written by Arjuna da Silva

Learning to live together also means learning from one anothers’ mistakes. Learning to build with low budgets, limited time, and few professionals has been another learning curve. Still, quite a few successes in design and construction remain praiseworthy. Last issue we focused on tiny houses; this issue we look at larger projects that are standing the test of time

Walking down the old, sturdy stairs from the upper apartments in the Bellavia building, I admire the work, however rough and minimal, that was put into the structure all those years ago and modestly improved upon in the ensuing years. I’ve seen the development of this useful, sustainable living and work space that has remained a viable anchor for folks to co-own or rent. Twenty years of intensive use has yielded home and comfort for several families and expansion of the building’s housing is currently underway.

Building at Earthaven has run the gamut from houses like mine (Leela), the Stones’, Julie & Andy’s, VT, the Love House, and (next door at Full Circle) the Broadheads’—all high end for this end of the state road—and salvage-and-mud huts too tiny for two suitcases. I worry about the ones that need better ventilation; anyone can put on another blanket or another log, but the moisture  building materials can absorb is something we all need to pay attention to. There’s a lot to know about healthy bodies and healthy buildings, two streams of sufficiency we began traveling together 24 years ago.

As new folks transition into Full Membership and join pods, the next wave of building will occur for residential  neighborhoods and the commons. Skill, materials, and time will be precious categories. What will allow folks with limited funds, whose savings might be only enough to cover move-in expenses and buy-in costs, to create healthy living space?

VT—a good example

Good things are usually the result of good timing, luck, and some bold creativity. The timing of who had reason to be involved with whom certainly played a key role in the outcome of this vibrant, successful  housing experiment. With two of the three proposed buildings completed, a duplex and a set of apartments, there is room in this pod for expansion! What are the factors most residents base their positive assessments on?

When I think about how short our community lineages have become, I feel the push to help insure that knowledge, know-how, good strategies and ideas, as well as their results are passed along in ways that are usable, not just admired.

Earthaven is a community coming into a new self-awareness with lots of room for aligned individuals, and families to connect. Culture’s Edge is a conduit for projects, programs and practices we value for building mutual support and collective strength.

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On a crisp fall morning last Saturday, we planted our neighborhood garlic. It’s one of our favorite garden crops because we all eat garlic, it’s easy to plant and harvest with a group, and we can watch it grow in the early spring before planting our other spring crops.

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Village Terraces Cohousing Neighborhood just completed a multi-faceted upgrade to their power, heating, and domestic hot water (DHW) systems and the neighborhood is now enjoying the results. Domestic hot water for the main building had been provided by a wood-burning stove. The system lost one of its three water heating coils three years ago due to an unrepairable leak, which has made providing hot water quite challenging.

Several designs were considered over the last 2 or 3 years with none of them really being all that workable. Then one day Chris Farmer came along and suggested that we use solar-generated electricity to heat water in an ELECTRIC hot water heater. This sounds pretty silly until one remembers that electricity is 100% efficient at producing heat. Farmer had read an article 10 years ago that said when solar PV panels come down in price to $1 per watt then it would make sense to heat water with solar electricity. Well that day has come. And that is the approach that VT decided to take.

2007 view of the same building with the 1st generation of solar panels.

The final design allows VT’s existing wood-fired boiler system to provide ample domestic hot water during the cooler months at which time the new solar PV panels will keep their batteries more fully charged and their heating systems running. During the warmer months the solar electric power will be diverted to the new electric hot water heater.

For the short time this new system has been running, VT has cut its summer wood burning in half–if not more. Their hydro use and their gasoline generator use have also been significantly reduced. And their batteries are healthier than they have ever been. For a more thorough description of the system, including a tour, see Bob Lienhart.

Earthaven member and bookkeeper since 2008, musician and computer expert.  BS in Computer Science.  Treasurer for two homeowners associations and the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society–also CBMS president, 1998-2000.

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