the New American Village

Bring on the Sun

2009-07-13T13:59:00.010-05:00

This weekend, I experimented with some do-it-yourself solar cooking, assisted by my furry sous chef, Frank.

The concave reflector below was cannibalized from a not-so-popular torchiere - first wrapped with aluminum foil, then with better results, spray painted chrome.

Alternative prototypes involved cardboard flaps covered with aluminum foil for additional reflectivity.

The earlier, weaker version worked nicely for heating up a tasty tomato and pesto sandwich. My wife Vickie made the amazing pesto from the basil in our garden, tomatoes were homegrown from the farmer's market, and we added fresh mozzarella - all on fresh-baked rye bread, again from the local farmer's market. Delicious!

Vegetables seasoned with herbs from our garden were on the menu for day two. They cooked nicely until an afternoon storm blew up. A bump up on the stove, and the veggies over brown rice complemented Vickie's out-of-this-world gazpacho for a tasty fresh feast.

My dog Frank was in charge of quality control.

And More Renewable Energy Fair

2009-07-09T11:39:00.013-05:00

Architect William Yudchitz displays his E.D.G.E. home, or Experimental Dwelling for a Greener Environment.

More Renewable Energy Fair...

2009-07-08T11:06:00.007-05:00

Architect Lou Host-Jablonski demonstrates techniques of straw-clay construction.

Renewable Mobility

2009-07-07T13:43:00.007-05:00

From the Clean Energy Car Show at the Renewable Energy Fair, electric cars and a solar powered bicycle.

Energy Fair

2009-07-06T09:27:00.003-05:00

More photos from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's Energy Fair.

Declaration of Energy Independence

2009-07-04T09:46:00.003-05:00

With apologies to Thomas Jefferson...

WHEN in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the Emotional and Economic bonds which have connected them with a destructive Energy Policy, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should chart a New Course.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Energy sources are not created equal, that they are endowed by their Nature with certain identifiable Costs and Characteristics that affect Life (Sustainability), Liberty (Energy Independence) and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Women and Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Energy production becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a policy of Alternative Energy production, laying its foundation on sustainable principles and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.

The history of the present Energy Policy is a history of repeated Environmental and Economic injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over their Quality of Life. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The current Energy Policy of these United States of America:

Has shackled the People with economic burdens of relentless and unpredictable spikes in the cost of Energy;

Has enriched certain Corporate entities while placing great strain on the Livelihood of the Citizens and the Health of their Planet;

Has fostered social habits among the Citizens so as to constitute addiction to and dependence on Non-Renewable Energy resources;

Has placed their Economic fortunes in the hands of rogue despots and unfriendly nations having control of oil and gas supplies;

Has influenced aggressive invasions of foreign lands by their Elected officials resulting in loss of life and limb and treasure and good will;

Has discouraged and downplayed the viability of Alternative Energies, and has underestimated the ingenuity of the Citizens of the United States;

And, by its short-sightedness, has caused the deterioration of the Health, Welfare and Well-Being of the American People.

We, therefore, the Citizens of the United States of America solemnly publish and declare, That the People are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent of all forms of Imported and Non-Sustainable Energy, and That the goal of Energy Independence shall be a National priority, and That the elected Leaders of the People shall act with urgency, intelligence, and resolve to achieve Energy Independence on or before July 4th, 2020.

Renewable Energy Fair

2009-06-30T11:15:00.009-05:00

Just back from Wisconsin where, among other things, I attended the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's annual Energy Fair.

Over the next few days I'll be posting photos of the event.

This year, over 23,000 people attended the event from across the globe. 270 vendors displaying a variety of renewable energy-related products and services, and more than 200 seminars and workshops disseminated renewable energy information galore.

I was ably assisted (at least on the first day) by my good friends Robert Godfrey and Jeff Havens - "A-list" charter members of the Green Technology Team.

Stay tuned...

