Archive | August, 2010

Size Does Matter

Touring websites, sub divisions, and housing developments one comes away with a feeling that living large in a MacMansion, grandiose homes, and mini castles that tout themselves as being “green” – size does not matter. Build the house to withstand cold winters and the summer blazing sun is all that matters. What really seems to matter is keeping up or at least slightly ahead of your neighbors, family and friends. They have a parlor, formal living room, recreation room, or built in gym/tennis court and so should we. The builder responds and tries to fill the dreams of the buyer, and build the home to code for as cheaply as possible, because we want it all! The house has to have a certain amount of glass/natural daylight, the attic has to be an R40 or better, and the house must breathe or have an air exchanger. What happens is that we have built a very large, inefficient home that wastes a lot of energy, money, and is not “green” They are mini castles or “starter “castles and really do not meet the green criteria, and should not even have been built under a green standard. To be built totally green, as a tiny house can be, would drive up the costs so astronomically that none would buy one, even in a prosperous market. And builders and industry think that by throwing a few “green” items at it, it is now green. They are almost right, they are – greenwashing!

So what is the big deal if someone uses some energy? Well here are some figures to think on.

Let us make some assumptions about this home;

It is 4000 square feet, has 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, Master bedroom, master bath, guest bedroom, guest bath, a formal living room, a formal dining room, large foyer and is considered green. How can it be considered a green single family home when it only houses 2 people?

The house costs approximately $479,000 and to heat/cool runs around $3,600 annually. It is a relatively highly efficient home. Traditional homes such as this one lump all the rooms and costs into one structure. That can help save energy if all the rooms are used a lot of the time. However, just the opposite is true!

For instance; the living room that is never used, consumes approximately $36,000 of the mortgage and 7% of the heat/cooling. The Formal dining room that is rarely used consumes $29,000 of the mortgage and 6% of the heating/cooling costs. The master suite that is used 29% of the time consumes $44,000 of the mortgage and 9% of the heating/cooling costs. The guest bedroom and bath which is used rarely, let us say .005% of the time consumes $27,000 of the mortgage and 7% of the energy to heat/cool. Furthermore, the air currents from the furnace and AC running deposit dust particles in all the rooms which required energy to clean them…and some of the rooms were not used.

Even the master suite, the most used room, is still vacant 71% of the time! This says that for every $100 dollars spent to heat and cool the room $71 was wasted! For the formal dining and living room, well, for every $100 spent, $100 was wasted! Can you imagine if you could save all that wasted money and spend it on something you really liked, maybe a Alaskan cruise, a romantic vacation on a secluded island, or pay for your car with CASH!

Or a tiny house!

A tiny house uses a different set of rules, and that is subtractive design, the systematic elimination of all that does not contribute to the intended function of a compostion, in other words taking out all the stuff that is not needed; formal dining room, living room, halls, large closets, etc. and finding the essentials. What this means is that tiny houses are created for dual and often multi-purposes functions. And just by being small, they create a smaller carbon footprint. Another benefit by being small, one can really use a lot of green technology, and materials, and still have funds left over for adding character. They do not break the bank and they do not leave you house poor!

Can a Tiny House on a trailer meet the green standard? Not in Minnesota! It can meet all but one standard and that is location. For by being mobile it can never be evaluated, and by being mobile it uses a vehicle to pull it, therefore has a negative carbon footprint and can never earn the states green stamp.

Putting Things in Perspective

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average size of a new single-family American residence in 1950 was 983 square feet. Today, it is nearly 2500 square feet. As home sizes ballooned over that time, family size shrank. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 1950, an average American family consisted of 3.8 people; today’s average family contains 2.6 people.

These figures prove how inefficiently we use our resources when we build homes with such drastically disproportionate size-to-occupant ratios. Instead, as we go forward, we must adhere to a stricter code of square-footage-per-person, particularly when we speak of green projects.

Breathe Easy Slideshow

Wildflower Slide Show

Finding another vantage point

Denali

The ocean can look very different, depending on whether you are standing at the shore, soaring above in a plane, or swimming beneath its waves. Likewise, a mountain can look very different relative to where you are standing. Each living thing sees the world from its unique vantage point. While from your window you may be seeing what looks like a huge shrub, a bird in its nest is getting an intimate view of that tree’s leafy interior. Meanwhile, a beetle sees only a massive and never-ending tree trunk. Yet all three of you are looking at the same tree.

Just as a shadow that is concealed from one point of view is easily seen from another, it is possible to miss a fantastic view. That is, unless you are willing to see what’s in front of you through different eyes. Seeing the world from another perspective, whether spatially or mentally, can introduce us to all sorts of hidden treasures. The root of the discovery process often lies in finding another way of looking at the world. The common human reaction to insects is one example. Spinning its web in a dark corner, a spider may seem drab, frightening, and mysterious. But seen up close weaving silver snowflakes between the branches of a tree, they can look like colored jewels.

Sometimes, there are experiences in life that from your vantage point may seem confusing, alarming, or worrisome. Or there may be events that look insignificant from where you are standing right now. Try seeing them from another point of view. Bury your face in the grass and look at the world from a bug’s vantage point. Explore your home as if you were a small child. Take a ride in a small aircraft and experience the world from a bird’s eye view. Just as kneeling down sometimes helps you see more closely when you are looking for lost treasure, so standing back will help you appreciate the broader picture of your life. In doing so, you’ll experience very different worlds.

When I visted Alaska several years ago, the weather had been rainy and cloudy for many weeks and Mt Denali (McKinley) had been hidden by the clouds. A friend and I were on a tour of Denali National Park, and the highlight was to see Denali. Denali means “the great one”

We saw moose and caribou parading in the parking lots, grizzlies sunning themselves on the hillsides, and some peeks of blue sky. We learned that the reindeer that guide Santas’ sleigh at Xmas are all pregnant, as reindeer loose their antlers by then, unless they are pregnant.

And no sight of Denali, which is not really unusual, as seeing Mt Denali is unusual. My son lived in Alaska on the Copper River for 5 years and never sighted Denali on his treks from Anchorage and Fairbanks to Copper Center.

We made our way on the tour bus to the overlook of Denali, and all we saw was clouds obscuring the horizon. Sigh…disappointment from everyone. On the way back down, we saw immense valleys, sharp drop offs that tumble to valley floors a thousand feet below us, and the weave of the rivers.

As this day progressed, the sun started peaking through the clouds and glimpses of the mountain range starting appearing from the clouds. Would Denali appear?

Rounding a bend in the road, a glimpse of a large mountain appeared…could it be Denali? “No”, said the tour guide “that is a range just before Denali, and I doubt we will sight Denali today.”

The Inspiration for The Denali Tiny Green Cabin

As we rounded the next bend, Denali finally arose from the clouds for that afternoon. It was huge! It was a magical time as our perspectives continually were changing as we drove out of Denali National Park with the realization that life also changes from different points as we awaken to our life’s journey.

At Tiny Green Cabins, we have learned to be open to possibilities and while we had a vision of a Denali Tiny Green Cabin, it alluded us! Until this week, then it sprang to life on the drafting board, just as if we had rounded the bend in the road and sighted Denali.