Mark Doughty is President of Thoughtforms and an alumni liaison for the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, which focuses on developing and empowering leaders to act so that humans and nature can thrive for generations to come. He lives with his family in an all-electric home that generates 70% more energy than it uses—enough to power a Tesla for 35,000 miles a year. With all the complexity that can tangle up our modern lives, the idea of a fresh, luxurious home can be just the right tonic to brighten a day. That idea, like so many that flourish in social and traditional media, is quite seductive. It’s no wonder, then, that people react strongly when a contrary thought intrudes. But perhaps it is time to welcome just such a contrary thought as motivation to pause and reflect on our definition of the ideal home, in the context of our families and the broader community. This past summer, the Town of Brookline proposed a bylaw that requires all new buildings and gut renovations to be free of fossil fuel infrastructure. The proposal was met by some with grumbling about “big government,” a reaction that seems more soundbite reflex than thoughtful response: after all, the town isn’t all that big and, at this local level of our democracy, an engaged citizenry can have a major influence on the direction of government. So, rather than the expressed fear of government infringement on our freedom, the source of opposition is more likely the judgment implied in the proposal—i.e. “what you’ve been doing all along is not good”—and fear of change. It is indeed unsettling to think that the path we have been obediently following in homebuilding for a century might be taking us to the wrong destination. But, objectively, how much of a course correction does a move away from fossil fuel imply? Thoughtforms has built all-electric homes without any observed cost penalties. The indoor climate in these homes is healthy and comfortable. The systems themselves are reliable (which is not surprising—the electric-powered heat pump was introduced in the 1940’s, 20 or so years after the gasfired furnace was patented). Perhaps most importantly, clients who live in these homes are happy with their homes—in some cases happier than those in fossil fuelfueled homes. CONSTRUCTION, CLIMATE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A FUTURE Given all this, a bylaw that takes fossil fuel systems out of the mix seems a matter of substitution rather than an abrupt detour onto a costly, risk-fraught path. So why isn’t everyone on board? Inertia. It’s quite easy to go through each day doing essentially what we did the day before, expecting similar, predictable results. Unfortunately, this “business as usual” approach no longer promises predictable results and is putting our collective future at risk (read Kerry Emanuel’s What We Know About Climate Change for a concise review of the crisis and possible mitigating actions—contact me and I can send you a copy). If we think of our ideal home in this context of society and survival, in-home fossil fuel infrastructure compounds the problem: while it may be possible through collective action to convert the shared electric grid to fossil fuel-free sources, it will be much more challenging to convert infrastructure in every individual home. Given this reality, and where we are situated in time, place and opportunity, building more homes with on-site fossil fuel infrastructure simply seems absurd. We are already in a hole and this proposal tells us: “Stop digging!” It’s hard to find a builder that doesn’t profess their commitment to quality. But how many limit their definition of quality to the traditional attributes of craftsmanship and beauty? True quality includes the health of the home environment, the lifecycle impact of the home on our world, and the physical and emotional well being of the families who live, learn and grow in the home. As a community, we should invest our time and resources building homes that make it possible for future generations to thrive. Author, educator and environmentalist Bill McKibben put it aptly when he said, “The problem with climate change is that it’s a timed test. If you don’t solve it fast, then you don’t solve it.” This is our opportunity to contribute to the solution. 64 bostondesignguide.com
MODERN MEETS OLD SCHOOL CRAFTSMANSHIP Metro-Boston | Cape & Islands | New Hampshire www.kvcbuilders.com 781.890.5599 Instagram @kvcbuilders
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