[Greenbuilding] That Natural Feeling

[Gennaro Brooks-Church]

correction: we build on the North Eastern US and not the North Western

Gennaro Brooks-Church

Cell: 1 347 244 3016 USA
www.EcoBrooklyn.com
22 2nd St; Brooklyn, NY 11231




On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 6:30 PM, Gennaro Brooks-Church
<info at ecobrooklyn.com> wrote:
> This list, like most of the world, is roughly separated along two
> lines, those forward looking techies who value science and those
> backward looking naturalists who value tradition.
> In one camp you have the number crunching BTU types and in the other
> camp you have the adobe plaster types.
> I lean on the naturalist side. I figure if it worked for 2000 years
> for a civilization then it is worth looking into. I am suspect of the
> techies who use wunder science to try to support an unsupportable
> lifestyle. For example, if every person on the planet built along PH
> standards we would die off immediately. PH standards are for rich
> Western construction and relies heavily on cheap materials from poor
> underdeveloped countries, who by the way consume a LOT less energy per
> household per year than PH requirements.
>
> However, if every rich Western country built along PH standards we
> would be WAY ahead of the game and it would be a HUGE improvement over
> our current wasteful building. But it doesn't solve the issue for the
> rest of the "developing world" (in parenthesis since that term implies
> they are less evolved than us superior and more developed countries -
> irony).
>
> So for me the solution is to use PH for the time being as an
> improvement to current western building. Just like LEED is an
> improvement in some areas. But neither are valid long term solutions.
>
> In answer to Corwyn, my personal metric is the self invented Zero
> Brownstone Technique, which could be tweaked to any area but in my
> case is very specific to North Western townhouse construction. There
> is more on my site but is basically is zero waster during
> deconstruction, zero new materials during construction, and zero
> energy use in the final home. It is our goal. Right now the "right
> amount" of insulation based on this metric for a brownstone is about 6
> inches of polyiso, which by the way is a little more than what our PH
> building calls for that we are doing. That was a nice confirmation
> that my "hunch" was on the right track of the one of the best metrics
> out there right now.
>
>
> Gennaro Brooks-Church
>
> Cell: 1 347 244 3016 USA
> www.EcoBrooklyn.com
> 22 2nd St; Brooklyn, NY 11231
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Frank Cetera
> <alchemicalfranklen at gmail.com> wrote:
>> AC - loving your sentiments, no doubt cause they somewhat echo mine.  But
>> getting folks in the green building arena in my town to think natural is a
>> big goal.  Making the connection to the Earth through natural materials, and
>> not highly processed and manufactured from states away; having "openings" in
>> the shell that make that connection to the natural environment; not worrying
>> down to the smallest BTU if the energy saved in high-tech manufacture bests
>> the energy lost in natural low/appropriate techniques when making decisions;
>> using natural materials and eleme4nts instead of mimicking them with
>> produced structures - a sliding metal wall with openings in it meant to
>> create a flickering light inside the home that is reminiscent of leaves on a
>> tree when you could just plant or save the tree.
>>
>> Ahhh, to not be "locked" away in my home, as I often feel locked away from
>> the outside in my office or other public buildings that fight their hardest
>> to keep all the elements out!
>>
>> ~Frank Cetera
>> www.alchemicalnursery.org
>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> Message: 2
>>> Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:47:47 -0500
>>> From: action jackson <benigncraft at gmail.com>
>>> To: greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>> Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Greenbuilding Digest, Vol 5, Issue 9
>>> Message-ID:
>>>        <AANLkTiksPEgr+-tT5+=k3MqXMfbMzu8G3Zkg1rK9HbMP at mail.gmail.com>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>>
>>> hey folks -
>>>
>>> fer my two cents on passivehaus:
>>>
>>> AWESOME! now people can build homes to an inappropriate scale and have
>>> little human physical connection to the outside environment. THAT will put
>>> us more in touch with needs of the planet- surely!
>>>
>>> look- I think we all need to be honest about the conversation we are
>>> having
>>> here- if it is about SURVIVING on the planet - humans have done quite well
>>> (in some of the most inhospitable places on the planet i might add) and
>>> not
>>> only survived but CULTURALLY THRIVED there- using small scale -low tech
>>> shelters of local natural materials to take temporary refuge from the
>>> outdoors- where they LIVED.
>>>
>>> if the conversation is about maintaining our lifestyles- then start the
>>> number crunching- decouple yourself from the planet that sustains you
>>> (because that knowledge will serve us well when we colonize mars) - and
>>> rock
>>> and roll !
>>>
>>> I prefer  the planet we have -
>>>
>>>  but I respect the solutions in either conversation- I just think we need
>>> to
>>> delineate clearly.
>>>
>>> to borrow an adage from the foodies (who i think parallel us in many
>>> ways)-
>>> stands to reason- food /clothing /shelter
>>>
>>> *Eat food*. *Mostly plants*. Not too much.
>>>
>>> Build shelter.Mostly natural.Not too big.
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Greenbuilding mailing list
>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
>> Greenbuilding at bioenergylists.org
>>
>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>
>