LOCATION
Where we get our materials impacts the area’s commerce and industry, the health of the land, and minimizes the impact of energy consumption. As in the tree example in Performance within the Specified Climate above, location can also offer us a great opportunity to minimize the use of chemical treatments. We design our homes to work for and within our climates as well as to work with the land.
by Rachel Preston Prinz and Carrie Christopher
Environmental sustainability is what most people think of when we talk about sustainability, but that is only one piece of true sustainability. When it is fully realized, sustainability addresses the ideas of social sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability.
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY allows everyone within a community to prosper by providing opportunities to those who might want to develop themselves. One of the ways that community builds - where 20 or so people build a house together - support social sustainability is to allow the young, poor, or inexperienced an opportunity to learn new skills which they can use to improve their status and well-being. Social sustainability also encourages the mixing of different cultures and ideals so that all the participants grow in their understanding, and hopefully treatment, of one another. When social sustainability is applied to a community, it improves the quality of life of all of the community’s members and encourages participation in governance through cultivating democratic means of communication and problem solving. When this ideal is fully realized, it achieves this without compromising the capabilities of future generations to do the same. Community builds accomplish this! Using techniques of building that utilize traditional techniques preserves our traditions for future generations. That also improves social sustainability.
A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY is one in which our resources are not used up faster than nature renews them and if encourages the equitable sharing of economic benefits. Our build is sustainable economically when we a) use as little as possible to get as much as we need and no more, and b) when we use local agents, materials, and techniques so that we are investing money back into our communities. When we pay cash for our homes instead of getting a mortgage, it is a double bonus of economic sustainability.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY is the way we use materials to minimize the impact on the environment. Sustainable measures in design are not just about the Energy Star rating or the product's number of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). In an environmentally sustainable building, the design:
* Is adapted specifically to a site.
* Does not rob from the needs of the environment.
* Is oriented to take advantage of sun, rain, wind, and other climatic benefits.
* Is sized exactly large enough to fit its purpose, and no more, so as not waste space (or resources).
* Uses regional materials, from no more than 500 miles and preferably under 200 miles away.
* Uses services of local artists and artisans for items like cabinetry, wall murals, and decorative metal work.
* Is built with materials that are low in embodied energy and high in performance.
* Operates pollution-free and waste-minimized during and after construction.
* Generates no wastes that are not useful for another process within the building or of benefit to the immediate environment.
* Is comprised of integrated systems that maximize efficiency and comfort.
* Is efficient: Reduces the energy required to function, harvests its own water and energy needs on-site, and then conserves those resources so they last.
* Promotes the health and well-being of all inhabitants.
Truly sustainable design starts with site planning, continues with building design and material selection, pays special attention to the methods and period of construction so as to minimize waste, and is finally achieved through the structure's life once operational. It considers energy, community, and conservation at every turn. From the energy required to transport materials; to the energy embodied in the materials; to the energy consumed by heating, cooling, lighting, plumbing and site drainage; and lastly - the costs and efforts required in maintaining a structure. It even considers the way we compost and recycle.
What is ironic about all this rigmarole about true sustainability is that it is fundamentally the common sense and low-tech solutions that are often the most sustainable. Designing a building with plenty of well-placed windows and that uses tube skylights to light inner rooms like closets and powder rooms makes daylighting an alternative to electric lighting for daytime use. Eliminating these power inputs reduces the number of resources needed. This type of approach is common sense, low-tech, and sustainable.
When we are talking about sustainable communities, the concepts of sustainability apply not only to the buildings, but also to the way the buildings and the people in them relate to one another. Sustainable communities are designed with people in mind. They are walkable and bike-able; it is possible to live, work, and play in the same neighborhood; there are goods and services available within the community; and the design preserves open space. It is even possible that sustainable technology is improved - a community cistern collects water off public buildings for landscaping, or maybe the curbs are designed to funnel storm water to trees. At this level, we can really make a difference and put ourselves on the path to achieving true sustainability.
We encourage using the Principle of Appropriate Technology in determining what you want to do in the build. This concept is really the ultimate “use what you have” philosophy: combine materials on hand using people power, spend as little money as possible, and solve a problem in your community in the process. Using this principle changes the way we live and build and participate in community. In principle, the Earthship concept attempts to do this. In practice though, it does not. For instance, using tires as building blocks wants to solve a problem. But unless you live on the edge of a tire dump, you are importing the problem. So, when you decide to build, consider what you have access to. What is a problem in your area that you can use to your advantage to make your home and your community better in the process?
Using passive solar design, building smaller, placing each room so that it has windows on at least two sides, looking to nature to learn how to live, understanding and working with our climate... all are techniques that you can use to address these principles.
by Rachel Preston Prinz and Carrie Christopher
Here are some ideas for how sustainable investments stack up.
Feature: NON-TOXIC & LOCAL BUILDING MATERIALS
Cost-Effective: Very
User- Friendly: Very
Notes: Protects from chemical sensitivities, reduces pollution, minimizes transportation cost
Feature: PASSIVE SOLAR GAIN
Cost-Effective: Very
User- Friendly: Very
Notes: Direct gain through glass; Clerestory or high windows allow light to penetrate further into the structure; Trombe walls = masonry covered with glass; Greenhouse
Feature: RAINWATER HARVESTING
Cost-Effective: Very
User- Friendly: Very
Notes: Use harvested rainwater to water trees, shrubs, ponds; possible domestic uses include bathing, washing, and toilet tanks
Feature: DRIP IRRIGATION
Cost-Effective: Very
User- Friendly: Very
Notes: Flexible tubing a few inches below the soil preserves water; watering can be put on a timer = effortless!