We left you last month with a cliff hanger. Although the car died we still have the van. Our remaining vehicle has 450,000 kms on it, and is meant strictly as the work thing to tow the trailer up the driveway. It looks like a work thing; it is bruised, battered and filthy just like Gord, and they are both starting to complain. The difference is that Gord is reliable but the van is not. Ann is complaining too because it’s too filthy to transport groceries in.

The vehicle vs. values saga

What do you do when hard work and luck places you where you want to be, but society and cultural pressures tell you to ignore your values and get back in the box?

As many of you are aware we have shared custody of the kids with alternating weeks. What were to happen if we refused to buy a vehicle because of conflict with our values? What if we argued that there were no good alternatives available yet to transport kids? What if we had no bus service? For two years we have tried to change the kids’ school as was agreed to when we moved here. Currently, we have a two and a half hour daily drive to and from school twice per day which accounts for most of our driving. What if we biked to the closest bus route and sent the kids off to school for an hour long bus ride each way? Lots of questions…No answers!

The only answer is… Too bad… you have to uphold your responsibility to transport the kids to school. The courts are not even close to being able to make a decision based on the triple bottom line. Interestingly we have spent the last two years attempting to discuss climate issues, equal family involvement, kids’ school friends, reduction of greenhouse gases, environmental education, kids’ schedules, and commuting costs. We are saddened and left wondering what is worth fighting for. Do we allow our culture to determine that we go out and purchase a greenhouse gas spewing dinosaur? Can we wait for the government to allow electric vehicles? Could we even afford one?

Interestingly the Federal government has told one of the Canadian based electric vehicle makers, that despite them meeting the federal guidelines, they still can’t sell in Canada, as the federal government has plans to review their guidelines. Something is a little stinky here!

The Electrical Code

Our lucky day…we just got a new electrical inspector assigned to our building. He is only into the job two weeks and he gets our house. Our thoughts were “poor bugger”. Our electrician gently peppered him with questions, and he went for his notebook. The inspector spent half of his two hours getting a tour of the systems, an introduction to sustainability, and learning how deficient the electrical code really is when it comes to energy conservation.

The inspector has had to learn a lot really quick. We learned that the electrical code is kind of like the Bible…open to interpretation.

We had expected that our living (circle) room would have to have AC outlets built into the back of the cob all the way around the seating areas. When we asked what he would like to see he said “well it looks like this really is a cozy spot to read. Why would you want to put plug outlets into built in furniture?” That was supposed to be our line! Common sense prevailed.

Things were stalled here while we waited for the feedback from the electrical inspector on all the items that make our home different from the norm. What will he say about the DC outlets, the 24 volt LED lights (that are not CSA approved), the 24 VDC pumps that are not CSA approved, screw in AC Edison base light fixtures to be used for DC bulbs?

Two weeks later. All is ok… just don’t put in regular AC switches for the DC lighting. There is a good reason for this, as AC voltage cycles at 60HZ, meaning there is little to no arc when a switch is flipped, unlike DC. We need to use a switch with a stronger spring to ensure that the connection of the circuit is broken, rather than an arc causing it to fuse and stay connected.

Insurance

We had Ted Hill, the editor from the Goldstream Gazette, here the beginning of the month. It was interesting to watch this fellow show up to do a story that he felt slightly responsible to do, but not too sure about what the story should be. Over a two hour period, we saw Ted’s eyes open wider, and the laughs and amazement increase, with the final point of interest being that our insurance will be based on buildings that exist in the UK that are several hundred years old (older than Canada)!

Pattie Whitehouse, who used to write all our stories for the Goldstream Gazette, was let go when Black Press took over. It’s amazing how hard it is to get news coverage in our own community. We are still waiting for the story in the Gazette to come out.

Toilet Training

It wouldn’t be complete for a month to go by with out talking about the toilet, so here it goes. We put out a call for a good used toilet to temporarily install in our bathroom to comply with code. After receiving offers for six such old toilets it became clear that in order to comply with the building code we had to install a LOW flush toilet. Now don’t get us wrong…this is a great law…but for us, who plan on using a NO flush toilet it just doesn’t make any Eco-Sense.

