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Solar Living CenterIn the winter of 1998 I visited my brother who was living and worki ng in SanFrancisco ,California. During this vacation we visited the Solar Living Center, abrilliant example of using the principles I would one day call Natural Living. Wefound this oasis for natural living in the middle of a desert, in a place calledHopland. We took a guided tour of the facilities and I was blown away by theinspired thinking that had created the highly integrated systems of water flows,shading, straw bale construction, natural lighting, and art. The solar poweredfountain at the heart of the center was constructed to display many elements ofnature including orientation of the sun, time, water, and space, with a built incalendar to mark the cycles of nature. The amazing, inspiring story of the design,development and construction included:• using soil to color the walls despite the laws preventing it• use of straw bales on such a large scale• powered by photo voltaic sola r panels on a very large scale, combined withwind turbines• ventilation systems optimized for the local orientation, location andenvironment and it worked well on the sunny warm day we visited• natural sun light as the primary source of light, supplemented by florescentlights• ponds that were naturally populated with fish from the local river• the incredible beauty of the naturalization processInspired by my parents, Gaby, the Toronto Health y House and The Solar LivingCenter, it was time to start designing our own home.210
Chapter 17PLANNING THE NEW HOUSEIn order to become familiar with the design and building process we began to readmany books on the subject. Some of the books we read are as follows (see theBibliography for the details and other excellent reading):R The Healthy HouseR The Natural HouseR Natural House CatalogR Living SpacesR The Independent HomeR Be Your Own Home Contracto rR Real Goods CatalogR The Solar HouseAll of these books provided important background information, inspiring ideas andpractical details on how to achieve our dreams. My favorite is Living Spaces. Thisbooks was originally published in German for the European market. The acceptanceof new ideas is clearly evident in the book. Details for the use of green roofing,composting, and many other techniques are shown in great detail with manyinspiring examples. Get this book if you can find it.Early in the design stage we started listing our basic requirements, and this list grewand changed over time as we broadened our knowledge and processed what we hadlearned. For example, it was our dream to have the kitchen as the center of thehouse, since our family life seemed to revolve around it.Next, we developed a schedule that included:211
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Your Complete Guide to Sustainable
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Special OfferNatural Living: The Wi
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Copyright 8 2004 John WilsonPublish
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AcknowledgementsThis book could not
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TRANSPORTATION 178VALUE CONNECTION
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Dazzling and tremendous how quick t
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our times in the struggle to stop t
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ChangeThings happen for a reasonAn
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Chapter 1OUR CURRENT SITUATIONMajor
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eing restarted slowly. It turns out
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insanity of war and the terrible de
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R The first large wind turbine has
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R Kalundborg, Denmark: This area is
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29> EcoVillage at Ithaca NewYork.
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television, advertising designed to
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Chapter 2A BRIEF HISTORY OFSUSTAINA
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sunlight entered them in winter, bu
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The History of Wind EnergyWind ener
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Chapter 3CHANGE?Change really can c
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consumers to ask the question, does
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Too Many Parking LotsThere are too
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all of these are now known to produ
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R Drug useR CrimeR PovertyR Terrori
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the economic assumption of endless
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much less. More than that, we could
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that reinforces scientific material
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To bring down the whole house of ca
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Big PictureThe vast scale and compl
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Find the Right Scale for Action In
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direct use of heat from the sun in
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Driven by an uncritical worship of
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The fact is that our earth system w
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This analysis suggests that the glo
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capitalism institutionalizes a syst
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to finance the types of projects th
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Much of it was formed before many o
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of time, gave Al Gore a new sense o
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corporations, or countries is that
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Natural Living1. Awareness2. Food3.
