is being used mostly by spiritually based groups to encourage people to understand at a deeper level what it really feels like to be homeless. The retreat is described as an intentional placement of people into a situation in which they are groundless and anything might happen. The difference,for most situations, is that there is usually a facilitator who is watching out for the participants and these participants know that this is a limited time experience for them- they will go back to wherever it is they came from to have the experience but most of them go back as changed people. For the most part, the groups who are sponsoring these events are also using them not only as a fund raiser but as a tool for people to explore their own spiritual grounding. For this reason and because they are there by choice it may seem to be an inauthentic experience.

Here is an article from a participant in an Ottowa Street Retreat about her experience. It may surprise you.

These events are taking place in many communities around the country and in different variations around the world. The aim is not only to raise money for the charity sponsoring the event but to have people really experience living on the street without options. Anyone who has been the victim of an event like some of the large California wildfires or Hurricane Katrina can tell you what it feels like better than most. Just think for a moment about how well you, or most people you know would do at even following the directions given on the website of the Peacemaker Institute to prepare for going on a Street Retreat:

Do not shave, nor wash your hair for five days prior to the retreat. This will also start your street experience prior to leaving home.

1. Wear old clothes, as many layers as you feel appropriate for the time of year, and do not bring any change of clothes for the retreat, except for an extra pair of socks.

2. Wear good, but not new, walking shoes.

3. Bring one piece of Photo ID only, your Driver's License or a State I.D. with your picture on it.

4. Do not bring any money (except for one-way bus fare from Boulder to Denver - approx. $3.85), illegal drugs, alcohol, weapons, or cell phones.

5. Do not wear any jewelry, including earrings and watches.

Besides the clothes you are wearing, bring only an empty bag (shopping, plastic) or small (not new) day pack for collecting food from shelters, etc. You should not bring any books, conveniences, etc.

A lot of us, and a lot of people we know would never make it past the first instruction without considerable discomfort- and for us it would be a choice - which it is not for many homeless people. Many of us believe we can't even go on vacation without taking a cell phone. Imagine life with no access to a telephone at all unless you can talk someone into letting you use theirs or beg money from someone for a pay phone. Meals come from a soup kitchen, or are shared by whomever has been able to get food that day. Some of it is from the trash if that's all there is. If you want to participate in an upcoming Street Retreat in Albuquerque,you can find information here about St. Martin's Hospitality Center and their upcoming retreat at the end of January.

IF YOU PREFER TO JUST GIVE MONEY TO HOUSE THE HOMELESS GO HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE HOUSE THAT ACTIVE RAIN IS BUILDING. WE ONLY HAVE $125.00 donated so far to build one of these homes in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. A lot of people were made homeless through no fault of their own and now for $150,000 a great sustainable home designed to be both green and safe can be built to replace those homes. There are enough AR members to build a house if everyone gave less than the price of one Big Mac....

 I think I just became a Conservationist. There is much fervor about developing new sources and using renewable energy, but recently I read an interesting article about conservation. the most important thought being the title of this post. There is a theory referred to as the Jevon's Paradoxwhich is clearly evident once you think about it carefully. Both conservation and efficiency boost the net energy of the system. The difference is that unlike conservation, as efficiency goes up it also becomes economically feasible to apply the energy resource to new uses.  People drive more when fuel is cheper and they turn the heat up instead of putting on a sweater. They have multiple televisions because a) they do not really notice a change in the electric bill, because we use energy more efficiently it cost less to produce each one so it costs less to buy nultiple sets. The essential argument is that efficiency encourages people to use more energy whatever the source whereas conservation forces them to become more aware of their consumption and to do more with less.

The larger issue in this discussion is that in order to build the infrastructure to support the new green economy, a huge amount of energy will be consumed. Yes, we can build windmills and solar panels and electric cars but we will consume tons of energy in the process, perhaps more than if we were just more conservative in the use of existing energy sources. Leave it to German engineeringto prove the point. In Germany they have gone from a standard house's consumption of fuel oil of up to 30 litres per square meter to "three litre houses" to "passive" (max 1.5 litres per square meter).

 These are not high tech solutions. They are quite simple and quite available to pretty much anyone who chooses to use them. Government investment in these improvements - could make a huge difference in a lot of peoples lives not to mention provide skilled jobs and some quick economic stimulus.

I have always been an advocate of simple solutions. i believe they are often the most elegant as well. Properly sealing leaks and increasing insulation are arguably the simplest and most efficient energy improvements anyone can make to a home. They will definitely give the best return on investment. It will cost less in both time and money as well as embodied energy for the materials used than just about anything else you could do.