So instead of this being a problem, we are going to have some fun with this…we can either cry over stuff like this or laugh. So here is the tentative plan for next February.

Neville, a friend here in the Highlands, has a company in Victoria called Heritage Office Furnishing, which will donate a new low flush toilet to the Highlands Heritage Park Society (Pike House). Bob McMinn from this society (and the first mayor of the Highlands) will loan this toilet to us to install and fulfill code requirements.

We are then holding the first ever ‘Celebrity Flush’ event targeted at celebrities, politicians, and anyone who supports what we are doing. The goal is to support sustainability and show opposition to the crazy rules that stand in the way of sustainable development. Participants pay $50 to pee into this new low flush toilet. No, this is not a pissing contest!

Proceeds will be donated to the Highlands Stewardship Foundation to continue their good work with monitoring ground water and educating us in its use. The slightly used low flush toilet will then be installed in its final resting place on the Pike house grounds complete with a story board of how it came to be.

Sustainability is FUN! Thanks to Pattie, Neville, and Bob for their insight, humour, and help. Looking forward to even more community input (pun intended).

And the Heating … AGAIN!

Yet one more time we look at heating. From purely solar, to generator back-up, then wood gasification, then to electrical, on to air-to-water heat pumps, then toying with bio-diesel, then back to more solar, and finally wood gasification. Who said ignorance was bliss!

Here is our brief summary of our rational, and believe me it is brief to summarize nine months of research into a few sentences.

Purely solar would mean 240 evacuated tubes for December and January demand, while only 60 tubes seven months of the year. This translates into an extra $18,000. Yikes!

Generator: A diesel genset has efficiency losses from transferring fuel into both power and excess heat. We did not want to rely heavily on a fuel (biodiesel or diesel) nor be inefficient. Ann can’t stand exhaust fumes either.

Air to water heat pump: We found an amazing heat pump made in Germany by Dimplex with a CoP (coefficient of performance) of 3.9; this means for every 1 Kw of energy fed into the system 3.9 Kw of heat are extracted. We almost went this route but would need to add more PV panels as its rated capacity was for 1.9 Kw.

Biodiesel direct hot water system from ITR. ITR did the testing, and their smaller Hurricane II was a good fit, but their larger Oasis was CSA certified. We again second guessed ourselves as to relying on fuel availability. Ann still didn’t want to breathe any exhaust.

Grid fed electric element. NOT!

Wood gasification. We finally purchased the wood gasification boiler. We had a choice of Greenwood, HS Tarm, Eko, and Wood Gun. Each gasification burner has different requirements depending on your setup. We decided on Alternate Heating Systems’ Wood Gun.

Wood Gun

The Wood Gun has been made for 27 years, same design, simple, repairable, doesn’t require a large water tank to operate efficiently. It basically heats wood allowing the gases to be released and be burned in a secondary chamber reaching between 1800-2000 degrees F. The boiler is immersed in 60 gallons of water, where in which it transfers heat through a coil to our 120 gallon hot water tank. These units are pretty much smokeless scoring big points with Ann.

We “learn” then we “do”

We are often asked how we learned what we are doing. What is it that makes us different? Not much! We just learn, and then we do. We’re not scared of failure which frees us up to be creative. We are also not as attached to a particular outcome and will work with and accept how things evolve. Life is not about the best decision or perfection.

Accomplishments for the month!

Ben and Ann have completed most of the exterior brown coat plastering. Tough work with cold hands.

Gord and Ben also finished putting in the hydronic heating tubes upstairs and the earthen floor on top.

Angela Evans (who did some tours here this past summer) came by to spend the day drawing some beautiful creatures on our exterior cob walls. We hope to incorporate these into some relief work on our home.

BC Hydro, after a tour of course, hooked up and connected the grid intertie. We are number 16 in the province.

Our plumber and electrician (Byron and Mike) have worked hard to give us temporary heat running though the floors. There is lots of moisture to push out to dry everything and start to warm up the place.

We cleaned up a bit, (Ann let her hair out of the ever present ponytail), and swept the house in preparation for the Knowledge Network. They will be back one more time in January to do the final shoot. Almost an entire day for a few minutes of footage.