Wind Meets Farm

2009-06-29T23:01:00.004-05:00

Wind farms are sprouting up like high corn rows in the the nation's breadbasket. I recently spotted this wide windload on Interstate 39 in northern Illinois en route to its final destination: it looked "ready for planting."

New smart grid technology will transport wind energy from the Midwest and solar energy from the Southwest to major metropolitan areas across the US making renewable energy an even more attractive option.

BeauSoleil Heats Up

2009-06-24T14:46:00.006-05:00

photos by Philip Gould

Things are heating up at the BeauSoleil World Headquarters in Lafayette. In the midst of a heat wave in muggy southern Louisiana, TEAM BeauSoleil is charging ahead WITHOUT air conditioning. Talk about sweat equity...

Time Lapse BeauSoleil

2009-06-24T14:29:00.003-05:00

Midwest Renewable Energy Fair

2009-06-22T14:00:00.003-05:00

The newspaper column:

This week, I am reporting from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s Energy Fair. Every year, practitioners and manufacturers of renewable energy systems from all over the country (and across the globe) come together in Custer, Wisconsin to share ideas about renewable energy.

Renewable energy, broadly defined, involves using the reoccurring and regenerative forces of Nature to power our world. Solar and Wind are the Brad and Angelina of the genre, but any element of green building, energy conservation, clean energy generation, or renewable energy advocacy is fair game at this Fair.

A tall, slender windmill announces the entry to the site. Most people come by car – after all, it’s a rural destination – but there were plenty of bicycles around and a bus stop for arranged public transportation.

White tents house make-shift classrooms where seminars and lectures on anything renewable take place throughout the three day event - over 200 sessions in all.

Exhibitors display the latest technologies in renewable energies and services with experts to answer specific questions about real world applications. Component samples, mock-ups, and ample product literature (to which an English major might raise an eyebrow and mutter “you call this literature?”) provide a dizzying avalanche of useful information for renewable newbies and pros alike.

Workshops led by pioneering experts demonstrate straw bale construction techniques and the ins and outs of erecting and operating solar energy systems.

On display at the Clean Energy Car Show are new electric vehicles, conventional vehicles converted to electric or hybrid operation, and even a solar powered bicycle.

Children can get into the act too. There’s a dedicated “Rainbow’s End” area for play and age-appropriate workshops on wind power, photosynthesis, and a host of other diverse learning activities disguised as fun and games. Kids can even assemble photon racers – or solar powered model cars – and race them.

Without a doubt, there is much more information at this fair than is possible to imbibe in a too-short period of time, even for renewable energy wonks. The best strategy at an event like this is take names and notes and follow up later. But the inevitable and necessary conversation does transpire, naturally.

The Internet is great, but face to face contact has always been, and will always be a very sustainable way to communicate. There is no equal substitute for a conversation in the flesh. Beyond the intricacies of technology and commerce, we are - after all - all human beings sharing a common planet.

For the health and well-being of humanity and the world in which we live, it is for the good of us all that people get together periodically and share ideas about how we can manifest and maintain a clean, prosperous, and peaceful living environment.

That is the spirit of this gathering.

The House of the Future

2009-06-08T13:57:00.002-05:00

This week's newspaper column:

What does the future hold for sustainable, energy efficient housing? Let’s take a peek.

Technology is available now to revolutionize the way we monitor energy usage. Smart meters – already in use in some areas - let homeowners see in real time how much energy their home is consuming. It’s even possible to track each outlet, light, and appliance in the house to determine where the “energy hogs” are.

Got an old refrigerator sucking more than its fair share of electricity? A smart meter can identify excessive energy drains letting you know it’s time to recycle that old clunker to make room for a new super-efficient model. And with a user-friendly interface, you’ll be able to access this information from your desktop, your television, or from your phone while on vacation.

The next-generation house will manufacture some or all of its own energy. Every year, more and more energy-producing building products - photovoltaic shingles, for example – come on the commercial market. Imagine a house where the roof, walls, and windows all generate electricity feeding itself and selling back excess energy to the local energy company; each home becomes a mini power plant.