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Chapter 4TAKE THE FIRST STEPStart t
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e aware of nature, life, rocks, lea
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That is why Natural Living revolves
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• Transportation (cars and trucks
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5. Make a concerted effort to focus
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these changes. When youve achieved
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Natural LivingLife Activity Take Ac
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Chapter 6NATURAL LIVING STEPSThe fo
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Step 2: FoodReminder: You are what
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Step 3: PlanReminder: Failure to pl
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6. Use local renewable sources of w
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found the resources to achieve Natu
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Step 4: HomeReminder: Home is where
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for materials significantly minimiz
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with nature and people who are of n
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quantum mechanics, Gandhi has appli
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Connect, in the article All Hands t
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connecting, and building your relat
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Step 7: CreativityReminder: If we c
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Words of Truth by VincentI will try
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· Get local businesses to provide
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Chapter 7ORGANIC FOODTaking pleasur
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More NutritiousThe variety and nutr
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Chapter 8PLACELooking at your place
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Chapter 9EFFICIENCYNot needing some
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Chapter 10PASSIVE SOLAR HEATINGAND
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R Hydronic heating to supplement st
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Chapter 11STRAW BALECONSTRUCTION135
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dampen the shock, bend, while not b
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anywhere near the work site. Also,
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are not many architects who are fam
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· Wire mesh for window/door corner
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windows allowing sufficient wire to
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With tools prepared the sewing can
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Each layer should be applied comple
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Straw Bale Details: A Manual for De
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This home in the city of Mississaug
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ideas. This included the idea of th
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feeds the existing water tank. This
Page 159 and 160: desire to learn from nature. The pl
Page 161 and 162: Active SolarWood stoveFood· Uni-so
Page 163 and 164: DesignR Typically a green roof need
Page 165 and 166: Chapter 13RENEWABLE ENERGYSYSTEMSNo
Page 167 and 168: way to convert sunlight into electr
Page 169 and 170: Case Study: Freedom Off-The-GridGai
Page 171 and 172: Leonard bought the property in 1987
Page 173 and 174: The home has lots of natural daylig
Page 175 and 176: The appliances, washer and dryer ar
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Page 181 and 182: fuel driven economy even though the
Page 183 and 184: Peace· True peace is a symbiosis w
Page 185 and 186: Chapter 16THE JOURNEYIt started whe
Page 187 and 188: Claire, our daughter is almost one
Page 189 and 190: waves, wind and rain would soon swa
Page 191 and 192: local restaurant was far enough to
Page 193 and 194: charge the batteries when power is
Page 195 and 196: The town of Cabarete providesplenty
Page 197 and 198: Every time we visit the wind is blo
Page 199 and 200: SOLAR HOT WATER SHOWERThis system a
Page 201 and 202: R CoconutsR MangoesR PapayaR Cherri
Page 203 and 204: Being an organic farmer is not alwa
Page 205 and 206: · Airtight walls: Airtight walls e
Page 207 and 208: · Reduced disposal of toxic produc
Page 209: DRINKABLE-WATER SYSTEMWater and Was
Page 213 and 214: Most properties we saw had problems
Page 215 and 216: and piping systems would be require
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Page 221 and 222: system that is being used to transf
Page 223 and 224: It is the goal of Natural Living to
Page 225 and 226: R Take advantage of the local straw
Page 227 and 228: R Straw-bale wall on north side of
Page 229 and 230: on the south side of the basement n
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Page 233 and 234: Chapter 21BUILDINGOn my 34 th birth
Page 235 and 236: Pers walked us through the Kortrigh
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Page 239 and 240: Letting Light InNovember 2000The gr
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Page 243 and 244: Stacking BalesApril 2001Up go the b
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Page 247 and 248: Green Roof ConceptMartin Liefhebber
Page 249 and 250: Wind TurbineOperating whileSolar Pa
Page 251 and 252: Wind and SolarGoing Full BlastAugus
Page 253 and 254: technologies such as straw-bale con
Page 255 and 256: R Staple the chicken wire to the ou
Page 257 and 258: sunshine from the south are where t
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R Extremely quiet, good sound insul
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R Silent operation;R Solid state el
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R The north wall has a minimal numb
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constant use. The second is lightin
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R Smaller size reduces energy requi
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R We selected only the most efficie
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R If office work is required then t
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albeit with just a single small LED
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what we had done wrong. Several wee
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Chapter 23FREQUENTLY ASKEDQUESTIONS
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summer, it absorbs the heat so that
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How much is the wind turbine?R The
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What is the grey/tin/silver roof/si
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What are composting toilets and how
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Chapter 25LOOKING BACKWeve lived in
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Chapter 25NATURAL LIVINGVISION OF T
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organic farmers have teamed up with
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offered at this central location.29
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floor solar waterheating and passiv
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Back at home the sun provides the r
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Chapter 26NEXT STEPSI know this boo
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Chapter 27RESOURCESBreathe Architec
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IkeaBirch wood kitchen cabinetry.We
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Appendix AWARNING TO HUMANITYIssued
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ForestsTropical rain forests, as we
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WHAT WE MUST DOFive inextricably li
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A new ethic is required -- a new at
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The Global SituationThe dominant pa
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. Promote social and economic justi
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c. Ensure that information of vital
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f. Strengthen local communities, en
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Earth Charter principles with an in
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"shadow science" origin is that mos
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constant slow re-radiation, resulti
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slab with a mortar adhesive and gro
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color to store the heat low. Cler e
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Figure 4b: Two-story sunspace: wint
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mentioned earlier, special care mus
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about 86 percent. Non-storage mater
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ecommended ratio. If water in conta
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the wall to 90%, compared to 60% fo
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Figure 7:When designing a solar hom
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STEP 2: Recommended Insulation Valu
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Figure 9: Use this map to find your
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oof is not glazed and the south wal
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walls with direct-gain windows abov
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BIBLIOGRAPHYVan der Ryn, the Toilet
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Berry, Thomas, THE GREAT WORK:OUR W
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connections, 15, 25, 49, 51, 53, 57
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health, 16, 39, 45, 48, 49, 54, 55,
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SScience, 113, 354sewage, 24, 40, 4
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Back Inside CoverJOHN WILSONis an a
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