Creativity Strikes

We have experimented with packing crates, plywood, old 2×4’s and some of our own wood. This rearrangement of old and new wood from forests past and present has created a kitchen and a composting toilet. Not in the same room of course. The kitchen has counters that are made of many types of wood including; gorgeous black walnut (old packing pallet); a lowered bread making counter of old growth Doug Fir ripped from 2×4’s from an old school with some spalded Arbutus from last years early snow storm; some old trestle from Bear (Bare) Mountain for the raised bar above the sink, and some of our own Fir from the land arranged in an alternating pattern of grain. All was finished with a combination of Tung oil and Osmo hardwax oil. A gorgeous and unique work of art! We love to tell people that our kitchen is made out of old packing pallets… they nod their heads and smile… with no clue to the beauty created.

We had hoped to be into the house for Christmas, but have accepted yet another winter in the trailers. This has been tough on all of us but we joke and hope for the weather to be less stormy than last year.

Cheers,
Ann and Gord

Rehab at Eco-Sense

Addiction

Think about addiction; the addiction of injecting long tubes into a body which inevitably sucks the life out from a wonderfully diverse living organism. This organism could be someone’s child, could be you, or could be the Earth.

Even with the knowledge that the addicted user is doing irreversible harm to themselves, their kids and the others around them, this self destructive behavior is continued; this is considered a negative addiction with no positive benefits.

What does addiction have to do with sustainability, and a cob house? These tubes aren’t those of a drug addict, where someone’s son or daughter is supplied a damaging drug by a pusher to help divert their attention from their pains. This drug is oil; the tubes are the oil rigs; the addicts are all of us; and the pushers are those selling us on consumer driven diversions so we can ignore the pains and eminent dangers we face. The difference is we expect to die at some point so why stop, what the hell; but… WOW it’s our kids that are in for the suffering of the withdrawal.

Tough Times

Over the past months we have eluded to tough times here at the emerging homestead. Wants have paraded as needs, and Ann and I have refused to hide behind a façade when things falter and goals and achievements fall short. We always tackle our updates with what is palatable, inspirational, and educational, while trying to extend past everyone’s comfort boundaries… just a bit. The following is not so palatable.

We have undergone a transformation that unfortunately has placed us at times in despair as we realize that climate change is happening and we can’t really make a meaningful difference. We see many close to us continue to ignore what seems so obvious to us; we see the media continue to treat this reality as something as simple as buying CFL’s; we see the converted extolling the virtues of meeting increased power demand through sustainable alternatives; we see unsustainable housing and building developments being promoted as “Green”.

This despair was further supported by attending a talk by Derrik Jensen at UVic. We also read an article by Mike de Souza for CanWest News service Oct. 25, 2007 called The Earth is Hurtling Towards Dangerous Environmental “Tipping Point”, and affirmed by James Lovelock in an Oct. 17 2007 article in Rolling Stone Magazine. We agree with David Suzuki’s symbolism that we are all riding in an SUV towards a brick wall and fighting to see who gets to sit in the front seat, (though we might add that we are fueling it with some one’s food (corn ethanol) to make us feel better). Our realization is that we are too far gone and too addicted to consumerism and oil to change fast enough to avoid climate change.

Most of us have now admitted we have a problem but few grasp the magnitude of this planetary crisis and think that cutting back a bit on the addiction will cure the disease. Still others think science will have a massive breakthrough in clean sustainable energy and we can maintain a very similar lifestyle and achieve sustainability. Most remain too drugged on oil to really care. Very sad!

Rehab

Basically as we try to pull our own needles out (metaphorically), we enter rehab. We start to re-evaluate what we realistically can do. Are we going to impact the climate and save the human species? Nope! Will our 10 year old son have more crying about the extinction of other creatures… yup! Will our efforts benefit those who want to learn how to survive, how to build, how to stay warm, how to live more simply? Hope so. We will teach our kids that it is OK to be happy and laugh without oil. We can be happy without feeding this addition. We can offer the opportunity for us stressed out environmentalists to vent and express our hopes, fears, and wishes.