In the future, solar panels will not be “add-ons,” but will be integrated into the fabric of the structure. Instead of looking at panels mounted to a roof, you’ll see a wall and know it is collecting solar energy.

Currently, prices are high for this new breed of technology, but we are just now standing at the threshold looking in; think about how rudimentary computers were just a generation ago. Over the next few decades, we will find a boom in the availability of energy-producing building products, and like with computers, continual improvements in technology lower the cost per unit of energy produced.

Looking a bit further into the future we can expect intelligent building skins. Walls and roofs reflect or attract heat depending upon the season and time of day. Surfaces will automatically take into consideration the local environment’s temperature and humidity changing like a chameleon with the climatic forces at play.

And there are some eternal environmental solutions that are destined to make a comeback.

Natural ventilation as a way to cool and clean inside air has been used since man started building homes. Although technology advances, the basic principles of physics stay the same. Natural ventilation will be just as viable in the future as it was for our great-grandparents.

Indigenous vegetation planted in “just the right place” will clean the air and temper the home’s microclimate. For example, planting deciduous trees on the south side of the house shades the structure in the summer and, when fall strips the leaves, allows the passage of warm sun rays in the winter. Incorporation of plant life in the home of the future will be taken for granted.

Tomorrow will be here before you know it.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim

2009-05-28T06:52:00.016-05:00

BeauSoliel: Home Stretch

2009-05-27T12:25:00.010-05:00

Solar Decathlon Update: Every two years 20 university teams are chosen, based on proposals, to design an all-solar home and assemble it on the National Mall in Washington DC for public viewing and judging. Check back each Wednesday as the NAV Blog reports on the process of the design and construction of BeauSoleil, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's entry. For more info about the project, visit their website. And check out a short film about the project.

I recently made a visit to the BeauSoleil World Headquarters in Lafayette, Louisiana where Professor Geoff Gjertson and graduate student Catherine Guidry gave me a tour of the construction progress.

With the Solar Decathlon coming up in October, TEAM BeauSoleil is in full construction mode. The basic frame with wall and roof panels are in place as are the windows. Soon, interior and exterior finishes, will be applied.

As with any piece of experimental architecture, magical little details are beginning to appear. Contrary to popoular opinion, a "good set of drawings" is not all it takes to complete the building. Frank Lloyd Wright famously refused to finish the interior drawings until the shell construction was completed and he could stand in the building and make decisions about the final details. Sometimes he went so far as to move a drafting board into the space and finish drawings then and there.

Reports from the field:

Well it has been an exciting week for the Beausoleil Team. We have just finished up a very tough semester and we are gearing up for the hot and very humid Louisiana summer. Summertime also means fulltime work on our project, which has been through some amazing changes. We have just made some major updates to our cd’s. By correcting and refining our layout our cd’s are looking pretty good. So far things are looking very good for finishing on time. Starting next week we will continue to tweak some minor issues and hopefully finish them up in a timely manner, since we will be at full strength as we welcome back the rest of our team.

Greg Jefferson - TEAM BeauSoleil

This week the design and construction crew down at the BeauSoleil Worldwide Headquarters is raising the roof…literally! We’ve been making great progress on the various roof systems the house incorporates. The galvalume metal roofing is installed and the aluminum roof frame that houses the water heating system is also being made! The fancy, shifting-ridge roof we designed is kind-of a pain in the neck sometimes, but boy does it look good! We’ll continue with posts to keep you guys up-to-date on all the shenanigans going on at the BeauSoleil Worldwide Headquarters. Have a BeauSoleil Day!

Chris Dufreche -TEAM BeauSoleil

New York AutoEntry

2009-05-26T06:24:00.005-05:00

Midnight Train

2009-05-25T09:51:00.005-05:00

This week's newspaper column:

Want to take a low-carbon-footprint vacation this summer? Try Amtrak.

