Morgan

Truly amazing, take a look

http://metro.co.uk/2016/05/26/you-could-soon-be-able-to-live-in-your-own-eco-friendly-village-where-you-can-be-self-sufficient-5905662/

Loki Loc: Georgia

One thing; the materials to build this village are produced, in large part, by plain old coal fired power plants. Much of this technology, particularly the gardens, is a very good idea, but some of it is still at a point of diminishing returns. The amount of fossil fuel necessary to produce the equipment for this experimental village is considerable. What people don't seem to comprehend it the cumulative effect of a little bit here and there. There are many areas of the country where this self sustaining business is not doable, but a partial capability is within reach. In the Southwest, in spite of the amount of fossil fuels required to produce solar panels, things like passive solar hot water heaters are very practical and can be made from recycled material. One major weakness of most of these eco-village efforts is the lack of recyclables used in the construction.
There are houses, still financially impossible for most people, that are almost completely built of recycled this and that. You ARE looking for minimal environmental impact, right? My point is that partial independence is more realistic than entire villages at this point, and a little here and there adds up on a national or global scale. Call it Rome wasn't built in a day.

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

Looking at this layout it reminds me of the futuristic collectives in some of the science fiction movies, no families, but collect communities where all work for all, no one owns anything, family structures no longer exist as they are not "efficient" and all are parceled out what the planners decide they need. No thank you, I refuse to be a ant in the government controlled ant hill, and the only way this system would work is as a utopian collective. I am glad I am an old man who will be dead before this form of horror film takes over.

bahmer

Same here.

MarvinSussman

You forgot "something is better than nothing".

PeterS

I don't think something being eco-friendly in every aspect of construction is the point. Such a village is but one step of many. This is how we learn, yes Rome wasn't built in a day but they had to make the model before they could build the city...

Loki Loc: Georgia

I remembered a little here and a little there on a national level can add up to quite a bit. There are viable renewable energy sources right now, but everyone is so focused on the cost ineffective high tech gadgetry, that simple solutions like passive solar hot water heaters, or pre heaters, which aren't as glamorous, but ARE effective and cost efficient, fall by the wayside.

PeterS

Gosh, and I saw houses, adults at a table, a couple walking, and a kid on a bike. Strange how we tend to only see the what we want...

PeterS

Austin has has a new ordinance that reuses or recycles at least 50 percent of the construction debris from the project and dispose of less than 2.5 pounds of material per square foot of floor area. Texas has some of the lowest housing costs in the nation and Austin some of the highest. Minimum environmental impact costs money and with the downward trend in earnings it is likely something that will, in the future, be reserved for wealthy leftist elite...

MarvinSussman

The biggest problem now is the foot-dragging by power utilities that don't want to buy solar-induced wattage. There has to be a political force behind solar.

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

It is a cold, sterile, souless setting, not welcoming to me, and nothing about it would welcome me to set and watch the birds, if there were any. Maybe some people would find this a peaceful, welcoming place to be, it is not. Perhaps I just need to be close to nature, to communicate with God through His creations. There is nothing kind and gentleing about this scene.

Morgan

What is cold, sterile and soulless, there isn't a glass dome around it, your are outside in nature, I think maybe the model is throwing you off. My point was more to being self sufficient. That 's the most important feature, the other things are just a façade, what is planned and what happens in reality are two very different things, as people always enjoy imposing their own uniqueness on their home.

Loki Loc: Georgia

The problem with the "self-sufficiency" movement is, as I said, a fascination with high tech gadgetry that is not cost effective, and IS cost prohibitive, rather than lower tech stuff that is cost effective and works. Once more, things as simple as passive solar hot water pre heaters, home construction using cob methods, things like this add up when practiced on a large scale. There is nothing wrong with the eco-village other than the cost.
I have seen a Cob house with the passive solar hot water. Cob houses are more energy efficient than most traditional building methods, have less environmental impact, and the building cost per square foot is a fraction of frame housing. If you think they are not durable, there are plenty of them in Northern Europe that are 250 and 300 years old.
I digress. The house I am familiar with was heated and cooled at a fraction of the cost of a traditional house. Most of the backyard was devoted to raised bed organic garden, companion planting, the whole nine yards. They raised a lot of food in a small area. This is what I am talking about. Things that are doable, within reach of the average homeowner. Every little bit helps, and the eco-village concept has a long way to go.
You have to start somewhere. Why not with the easily doable?

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

You have a point that the model is part of the problem. But for me I really prefer the mountains of WV, growing my own fruits and vegetables, exchanging them with the neighbor for his eggs and fresh chicken, while using the chickens as excellent bug and snake control. the model looks as if it would be managed by the commune to be shared by all. I wonder what would happen in that managed society if someone wanted to have a number of children, or keep a few goats. Bet there would be limits on both.

MarvinSussman

You guys are arguing about peanuts. How you heat your home is a personal preference, not a crisis.

The real problem is national self-sufficiency. There are military reasons why we need solar energy: to be secure. The same applies to industries that have been been lost: electronic manufacturing for one. I could go on but you get the idea.