rescommunis.org feed http://rescommunis.org feed of all content on rescommunis.org en-us First Blood http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/30/first-blood/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/30/first-blood/ During the deconstruction process and the de-nailing and re-appropriating of the lath from the walls I managed to puncture my hand quite well (if this is something that can be done well).

IMG_1187

Let’s hope this is the worst of it… (my arm is sore from the tetanus shot)

]]> Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:06:32 -0700 More “airtime” http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/24/more-airtime/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/24/more-airtime/ Jetson Green did a great write up on our project, thanks much to Preston.

GreenFab also did a very nice write up, thanks much to Johhny.

]]> Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:24:44 -0700 FSC vs. SFI http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/24/fsc-vs-sfi-in-case-you-were-wondering/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/24/fsc-vs-sfi-in-case-you-were-wondering/ A nice 2001 case study by Yale comparing the Forrest Steward Council (FSC) and the American Forest & Paper Association’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). Reading the summary of findings makes it all too clear that the SFI certification falls well short of being sustainable. Even Google seems to back this up - the number one result, when searching ”SFI certification”, being dontbuysfi.com.  

]]> Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:26:47 -0700 Seeing Red… http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/24/rolling-out-the-red-carpetand-not-in-a-good-way/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/24/rolling-out-the-red-carpetand-not-in-a-good-way/ One of the biggest prerequisites of the Living Building Challenge is the Materials Red List - materials that are deemed toxic, persistent (in the environment) and otherwise unsavory to all involved and cannot be used on a Living Building. Upon first blush I didn’t assume this to be too difficult, but, to put it bluntly (my friends expect nothing else), it’s damn hard.

My latest bout with the red list has been fought over formaldehyde (both urea and phenol based). I assumed since formaldehyde is most famous for its usage in the preservation of all things dead and stored in coffins and big clear glass jars that it wouldn’t be too hard, in this era of green building, to spec. something without it. Wrong, dead wrong. All structural grade plywood, that I could find, contains formaldehyde… The exception came with Columbia Forest Products - who makes hardwood plywood, (for cabinets, etc.) which is free of formaldehyde, but of course it’s not an appropriate product for structural plywood. I thought I was going to face the same difficulty with Glulams, but good news -John Parr from Certified Forest Products can get me FSC glulams with PVAC (polyvinyl acetate) glue - the same stuff used, for over 20 years, in Elmer’s. So I’ve got to check with Cascadia to see if PVAC will fly, it doesn’t sound good, what with polyvinyl, but if it’s in Elmer’s glue it couldn’t be too bad, right? Right? The cynic in me is worried…

]]> Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:12:21 -0700 Blogs taking notice http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/20/blogs-taking-notice/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/20/blogs-taking-notice/ The commons project made it onto a couple of blogs recently - one, Portland Architecture, was pretty neat to see - I’ve frequently lurked on that blog; we’re flattered.  It was funny to note how everyone has reacted to our “dirt” floors - the Oregonian reported them as such, even though they’re more accurately described as earthen floors, more akin to a natural concrete than dirt.

The other blog to give us notice is GreenStrides.

Here’s to hoping we can continue to be noticed and spread the idea that sustainability is note only in vogue, but necessary to our survival as a species and as a planet.

]]> Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:32:01 -0700 No more baby steps http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/20/no-more-baby-steps/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/20/no-more-baby-steps/ After lots of coffee and many miles driven (we wish a craigslist rideshare could have materialized or the train schedule could have meshed with ours) Garrett and I have made our pilgrimage to the Living Future Unconference in Vancouver, BC and back to Portland. Jason McLennan, the CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council, delivered a great opening talk on our, the building industry’s and society’s, need to shift from the current status quo way of living and building. He stated that people resist change big or small - the process of change is difficult for most people. He said that often when people try to change the status quo they do so in baby steps, hoping to make it more palatable for people, but since people don’t like change, even in baby steps, they resist and push back. So the baby step is met with resistance and subsequently the path towards the goal is modified. This process happens ad nauseam, affecting the trajectory away from the goal (see doodle below). With this paradigm in mind, Jason said it was time to make a radical change, no more baby steps. We couldn’t agree more - I’ve been telling people this for quite a while. The other analogy that I like, in this regard, is from Daniel Quinn - he says society is like an airplane, everybody thinks we’re flying, nobody notices that we’re actually in free fall…

