Sunday, January 8, 2012
On Hold!
I haven't blogged for quite some time. My plans for the ecovillage have been delayed as we were unable to sell our home and therefore are unable to finance it at this time. We are purchasing an older home in Rochester where we can live for a couple of years until we can sell our Eau Claire home. So, I'm still hoping to get there, it's just going to take longer than I had hoped.
In regards to sustainability, there has been some optimistic developments this summer. I have been following the developments of Andrea Rossi with his Cold Fusion/LENR device. I am optimistic that this technology will pan out which would alleviate many of our problems. In case you haven't heard about this, here's a link that does a good job of what's happening:
http://ecatnews.com/
So I probably won't be blogging too much until we sell our house and then are able to move forward again. Good luck to everyone else and let's pray that Rossi delivers in 2012!
Ivan
In regards to sustainability, there has been some optimistic developments this summer. I have been following the developments of Andrea Rossi with his Cold Fusion/LENR device. I am optimistic that this technology will pan out which would alleviate many of our problems. In case you haven't heard about this, here's a link that does a good job of what's happening:
http://ecatnews.com/
So I probably won't be blogging too much until we sell our house and then are able to move forward again. Good luck to everyone else and let's pray that Rossi delivers in 2012!
Ivan
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Post-Green Living Expo
Mary and I had a wonderful visit at the Green Living Expo on Saturday. We attended a few classes and walked around seeing what's new in sustainable living. The Expo grew quite a bit this year which is a good sign of change.
One of my main objectives of going to the expo was to meet with Tim Eian, the Passiv House architect. He was pretty busy at his booth most of the day, but towards the end I was able to spend about a half hour visiting with him and his associate. He shared a house plan that was a 1800 sq ft superinsulated home that would use 75% less energy to heat and cool. Based on todays costs, it would cost $55/month to heat and cool. I was originally sold on SIPs but I am now thinking double-wall superinsulation is the way to go. This will decrease the amount of renewable energy required and conserve first. The objective then is to find ways to drive down the costs of superinsulating to make it competitive with conventional building techniques in hopes of making it mainstream.
I arranged a meeting with interested parties so far, for Monday, May 16th at 7:00. The meeting will be held at Whistle Binkies South.
One of my main objectives of going to the expo was to meet with Tim Eian, the Passiv House architect. He was pretty busy at his booth most of the day, but towards the end I was able to spend about a half hour visiting with him and his associate. He shared a house plan that was a 1800 sq ft superinsulated home that would use 75% less energy to heat and cool. Based on todays costs, it would cost $55/month to heat and cool. I was originally sold on SIPs but I am now thinking double-wall superinsulation is the way to go. This will decrease the amount of renewable energy required and conserve first. The objective then is to find ways to drive down the costs of superinsulating to make it competitive with conventional building techniques in hopes of making it mainstream.
I arranged a meeting with interested parties so far, for Monday, May 16th at 7:00. The meeting will be held at Whistle Binkies South.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Living Green Expo
Mary and I are heading up to the Living Green Expo on Saturday. I attended last year and if you haven't been there yet, I would highly recommend it. It's located at the State Fairgrounds, I'll attach a link below. There's probably a couple hundred exhibiters and over 50 presentations and workshops.
We plan to get there in time for Tim Eian's presentation at noon on "Passive Houses" and then at 2:00 is a presentation on "The cutting edge of Sustainable houses". It will probably take the rest of the afternoon to browse the exhibits.
http://www.livinggreenexpo.mn/
Hope you can make it up there too!
We plan to get there in time for Tim Eian's presentation at noon on "Passive Houses" and then at 2:00 is a presentation on "The cutting edge of Sustainable houses". It will probably take the rest of the afternoon to browse the exhibits.
http://www.livinggreenexpo.mn/
Hope you can make it up there too!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Abundance Ecovillage visit
A month ago, Mary and I visited the "Abundance Ecovillage" in Fairfield, Iowa. We spent a night in one of the homes that is used as a Hostel. We had a wonderful time and it gave us a chance to experience Ecovillage living. I'll add a link to their website at the bottom, there is a lot of good information on their site.