The Sun Provides

Now for the technical stuff…and the game called the building code. The municipality has given the OK for our solar hot water system. Yes, this means it is now legal for us to heat our home with the sun. BC Hydro has also confirmed our Net Metering grid intertie system. This means we can legally put clean energy into the grid and we are paid a pittance in return. We had to jump through major hoops for our solar hot water system to make sure that no one could possibly be injured and nothing could be contaminated at any level. If we had put in an oil furnace there would have been no such hoops to jump through even though this oil technology is killing the planet. Does anyone else out there see the irony here????

Our twelve 170W solar panels are installed on the roof and shortly the 60 Mazdon evacuated tubes to heat hot water will join them. Our plumbing is done, our grid tied inverter is installed and the house wiring is nearing completion. We have, after a long process decided go with all hard wired lighting to be DC…mostly LED’s to simplify code issues, keep costs down, and maximize energy efficiency. We have carefully chosen the routes for the AC wiring to reduce the EMF radiation exposure and are wiring the bedrooms so that all AC can be switched off and will have this tested before the walls are complete. Our first electrical inspection will hopefully happen this week and we do expect a bit of eye rolling. We will let you know next month how this goes.

Revisiting “Green Building” and “Sustainable Building”

We have expressed repeatedly that “Green Building” is focused on reducing the carbon footprint and using resources more efficiently, whereas “sustainable building” focuses on resource and ecological sustainability. As most of you have heard us say “Just because you’re “Green” doesn’t mean you’re sustainable.

What strikes home as a major difference between the two approaches is that “green building” is still assuming the underlying premise that manufactured products traveling across the planet will still be possible in the years to come as we wean ourselves off of oil (willingly or not). If we build a green energy efficient home today will it still function in 10 years…50 years…100 years.

Sustainable building has an underlying premise that the houses built today can’t rely on carbon based infrastructure that will inevitably disappear. A truly sustainable home will not require any fossil fuels in its operation or maintenance, and it is net zero energy, net zero waste, and net zero water.

Sustainable building is simple; green building is complex.

Ethics. If the “Green Builder” believes that the oil based infrastructure will continue then they are promoting a solution they believe has good merits. If the “Green Builder” carries the underlying belief that carbon based energy systems will collapse, then they are promoting ‘green’ products and solutions for the sheer desire to profit.

Green building emerged in the 1970’s, and is finally being capitalized on. Sustainable building is where green building used to be, emerging as a leading alternative but having to prove why it exists. A difficult sell because there is very little money involved. We need to look towards the future, understand what that future will bring, and promote security (of home, shelter) in the form of sustainable buildings and sustainable systems.

I dare to say that some of the “Green” industry is playing the role of a pusher by stretching out our dependence on oil rather than making the leap to sustainability where we need to be now.

Little House on The Hill

Gord (Pa) has built two wonderfully crafted sturdy doors from recycled scraps of wood, including wood from an old trestle from Bear Mountain, (ironic eh). With these doors come two homemade latches comprised of left-over washers and nuts from old packing crates (saved by Ann (Ma) over 10 years earlier), scraps of ready rod, and some carved Arbutus and Garry Oak handles from wind fall. Oh, and one old spring of Howie’s…Yes Ann’s dad has a jar jammed full of old springs salvaged from items over an entire lifetime.

Our nightly entertainment involves sitting around the outside fireplace reading The Little House on The Prairie to the kids. There are amazing parallels that the kids are continually commenting on. The chapter entitled Two Stout Doors was read the same day our own doors were finished and hung. They have also commented on the use of clay soil for the fireplace and the treatment of limited and useful items like nails, where if one was dropped it was found, straightened and used, never to be wasted.

Happiness

Yes, we are giving up the addictions and rediscovering happiness in the form of simple pleasures, such as quality family time, conversations with good friends, creativity, ingenuity, and simple dinners made from our chickens’ eggs and gardens.

Now if we could just give up the car….

Gord and Ann
(Actually a few minutes ago we just got the word…the car just died…permanently. I guess we just gave up the car. Hmmm now what do we do? Stay tuned for next month!)