According to the US Department of Energy, trains emit less carbon than airplanes or automobiles per passenger mile making rail travel the greenest way to commute long distances. (In the early 1900’s, artist Walter Anderson crisscrossed the country on dirt roads with a rusty old green bicycle – a great deal more sustainable than plane, train, or car - but I wouldn’t suggest this for the faint of heart.)

With fares comparable to flying, Amtrak is an attractive way to see the country on the way to your final destination. And unlike the cramped quarters of a commercial airliner, seats are spacious with much more room to stretch and move around.

Watch the passing landscape from your seat, or saunter down to the lounge car for a panoramic view. Have a drink and a snack while you meet interesting and diverse fellow travelers.

When mealtime comes around, take advantage of the dining car where window-side booths are adorned with white table cloths and fresh-cut flowers. The kitchen offers a variety of menu choices -including healthy and vegetarian options - serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Don’t expect a four star restaurant, but for diner food, the quality is surprisingly good.

Sleeping rooms with fold-out beds are available at a premium rate, but if comfort is a priority, that’s the way to go. Meals are included when you book a sleeper.

Getting beyond energy efficiency, rail travel fosters another facet of green living: cultural sustainability.

On the train, you will have the potential (and probability) of meeting people from all parts of the county and any corner of the globe. Long conversations are standard fare. Why hurry? You’ll have a few hours to relax and enjoy the ride.

If traveling alone or in a pair, the dining car hostess takes the liberty of seating you with a random rider or two leading to unexpectedly delightful conversations with people you probably never would meet otherwise.

Riding cross-country on passenger rail is the equivalent of taking a graduate level sociology class, except this course is “hands-on” and most your fellow students are up on the subject matter.

If you are planning an extended vacation, the USA Rail Pass is a great value. For less than four hundred dollars (and under two hundred dollars for kids), you can ride anywhere Amtrak travels for 15 days with up to 8 stopovers. Thirty and forty-five day passes are available as well.

Amtrak does not have advance purchase discounts per se, but as seats on a train sell out, the price gets progressively higher, so buy tickets as far ahead of your trip as possible.

Consider riding the rails this summer. Take a good book, and I bet you’ll have some great travel stories to tell when you return.

New York

2009-05-22T12:10:00.005-05:00

Just returned from New York where I took in the Frank Lloyd Wright From Within Outward exhibition at the Guggenheim. More photos to come. Stay tuned.

Take A Bike

2009-05-12T08:35:00.005-05:00

This Week's Newspaper Column:

May is National Bike Month and the League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike-to-Work Week May 11-16 culminating in a national Bike-to-Work Day on Friday, May 15^th. Riders across the country will be taking advantage of the beautiful early summer weather to take to the streets, many for the first time.

Why ride a bike to work instead of taking a vehicle? Consider your overall health and economics; when you ride a bike, you burn calories, not gas.

Americans are getting fatter and fatter due, in part, to lack of exercise. Once upon a time, before the automobile was ubiquitous, exercise was part of the daily routine. Most people walked to work, walked to the store, and walked to school.

Now, after half a century of transportation planning with a “car-only” ethic, American cities have spread out (much like our wastelines) and walking in many places is not an option. But a very long walk is an easy ride on a bike. You could say that biking is the new walking.

Here are a few biking rules for the road.

Keep in mind that bicycles are ruled by the same laws as cars. You are expected to stay in the same lanes and obey the same road signs and stoplights as automobiles. The exception is that bikes are not allowed on the interstate highway.

Never ride on the left side of the road. Besides the illegality, drivers always look to the left before making a right turn but they may or may not look to the right before pulling out into the street. As a general rule, bikes are no match for moving fenders.

Check your route ahead of time to make sure you’ll feel safe. When dedicated bike lanes are not present, you may opt for utilizing secondary streets rather than compete with fast-moving automobile traffic. The route you select may be a little farther, but safety and comfort are important factors.

Avoid sidewalks. As tempting as it is to ride the walk, pedestrians and bicycles do not easily mix.

