LONE OAK RANCH; TEHACHAPI, CALIFORNIA
Finally, it's here! A fully sustainable (large) single-family home in the dramatic hills of Tehachapi, wind country.
I can't tell you how much more sustainable design principles, methodologies, approaches, and innovations excite me the more I learn. And the more I'm convinced that we, as humanity, have no other choice really, if we want our neighborhoods and global community (no, not JUST the grandkids - let's think a little larger than that!) to avoid the inconvenience, and well, fashion faux pas of chronic gas-mask wearing.
This home utilizes passive heating and cooling based on solar orientation and wind capture. A rainwater catchment system - which utilizes the naturally antibacterial copper leaves on the roof to capture and contribute to sanitization of water - provides the minimally required irrigation for a xeriscaped (all native, plant life that requires little to no water and maintenance) yard. The greenroof provides beauty, maintains habitat, and serves to insulate the home from heat and cold depending on the season. Insulated, rammed earth walls constructed from earth found on the site itself, create a stunning backdrop that integrates well with the surrounding geographic context and provides thermal mass for insulation from the extreme ends of the climate. Well water is collected, filtered and pumped with solar power, and the house itself utilizes all solar power with backup to the main grid.
The list goes on - once you start one sustainable facet of a design, the chain of dominos has been set off.
That being said, one of the most encouraging things I have also learned while studying sustainable design is that there are endless options for any given problem and that in all likelihood there is an appropriate option to suit anyone's particular needs, desires, and limitations. And we all know, every little drop in the bucket of sustainable and social responsibility adds up.