The Ecovillage sits on 15 about acres and they currently have 13 homes built. They have 3 wind turbines and a large roof-full of solar PV, with battery storage and generator backup. Each home has solar thermal for their hot water, rainwater collection for their water needs, a constructed wetlands for wastewater and Earthtubes for their ventillation. They utilize propane for their stove, dryer, and heating. The homes are very well constructed with R-30 walls and R-50 ceiling.
We weren't sure what to expect in the home that is off the grid and existing on meager resources, but we found it incredibly normal. The home was beautiful, modern, and sylish. The energy efficient lights were plentiful, the water hot, room temp comfortable, and we enjoyed watching a movie on a big screen tv. We definately didn't give up anything in comfort.
The weather was cold, rainy, and windy while we were there, so there wasn't a lot of residents out and about. We did spend some time talking to out host, Stacey, who owns the hostel and lives next door. Stacey and her husband Bill (who was out of town), moved from a 4,000 sq ft house after their children grew up into an 850 sq ft home at the Ecovillage. They are very happy with life at the Ecovillage and when their children come home for a visit they stay at the hostel. While Stacey and Bill are empty-nesters, we also saw other residents who were young and old, singles and families.
Mary and I came away from this experience determined that this was how we wanted to live our lives in the Rochester area. We acknowledged that being 300 miles north of Fairfield Iowa introduces some additional challenges, it's all doable. Being in a colder climate, we would probably want attached garages which are not available at the Abundance Ecovillage. The other improtant aspect that we want to incorporate is the central heating system. Other than that, they have accomplished what we would like to do and are very happy with the outcome. We can do this, it just takes the right people and the determination to get it done.
http://www.abundance-ecovillage.com/home.html
Enjoy
The Ecovillage sits on 15 about acres and they currently have 13 homes built. They have 3 wind turbines and a large roof-full of solar PV, with battery storage and generator backup. Each home has solar thermal for their hot water, rainwater collection for their water needs, a constructed wetlands for wastewater and Earthtubes for their ventillation. They utilize propane for their stove, dryer, and heating. The homes are very well constructed with R-30 walls and R-50 ceiling.
We weren't sure what to expect in the home that is off the grid and existing on meager resources, but we found it incredibly normal. The home was beautiful, modern, and sylish. The energy efficient lights were plentiful, the water hot, room temp comfortable, and we enjoyed watching a movie on a big screen tv. We definately didn't give up anything in comfort.
The weather was cold, rainy, and windy while we were there, so there wasn't a lot of residents out and about. We did spend some time talking to out host, Stacey, who owns the hostel and lives next door. Stacey and her husband Bill (who was out of town), moved from a 4,000 sq ft house after their children grew up into an 850 sq ft home at the Ecovillage. They are very happy with life at the Ecovillage and when their children come home for a visit they stay at the hostel. While Stacey and Bill are empty-nesters, we also saw other residents who were young and old, singles and families.
Mary and I came away from this experience determined that this was how we wanted to live our lives in the Rochester area. We acknowledged that being 300 miles north of Fairfield Iowa introduces some additional challenges, it's all doable. Being in a colder climate, we would probably want attached garages which are not available at the Abundance Ecovillage. The other improtant aspect that we want to incorporate is the central heating system. Other than that, they have accomplished what we would like to do and are very happy with the outcome. We can do this, it just takes the right people and the determination to get it done.
http://www.abundance-ecovillage.com/home.html
Enjoy
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thought for the day
At what point do we Americans believe that we can't continue with our unsustainable lifestyle, that we need to get more aggressive in ending our dependance on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, while everyone knows that you shouldn’t stick your tongue against a frozen flagpole in the winter, we all had to try it anyway! So I don’t think real change will come until we’ve already felt the devastating consequences and the pain.
It’s been one hell of a party the last 75 years and we don’t want it to end, but it’s almost closing time and the beers about gone. All we have to look forward to is the hangover.
I don't want to be a downer, but the sooner we start making meaningful changes, the less painful it will become.
Project Lichtnstein
I had lunch yesterday with Christian Milaster. Christian is one of the early adapters of an off-the-grid home in our neck of the woods. He built a home by Lanesboro that he named "Project Lichtnstein". Christian is an engineer by profession and he incorporated many of the technologies that we will be using in our Ecovillage and so he has a lot of experience to bring to our project. He has agreed to assist in our development. Here is his webpage:
Look forward to working with you Christian!www.lichtnstein.org
Look forward to working with you Christian!www.lichtnstein.org
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