If your schedule puts you out at night, make sure to have both a front and rear light mounted to your bike. Although only 4% of bicycling occurs at night, half of biking fatalities happen after dark.

It’s important to remember that you may very well work up a sweat en route. Leave a change of clothes at the office along with a towel and some soap for the sake of comfort and collegiality.

And remember to wear a helmet. Head injuries are the most serious of biking mishaps, and a helmet might just make the difference between a dust-off and a trip to the hospital (or worse) if an unfortunate accident occurs.

So hop on a bike this month and enjoy the scenery and fresh air; your heart and wallet will thank you.

Special thanks to James Moore of Moore's Bike Shop in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for some invaluable information and feedback on this essay. Mention that you read this article, and get a 10% discount on all bike assessories throughout the month of May.

Moore's Bike Shop
1607 Hardy Street
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
(601) 544-1978

Electricity in America

2009-05-01T13:07:00.003-05:00

National Public Radio is running a collection of reports entitled Re-Envisioning Electricity in the US. Where are we now? What does a green energy future look like? How do we get there?

Click here to listen to the entire series.

EcoFido

2009-04-29T08:02:00.010-05:00

This week's newspaper column.

This past Earth Day, I led an effort to build a pine straw dog house clad with native clay complete with green roof dubbed Eco-Fido. The inspiration came from a little-known but rapidly-growing building technique: strawbale construction.

A truly American invention, this natural way of building dates back to the nineteenth century when European migrants settling in the Midwest utilized abundant baled wheat straw in lieu of lumber to construct homes.

As the green movement grows, strawbale construction is more popular than ever with new structures popping up throughout the country. (Insert your joke about the Big Bad Wolf here).

Strawbales can be used as infill insulation in a wood-framed building or as a replacement for the framing itself. Although building codes in many jurisdictions do not yet recognize strawbales as a structural material - California being a notable exception – it’s proving to be quite adequate for small to medium sized residential construction. Some homes built over a century ago are still standing nicely resisting strong winds, pests, and inclement weather. Strawbale homes have shown to fare well in earthquakes as well.

The basic system consists of stacking wheat or rice straw bales in a brick-like fashion reinforced by steel, bamboo, or rope ties, and coated with stucco or earthen clay inside and out.

Strawbale construction roughly triples the insulation value, and as a natural substance, there’s no out gassing of toxic fumes as is common with conventional materials. The owner of a strawbale home I designed in Wisconsin boasts that his home is so quiet he’d never know he was near a road if he didn’t occasionally look out the front window to see cars passing.

Encapsulated tightly packed straw does not contain enough oxygen to be a fire hazard; strawbale walls hold up more than twice as long as conventional walls in recent laboratory fire testing.

What about humidity? Strawbale walls seem to retain their integrity in wetter climates as well.

In the 1930’s, inventor and physician William Burritt built a strawable mansion on top of a mountain in Huntsville, Alabama. Legend has it that he once took rest in a roadside barn and noticed how much cooler the interior was in relation to typical homes of the day so he decided to emulate the stacked bales of straw he noticed in the barn. Today, that home serves as Huntsville’s city museum.

Strawbale construction is decidedly democratic in that the simplicity of the process and the manageable weight of the materials invites the participation of novices alongside professionals; it’s not uncommon to see petite women trimming and stacking bales and even children like to get into the act spreading plaster or mud.

And that pine straw and mud dog house? I built the frame, but Headstart students, ages 3-5, helped in mixing the mud (by squishing it with bare feet) and assisted in applying the wet clay with eager little hands.

High Speed Rail Speeds Ahead

2009-04-17T03:48:00.003-05:00

In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $8 billion has been allocated to the development of high speed passenger rail service.

Under the direction of new Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, rail corridors linking major US cities have been identified along with a strategic plan for implementation.

All aboard!

A Clothesline for the White House

2009-04-14T08:20:00.003-05:00

Alexander Lee of The Clothesline Project advocates the using of solar energy to dry White House laundray; he's proposing a presidential clothesline.

