Bright Lights, Small Homes

It's been a little over two years, now, since I first began re- searching renewable energies and sustainable businesses on a full-time basis for my university thesis; and it's been a little over six months since my book, Global Warming I$ Good for Business, was published. So this fall I took some time for introspection and re-evaluation to appreciate how far I've come in those two years and to see where I might best continue to shed light on the subject of sustainability.

Without a doubt, one of the most significant events for me during the past two years has been the 2007 Solar Decathlon. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the Solar Decathlon is a bi-annual event, sponsored by the Department of Energy, in which universities from all over the world come together in the spirit of friendly competition to build some of the most innovative zero-energy homes on the planet.

This event takes place on the Mall in Washington D.C., less than 20 miles from where, as a teenager, I used to spend a great deal of time hiking in the woods behind my house, not far from the Potomac River. Once, while hiking, I came upon a small, log cabin, long crumbled and decayed. I began to daydream of one day having a home in the woods, similar to the little log cabin in that it would be totally self-sufficient and yet would offer all the comforts of a modern-day abode. I wanted a home that would be small but elegant, able to sustain all the latest appliances with its own energy systems. I wanted a home that would complement the natural environment and yet offer its own contemporary climate of abundance and innovation.

When I first arrived at the Solar Decathlon, I had no idea what to expect. I had heard that some of the most cutting-edge technologies would be on display. But what I found was my simple dream home. Each of these 800 square-foot homes embodied the ideals I had envisioned back in the 1970s, long before I even knew what a zero-energy home was.

The competition was intense. Points were given in ten areas: architecture, engineering, market viability, lighting design, interior comfort, hot water, appliances, home entertainment, net metering, and communications (i.e. each team's ability to communicate the technical aspects of their home to a general audience).

As I described the Solar Decathlon in my book:

There was a carnival-like atmos- phere at the decathlon during that sunny week. Total strangers talked together like old friends, exchanging ideas and information about various technologies. They learned about passive, photovoltaic (PV) and thermal solar systems (and combinations of systems), about battery storage types and capacities, and about basic building structure and design. It was an amazing experience--alternately astonishing, confusing, exhilarating, and exhausting.

Each house was unique in design, function, and use of renewable building materials. Some looked like they came from a futuristic movie set. Others looked downright homey. But all of them were more than just houses--they were a glimpse into what the future might look like. And it was pretty darn good!

From every thing I have heard, this year's Solar Decathlon was every bit as amazing as its predecessors. The coming together of different viewpoints and different technologies was just as enlightening.

For me, seeing these new designs and listening to these students talk about their experiences is a reaffirmation of my own studied interest in and passion for sustainable living and working. It is, again, a glimpse into what the future might look like. And it's pretty darn good!

Please enjoy this year's 1st and 2nd place winners:

TEAM GERMANY -- 1st Place Winner

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS -- 2nd Place Winner

Death by Suburbs

I have developed a love-hate relationship with the suburbs. On the one hand, I enjoy the tree-lined walkways and greenbelts. On the other, I yearn for stores and offices within reasonable walking distance. There’s no getting around it: If you live in the ‘burbs, you’re going to have to drive your car. Driving is simply the most practical (sometimes only) way to get from Point A to Point B.

Once considered the ideal nesting ground for the all-American family, suburban communities that sprawl out from urban epicenters to the countryside beyond are now blamed for a variety of societal ills from the destruction of farmland to traffic congestion and air pollution and even, peripherally, to obesity in a society that has become almost slavishly dependent upon the automobile. However, that may be changing.

Currently, there are individuals, businesses, and community leaders who are developing alternatives that will revitalize urban centers and create a healthy, affordable space for people to live and work more productively. The Congress for the New Urbanism is one such group. A non-profit organization that promotes “walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl,” the CNU is currently working with the U.S. Green Business Council to draft a LEED rating system for neighborhood development, called LEED-ND.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is an internationally-recognized certification program that has been around for 10 years. Builders cannot just claim to be green; they have to have an independent, third party verify that their projects have met consensus-based criteria. More and more builders and project managers are recognizing the benefits of building to LEED standards, not just from a sales and marketing perspective but from a bottom-line perspective. Though the up-front costs may be more expensive, proponents claim the costs of operation are considerably less, leading to significant overall savings. In addition, many cities are now providing incentives; Austin, Texas' Green Building Program and Portland, Oregon’s proposed “feebates” for green builders are two examples. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) has information about rebates, permit waivers, and other incentive programs within the U.S. and its territories.

While building individual homes and office buildings to green standards is a laudable goal, unless there is a bigger sustainable picture, sprawl is still an issue. The Form-Based Codes Institute consists of city planners, urban designers, architects, policy experts and others who are interested in developing alternatives to conventional or land-use zoning policies, which tend to ignore the overall form of development within a given area and focus instead on the individual use of land on a given parcel. The FBCI recommends the use of form-based codes that “address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks.”

Other groups, such as the Smart Growth Network, formed in 1996 by the EPA and other government and non-profit organizations, offer tips to those communities which want to—among other things—preserve open spaces and farmland, create walkable neighborhoods, and provide a variety of transportation choices. According to the SGN, the top walking cities in the United States are San Francisco, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago; however, any community can implement the basic principles of smart growth. Last year, downtown Silver Spring, Maryland won the EPA’s National Award for Smart Growth Achievement award for Overall Excellence in Smart Growth. Like so many downtown centers, Silver Spring was once a vital hub but, over the years, lost many of its businesses to enclosed malls in surrounding areas. Today, the city center is once again a hub of activity, with a wide variety of offices, residences, retail outlets, and even a refurbished 1937 theater along pedestrian-friendly streetscapes that connect to public transportation facilities.

All of this gives me great hope, as I trod along my suburban streets. With more and more communities beginning to embrace the concept of…well…community, maybe walking-the-walk will no longer be any big deal and urban sprawl—death by suburbs—will be a thing of the past.