GreenGeezer

Green Home Tour Saturday, September 13, 12-4pm

Seven Generations Ahead has organized a tour of seven green homes in Oak Park/River Forest, IL that I know you will enjoy. SGA events are always well-organized, informative and fun, and there's always good food involved, too. Here's information from their press release:

"Thinking about greening your home, but not sure how to go about it or what products are available?  The Green Home Tour provides an exclusive look inside seven high end and everyday Oak Park and River Forest homes that look great, save money, and are easier on the environment.  Homeowners and building professionals will be available during the tour for questions and everyone will receive a free copy of our Remodel GREEN CD. Included in the tour is a wine and cheese reception from 4 to 5 p.m. at the new "green" Marion Street Cheese Market, 101 N. Marion Street, where drawings will take place for a variety of green prizes!

Hope you can make it.  (Image Credit: Seven Generations Ahead)

Installing Solar Panels -- All in a Day's Work

My friend Lisa shared this picture of her helping install solar panels on  one of the thousands of buildings that her employer, Solar Service, Inc., has installed in the Chicago area over the last thirty years.

This is not her regular job at Solar Service  -- normally she is a salesperson who is very knowledgable about solar energy and speaks regularly about solar energy to community groups.  Naturally she would be great, since she was taught by one of the best in the business -- Brandon Leavitt, the owner of Solar Service.

But this particular day she got up close and personal to help install panels on this rather intimidatingly high roof. (Lisa left a staid marketing job for a field she feels passionate about -- renewable energy.  We congratulate her!)  Below is another home with panels installed by Solar Service -- these particular ones are solar thermal panels to heat water and provide suplemental heat.

Bloomington, Indiana Affordable Green Homes

On Sunday we drove over to EverGreen Village, a 12-unit green development in Bloomington, Indiana that is nearly completed.   The landscaping features natural, native vegetation amid closely clustered homes.  The homes will be made available to eligible homeowners based on maximum income levels, and will feature the following:

• State-of-the-art storm water filtering design system with restored creek and natural rain gardens
• Permeable-paving walking path running along the creek
• LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-registered energy efficient design
• Solar photovoltaic modules donated by Duke Energy

The homes will range in cost from $100,000 to $200,000, and homeowners will be required to take courses in maximizing the energy-efficient aspects of the homes, in order to keep the operating costs low.  My favorite of all the designs was the four-bedroom configuration pictured above.   

Bloomington's Mayor Mark Kruzan and Public Works Director Susie Johnson spearheaded the effort, which puts Bloomington in front of a nascent green building movement just getting off the ground in Indiana.

Affordable Passive Solar House Plans

The Energy Center at Appalachian State University offers affordable passive solar house plans, which range from 900 to 1300 square feet in size.   It's interesting to see these designs try to replicate the past.  Do these houses have good daylighting inside to avoid having to burn electricity to light them?  How is the indoor air quality -- does the house ventilate itself well, or will air conditioning and fans be needed?  Passive solar design is a good thing, but I wonder if these house designs have gone far enough.

Living Designs Group's Green Condo Development in Taos, NM

Living Designs Group suggests once again that people who live in New Mexico just know how to design things more beautifully.  Of course, the weather helps. This condo development, Suenos de la Loma, is located in the historic district of Taos, New Mexico and its units are carefully sited to receive maximum solar gain and daylighting. The use of historic adobe walls helps the structures blend with the historic architecture of the area.   Adobe is also very effective as a passive solar design element, as it absorbs heat through the day, in effect sheltering interior spaces from the heat of the sun, and slowly gives off heat during the cold desert night.  This condo development is within walking distance of Taos Plaza.

"Neighborhood Effect" Resulting from High Oil Prices

The cost of oil is putting a crimp in globalization, according to the New York Times.  As the cost of fuel rises, products shipped around the world become less profitable and it makes more sense to produce them nearby to consumers.  Locavores will already be ahead of the game, as food is one of the products that will start to be produced locally. 

Production chains that no longer make sense include that of Tesla's electric-powered cars, whose 1,000-pound battery packs were made in Thailand, shipped to Britain for installation, with the partially-assembled cars shipped to the U.S.  Now they'll be entirely made in California.

"Globe-spanning supply chains — Brazilian iron ore turned into Chinese steel used to make washing machines shipped to Long Beach, Calif., and then trucked to appliance stores in Chicago — make less sense today than they did a few years ago....The cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the United States has risen to $8,000, compared with $3,000 early in the decade, according to a recent study of transportation costs. Big container ships, the pack mules of the 21st-century economy, have shaved their top speed by nearly 20 percent to save on fuel costs, substantially slowing shipping times." --The New York Times

Other signs of the "neighborhood effect":

• Ikea opened a factory in the U.S. and more furniture is being made in America
  
• Electronics companies who moved to China from Mexico are moving back
• Chinese steel exports to the U.S. are falling while U.S. production rises
• Avocadoes in Chicago in January and bananas all year round will make less and less sense

"Green Homes for Sale" Pick of the Month

This beautiful, solar-powered home in Waldo, Maine, looks like a real find.