In a growing movement, more people are drying their clothes naturally on clotheslines. The energy is free and you can't beat the sun-soaked smell of clean sheets.

Unfortunately, many neighborhood covenants outlaw natural drying, but times are changing. A clothesline on the White House lawn would send a powerful message to the nation that drying clothes naturally is OK.

Click on this Baltimore Sun article for a rundown on the proposal.

Fork in the Road

2009-04-13T19:13:00.007-05:00

images: Neil Young promo and Fork in the Road video frame

Neil Young's new album is all about his new electric car, the "LincVolt" - a reconditioned '59 Lincoln Continental.

Check out a video of the title track at this link.

the part 1 and part 2 of a Charlie Rose interview where Young talks about the politics and philosophy of a conversion to alternative energies, and if you have a bit more time, check out the entire interview.

BeauSoleil: RubBoard

2009-04-09T13:04:00.007-05:00

US National Archives

The Cajun instrument known as the frotoir is the result of a complex and rich evolutionary process. Basically the frotoir is a rub-board- a corrugated metal device used to wash clothing by hand. The highly recognizable sixteenth notes in Cajun and Zydeco music come from the rapid rubbing of a spoon on the frotoir- the “chanka-chanka.” Legend has it that Clifton Chenier, the pre-eminent Cajun accordion player asked and a certain Mr. Landry, an oil-field machinist, to adapt the traditional rectangular rub-board to a more ergonomic form better-suited to playing Cajun and Zydeco music. This meeting of industrial machine processes and culture led to a beautifully formed single piece of stainless steel with shoulder supports and a contoured playing surface.

In many ways, the BeauSoleil Home reflects this same tradition of a melding of culture and industry. The design of the home relies upon the most advanced technology for energy generation and climate control. But it also relies upon the adaptation of traditional building forms and materials as well as passive cooling strategies. Like the frotoir, the BeauSoleil Home is not extravagant or over-wrought. It is simple and modest. The BeauSoleil home is first and foremost functional. Just as Cajun culture has traditionally done, it makes the most of a little. Social interaction, in the form of entertaining and cooking, are the daily rituals which inspire its form. The home adapts to the unexpected, whether it be an unexpected guest and a subsequent crawfish boil or a hurricane.

Architecturally, the BeauSoleil home is not overly formalistic or rationally ordered. Its small size (800 square feet) require a certain degree of order and efficiency but the home does not forsake its roots. The home has a very generous kitchen and bathroom. These are two areas which modern architects tended to label as “service” spaces. In fact, many of the past Decathlon homes relegate these rooms to thickened “walls,” barely inhabitable spaces. The BeauSoleil Home does not divide its spaces into “served” and “service” spaces as Louis Kahn and other modern architects did. Mechanical spaces do not drive the use of the space. These pieces of equipment are placed in lofts and penthouses where they belong- out of the way of human habitation.

In a competition where the rules tend to dictate the form of all of the homes, the BeauSoleil Home again refuses to ignore Louisiana. A majority of the Decathlon homes do not have porches. The rules tend to discourage these spaces which are considered marginal by the organizers. The BeauSoleil Home refuses to exclude the porch. Our culture requires the porch for day to day life. In fact, the home has two porches- the dogtrot or transitional porch and the kitchen porch. Contrary to the insinuation of the rules, these are not marginal spaces- they are the stages of everyday life.

-W. Geoff Gjertson, AIA
TEAM BeauSoleil Faculty Advisor

New Natural Battery

2009-04-06T09:04:00.005-05:00

MIT scientists are working on a greener way to make lithium batteries using natural biological systems. A genetically engineered virus binds to microscopic carbon nanotubes creating a "scaffolding" effect for efficiently conducting electrons.

Lab experiments have shown these naturally constructed batteries are as efficient as conventionally produced lithium batteries while requiring much less energy to produce and reducing manufacturing-related pollution. And there is promise for stronger batteries as the engineered virus is fine tuned.

Listen to an NPR report here.