How to save yourself (not your planet) with sustainable home design
Sustainable home design intuitively points toward saving the planet, but what you may not know is that you're actually saving yourself.
Green Build 2015 in Washington DC just finished up. It was the 13th straight USGBC Green Build Conference I attended since its humble but powerful beginning in 2002. With nearly 30,000 attendees today, the conference is starting turn heads in more than just the architectural community, and it was really exciting to see so much enthusiasm for sustainability.
I have often argued that humankind and nature are not separate, and that when we say we want to save the planet, our interests are actually much more self-centered than that. The planet is going to be fine, and it can and WILL take care of itself. It may need to make adjustments that we don't like in order to heal, which may impact the way of life we are clinging to.
Deepak Chopra, our opening speaker, was actually very clear on this point. He said that we are literally one with the environment, and that there is no separation from ourselves and it. From the smallest code in our DNA to the planet, to the Universe, we are all made of the same stuff.
There were many inspiring education sessions this year, but two really stuck out to me. The first is Barry Svigals, Architect - whose topic was “The Seeds of a Renewed Commitment."
Mr. Svigals’ firm designed the replacement school for the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Monroe, Connecticut. This is what he had to say:
1. a global crisis exists on two fronts
Both natural and social ecologies are in crisis. Citing Henk Ovink, of the Netherlands, who believes we don't have the will to solve our problems right now, he stated that this is an ongoing topic.
Can we solve our own problems before the natural and social ecology crises cause devastating effects on our lives? Do we have the foresight to act now in a pro-active manner, or are we destined to react when our efforts will be less effective and more costly?
2. who we are and how we do matter
It's not just what we do, but how we participate in what we do that makes a difference. There is no "THEY". There is only us. Mr. Svigals talked about social affection that occurred natural in the US during the early days of this country. There were social networks where everyone cared for everyone. He gave the example of John and Abigail Adams who were famous for their social affection.
As he spoke of the design for the New Sandy Hook School it was inspiriting to hear the community has chosen to rebuild their school and their sense of community based on goodness, hope, love, and openness. Remembering the tragedy, one would not blame them if they wanted to build a bunker, a fortress, or a prison to separate the outside world from their students. But that would be a perspective of fear, and they instead opted for hope.
“We will not protect what we do not love”
- Barry Svigals
The second architect I heard speak was Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House. I have always been interested in this topic, and have advocated to build the correct amount of space, and no more, a core theme to the book.
If you are familiar with the LEED for Homes Rating System from the USGBC, you'll know that one can receive bonus points for a home smaller than a size determined by the LEED standard, and is penalized for building something larger. This is based on the number of bedrooms the home will have, so a 2 bedroom home as a different square footage goal than a 5 bedroom home.
Interestingly, our current Birch Haven Residence project is seeking LEED for homes platinum certification. It has 5 bedrooms, but exceeds the recommend square footage in the LEED system, so we are absorbing some negative penalty credits due to the size. It is forcing us to make the home more efficient in other ways to make up the difference and still get to Platinum level certification.
Ms. Susanka believes everyone is searching for a sense of ”Home” built better not bigger; built to last, built to inspire, built for how we really live. Current trends she is seeing include no formal living room, and no formal dining room. These spaces no longer get much use because they do not fit the way we live. Her recommendation is to build 1/3 less space than you think you need, and put every SF in use every day.
Ms. Susanka has written a new book entitled The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters, which she also spoke in great detail about in her lecture. In her book she describes how we reach our full potential, by doing simple things like putting ourselves on the calendar (make time for our own growth), and looking with the eyes of a student (everything is a learning opportunity that should be seen in a fresh light). Ask yourself, “What can I learn about this thing in my life?” Drop the reaction, and think what I can learn from this- See that the world is reflecting ourselves back to us.
NOW is the only time. Prior is remembering, future is projecting. Be present. We can change things faster than we think we can.
CONCLUSION:
The reality is that when we say we want to save the planet, we are, in effect, saying that we prefer self-preservation over extinction, because it's true... nature will find a way to get back on course, and she's not going to make it easy on us. In fact, the more we tear her apart, the more healing will be necessary.
If we look around us and take inventory on what we can change today, we might be able to preserve ourselves for a little while longer.
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We are (as a Sarasota Fl architect) in the process of designing our second LEED certified home now. I wanted to share some of the process, decision making and what to expect. Our first LEED certified home was for the HGTV television show in 2009, and was the HGTV Green Home for that year. It was Platinum level certified. Our current project in the design development phase now, is located in Southwestern Michigan, and is a new home for my parents. I will tell you more about the project later, but let's talk a little about the process first. There is a lot to think about, but don't get overwhelmed. As a trailblazer in LEED architecture in Florida, we truly understand the demands.
Bring your general contractor on board as soon as your design team has a concept design established. Designing a high performance home requires an integrated design and construction team working together to optimize the outcomes. The general contractor can provide valuable knowledge on construction techniques suitable for your area and climate zone. The GC can provide preliminary cost estimating during each phase of the development of the design to make sure your project stays on budget. The GC can bring in their subcontractors into the discussion to provide input into the selection of building systems to be used on your project. I suggest getting several references for good experienced general contractors and then narrowing that list down to two or three contractors that you would like to interview in person. Don't base your decision strictly on price. Remember that you are in the early design stage of the project at this point and many of the details and systems have not yet been established. A hard bid at this phase is not possible. Look more at qualifications, past experience and how the general contractor calculates his fee. And the general contractor should have LEED accredited professionals on staff. 