We attended workshops; I attended Wholistic Engineering: Applied to a Living Building Water System (Mark Brewer from 2020 Engineering) and Big Barriers: Financing and Codes (Peter Wilcox of Renewal Associates, Clark Brockman of Sera Architects and David Eisenberg of Development Center for Appropriate Technology). Garrett attended The Birds, the Bees, the Flowers and the Trees: Biodiversity in the Urban Environment and Sustainable Design: Ecology, Architecture and Planning (Daniel Williams). Garrett presented in the “15 minutes of Brilliance” session in front of probably two to three hundred architects and building professionals, while I sat in the chair up on stage and “looked pretty.”

We met quite a few contacts who we’ll need to stay in touch with, people, I hope, that will want to help us achieve our goal. Overall it was a great experience and I’m looking forward to attending next year - hopefully we’ll be able to present on the commons in a completed or near complete stage.

no more baby steps

]]> Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:11:01 -0700 the commons http://rescommunis.org/blog/projects/2008/04/20/the-commons/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/projects/2008/04/20/the-commons/ north east viewThe Commons is a project conceived to address three main goals: to answer the Living Building Challenge; to design and develop a home for two families to create community together; and to study, learn, exemplify and contribute to the knowledge of sustainable design and dwellings.Check it out: +link

]]> Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:13:46 -0700 block http://rescommunis.org/blog/projects/2008/04/20/block/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/projects/2008/04/20/block/ view from the beachBlock is a concept for redeveloping a brownfield in Bellingham Washington. Made out of reused shipping containers it would have a low embodied-energy, onsite water and energy management as well as monetary incentives for using alternative transportation.Check it out: +link

]]> Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:12:02 -0700 Tiger Woods and sleeping in cars http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/20/tearing-it-down-and-building-it-up/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_1/2008/04/20/tearing-it-down-and-building-it-up/ “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” - Charles Dickens, Tale of Two CitiesIt was the best of times, it was… the best of times? We’ve had a great week. The house made the front page of the front page of the Oregonian on Friday, right under a picture of Tiger Woods. You know you’ve hit it big when you’re right under Tiger. Dustin and Garrett have become celebrities of sorts- someone even approached them in the grocery store to ask them if they were the ones in the paper. The article had two great pictures of Dustin and Garrett- I’ve no doubt they’ll soon develop female groupies who will follow them around. There were also a few pictures of the house plans, based on the lovely pictures of the house Garrett made, which are now on the website.You can read the web article here, although, sadly, it doesn’t have pictures. Gail Hill was the reporter, and she did a great job- she says she’ll check up once a month or so and do another article on the progress of the house.The article generated a lot of traffic on the web site and many emails. I even have a friend I know through my blog who said she overheard her boss talking about the house; it seems the whole building community is talking about it. We’re all hoping that this press brings in donations, sponsors, and even people in the community volunteering labor.Dustin and Garrett were planning to attend the “Living Future” conference in Vancouver, BC, just to network and observe; after the article, they were called and invited to present! They somehow managed to drive from Portland to Vancouver in one shot, sleep in the back of a pick-up truck, and present “15 Minutes of Brilliance.” It’s been an exciting week, and we hope things don’t die down, but keep going with the same momentum.

]]> Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:06:03 -0700 Good block, bad block, no block http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_2/2008/04/20/good-block-bad-block/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/project_2/2008/04/20/good-block-bad-block/ Block is a concept that was designed for a school project, so this is likely to be the only news post on it.

]]> Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:03:51 -0700 we blog now. http://rescommunis.org/blog/rescommunis/2008/04/19/with-new-and-improved-blogging-capabilities/ http://rescommunis.org/blog/rescommunis/2008/04/19/with-new-and-improved-blogging-capabilities/ We’ve added a blog to the site (subscribe to it with the rss link below).  You can keep up with all of our happenings that way.  Tell us what you think.

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