Today we visted Michael Mobb’s house. In 1996 he retrofitted his house to ensure that he provided and processed all water on site and minimized his electricity usage. Michael was an interesting individual; he was VERY passionate about sustainability and I think represented the "Do the right thing" motivated individual. One of the things we've discussed amongst ourselves on this trip is that there seem to be three real motivators driving sustainable inititives. The first being "What's in it for me?" or the money motivator. The second being "I do it because I have to." or the government regulation motivator. The third motivator seems to be "I do it because it's the right thing." or altruistic motivator. It seems that those who are moving toward sustainability our of a sense of responsibility often demonstrate the highest level of sustainability.
The great thing about the way Michael did his house is that it is really “Idiot Proof” he didn’t over complicate things or try to achieve unreasonable goals. He collects rain water in a tank, he then re-collects all the water that runs down the drains in a different tank, filters and treats it, then re-uses it again to wash clothes and dishes with. No water has left his site in 14 years. In addition, when he did his solar panel system he made the decision stay tied into the grid for ease of use, so he generates about 65% of his energy usage during the day and at night pulls power from the main grid. There are no batteries to replace or complicated inverters, no special sun tracking mechanism, etc… It’s just simple. He said his utility bills for the year are about $300 and the system cost him $48,000 in 1996, but that he could do it all over again, and better, today for about $15,000 - $20,000. I think it’s quite a testimony to simplicity, ease of use, and durability of Michael’s system that it has stayed in continuous service for 14 years now. Oddly enough he says that it took him 4 years of planning, 1 whole year just to get permits from the City and only 3 months to construct. He found that one of the most difficult parts was educating the city and utility companies as to what he was doing and how. Here is some of the guidance he gave:
• Set very specific and measurable goals before you start.
• Don’t ever go to a city office or utility and “ask for permission” instead go and present it as “I’m going to do this, this is how I’m going to do this, are there any permits required?”
• Never talk to just one of your contractors, always get them all in the same room so that everyone is on the same page.
• Tie all progress payments to the measureable goals you set in the beginning.
One Central Park – One our way back from Michael’s house we stopped in at a new sustainable hi rise “for sale” apartment building that was being built. This is going to be a 6 star rated green building and will incorporate many of the features Michael Mobb used in his house (although they are in no way related). I like the concept of using this on multifamily because I feel like there are some economies of scale that are more sustainable if you are sharing the resources among many people (i.e. you don’t have to have a rainwater tank for every family, say 100 families share 1 tank). At a high level here are some of the sustainable aspects of the One Central Park:
• Rainwater collection
• Gray Water recycling
• Black water irrigation
• Green Balconies (management controls plant selection)
• Energy efficient appliances
• Solar Electricity
• Solar pool heating use reflection of solar panels and then overhead mirrors to direct sunlight to pool area.
• Full outside wall sliding doors for ventilation
No comments:
Post a Comment