More on small houses

I remember way back when I lived in Seattle, in the early 1980s, someone I knew lived in a small detached homes in a cluster of 6 to 8 small homes nestled between Lake Washington and a hillside.  They were all rentals, I think, old and not in the best of shape.  But the whole thing, the community of small homes, seemed wonderful to me.

Well, an architect in Washington has been creating similar communities, dense clusters of small cottages, in the Puget Sound area.  It was written up in Metropolis.  Here is the site plan for one of the newest communities, Spring Valley Cottages, located in Port Townsend.  

The homes range from 600 to 1,200 square feet and the parking is in an open lot.  Prices range from the low $200,000s to the low $400,000s.  The architect is Ross Chapin Architects.

Perfect power?

The light bulbs in my bathroom blinked off and on, twice, while I was shaving a couple of days ago. Later I noticed that digital clocks were blinking and my computer had turned off. Another power failure! And the weather was fine.

Minor power failures seem to be happening more and more often recently, even in good weather. I don’t think it’s happening just here in Katrina land, either. Major failures also seem to crop up a little more than in the past.

Reason: Most of the nation’s power grid is 50 years old. It is over-taxed and under-engineered.

The Galvin Electricity Initiative was created to address this infrastructural problem. They say a perfect power system is possible, through redundancy and “smart systems”. At least in part. I haven’t studied everything on their site yet. Kansas City Power & Light, for example, will give customers a free programmable thermostat, including installation, if they agree to let the power company adjust their AC setting by a few degrees during weekdays at peak load hours. This saves power and money. (Still, seems a little Big Brother like.)

Our infrastructure problems are immense: Roads, bridges, the electrical grid and sewer and water systems are all past their “sell by” date. (Not to mention the education system. Or health care.)

They will all need to be rebuilt sooner or later. But new thinking is needed. We probably won’t use these systems in the same way in the future.

As fads go Green is good

Green momentum has been building for years. But lately it has snowballed into
a vast green monster.

The recent International Builders Show in Orlando was full of green presentations and green exhibits. ULI has been talking green for some time. Our local home products show in New Orleans was full of green exhibits.

Is it more than a fad? Haven’t we been here before? But it seems to be different this time. There is more structural support for the green movement. It makes more economic sense than in the past, even though there might be enough oil to last another 100 years. Making your home greener can be costly, though. And home builders who have gone green are seeing mixed results in terms of sales.

There’s a long way to go, in terms of basic knowledge and behavior. And some of the consequences of going green are poorly understood. For example, if Green Light New Orleans does manage to replace all of the incandescent light bulbs in New Orleans over the next few years with CFLs, what happens to the old incandescents? More bulk for the landfill? Or are there ways to re-use them? And the CFLs are not perfect–they have disposal problems due to their mercury content. It’s a tiny amount, per bulb, but what about millions?

Green development measures up, according to some studies

Building and developing real estate using green design principles, practices and materials is attractive in a feel-good way. But where are the hard facts? Is it measurably better in commonly understood ways? That is, financially?

Two recent reports seem to show it is. One study found that “low impact development” (LID) was cheaper to build, cheaper to maintain, and more profitable than the standard slash and burn approach. “However, existing zoning laws, stormwater management regulations and other barriers inhibit LID”, the report went on to say. See Crunching the Numbers on Low Impact Development in Minnesota

Green affordable housing seems to cost a little more to build–but not much–and the benefits to tenants, in terms of utility bills, and even health, might be substantial.

So is anyone in the local (re)development stream–affordable or market rate–paying heed to LID and green building? I think that progress is being made in this direction. Check out Global Green and what they are doing locally. But here, like most everywhere else, old habits persist.