Great read! The one thing that bumped me at first was "All the roof planes were designed to face north to accommodate future solar panel installations" until I remembered it was New Zealand.
Very informative. I really like the idea of mixing the (clean) mech room with the laundry and drying closet. In Canada, we are used to mech rooms being in the dirty and grimy basement - but it doesn’t need to be there, or grimy. Especially with non-combustion furnaces/fan-coils.
I have to second some of the comments looking for more details, mainly out of simple curiosity. I learned about this concept via the Grand Designs series UK edition and find it interesting though probably not something this Boomer couple would now embark on though as shareholder capitalism drives up prices in so many economic areas I think we need more coops for banking, lending, insurance, and even healthcare so why not housing as well. We have a gas dryer from a 20 year old renovation up also solar panels recently installed. But the laundry room also works with space above the machines for hanging still damp shirts and trousers. Loved discovering these drying spaces when I lived in the UK years ago.
Let's see. What else might this article have said? Perhaps, “the upfront carbon savings per unit of these dwellings versus standard dwellings was the equivalent of x times my aviation greenhouse gas emissions from my Toronto-New Zealand round trip”. Perhaps, “the annual operating carbon savings per unit of these dwellings versus standard dwellings is the equivalent of x times my aviation greenhouse gas emissions from my Toronto-New Zealand round trip”. Oh, for the blissful ignorance of yesteryear, when we weren't faced with the awareness that choosing to fly means choosing to contribute to the global warming disaster.
Less heating and less cooling (none between 13C-30C/55F-85F, https://greenbetween.home.blog). Less driving. Less flying. Less meat-eating. Less population growth (2 children max). Do it yourself. Tenaciously encourage others to do it. Tenaciously encourage others to tenaciously encourage others.
See, Lloyd, Kiwis are a ‘can-do’ bunch; that’s been my happy observation (and adopted personal preference ) since I emigrated here from Ontario over 40 years ago. John, from Innovatek in the Redwoods in Rotorua.
The Ecovillage at Ithaca has been around since 1990's and currently houses around 230 people. Dancing Rabbit in Rutledge Missouri started early 2000's and has around 73 permanent residents The Farm Community in Summerville Tennessee was actually one of the first communes in the US and was founded in 1971 by a busload of hippies!
Great read! The one thing that bumped me at first was "All the roof planes were designed to face north to accommodate future solar panel installations" until I remembered it was New Zealand.
I was going to say the same thing. My brain broke for 5 full seconds until I remembered it was southern hemisphere.
Very informative. I really like the idea of mixing the (clean) mech room with the laundry and drying closet. In Canada, we are used to mech rooms being in the dirty and grimy basement - but it doesn’t need to be there, or grimy. Especially with non-combustion furnaces/fan-coils.
A very lovely project and excellent work by Tim as always. I’m glad you got to stay there.
I have to second some of the comments looking for more details, mainly out of simple curiosity. I learned about this concept via the Grand Designs series UK edition and find it interesting though probably not something this Boomer couple would now embark on though as shareholder capitalism drives up prices in so many economic areas I think we need more coops for banking, lending, insurance, and even healthcare so why not housing as well. We have a gas dryer from a 20 year old renovation up also solar panels recently installed. But the laundry room also works with space above the machines for hanging still damp shirts and trousers. Loved discovering these drying spaces when I lived in the UK years ago.
Let's see. What else might this article have said? Perhaps, “the upfront carbon savings per unit of these dwellings versus standard dwellings was the equivalent of x times my aviation greenhouse gas emissions from my Toronto-New Zealand round trip”. Perhaps, “the annual operating carbon savings per unit of these dwellings versus standard dwellings is the equivalent of x times my aviation greenhouse gas emissions from my Toronto-New Zealand round trip”. Oh, for the blissful ignorance of yesteryear, when we weren't faced with the awareness that choosing to fly means choosing to contribute to the global warming disaster.
Less heating and less cooling (none between 13C-30C/55F-85F, https://greenbetween.home.blog). Less driving. Less flying. Less meat-eating. Less population growth (2 children max). Do it yourself. Tenaciously encourage others to do it. Tenaciously encourage others to tenaciously encourage others.
See, Lloyd, Kiwis are a ‘can-do’ bunch; that’s been my happy observation (and adopted personal preference ) since I emigrated here from Ontario over 40 years ago. John, from Innovatek in the Redwoods in Rotorua.
The Ecovillage at Ithaca has been around since 1990's and currently houses around 230 people. Dancing Rabbit in Rutledge Missouri started early 2000's and has around 73 permanent residents The Farm Community in Summerville Tennessee was actually one of the first communes in the US and was founded in 1971 by a busload of hippies!
Great read. Thanks. It strikes me that there are some parallels between this concept and some Indigenous communities in the US, especially the Hopi.