Positive News US is a free, not for profit newspaper published four times a year in Ithaca, NY. We report on successful projects around the world in the areas of sustainability, social equality, education and happiness, with a clear message that "another world is possible."
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Sustainable Living Moves Downtown |
Photo: © Denise Cermanski
by John Driscoll
Last fall, Todd Saddler arrived at the construction site for his new, toxic-free home in Ithaca NY and saw there was trouble. Heavy rains had melted a portion of a dirt embankment, filling the trench where his foundation was to go in. With a concrete truck on the way, there was nothing he could do but grab a shovel and start digging. A neighbor happened along and noticed him standing in the mud, and asked if he needed a hand.
The neighbor wasn't alone. Other friends showed up from the neighborhood and had the trench dug out in under an hour. After some hard work and a little help from his friends, Saddler had the foundation poured for the house where he will live with his wife, Laurie Konwinski.
On a recent afternoon, Saddler was still standing in mud in what is now the basement of a three story house. Saddler was lamenting a bit of PVC pipe he had used as a sleeve through one of the foundation walls, not because it was grueling work in the mud but because the sleeve is one of the only synthetic materials in the project. If Ithaca had an "All Natural" certification for residences, the Saddler's place could be the poster child.
Without such luxuries as open space for a large solar array or land for geothermal heating, the couple have found other ways to be ecologically-minded by focusing on small things like building out of nontoxic materials, using the excavated earth as an insulating berm around the house and orienting the house for maximum solar gain and protection from the cold. They also plan to install photo-voltaic panels.
With little space to work with, these urban homesteaders have managed to have a self-sufficient sensibility. And being part of a community is what it's all about for the Laurie and Todd. Building sustainably downtown can also help educate people in the community who might be interested in alternative design practices.
Although the construction costs were higher on this project than a comparable house would be, in the long run the energy savings will offset the added cost. The question for the the couple was not, "Can we afford this?" but, "Can we afford not to do this?"
Last fall, Todd Saddler arrived at the construction site for his new, toxic-free home in Ithaca NY and saw there was trouble. Heavy rains had melted a portion of a dirt embankment, filling the trench where his foundation was to go in. With a concrete truck on the way, there was nothing he could do but grab a shovel and start digging. A neighbor happened along and noticed him standing in the mud, and asked if he needed a hand.
The neighbor wasn't alone. Other friends showed up from the neighborhood and had the trench dug out in under an hour. After some hard work and a little help from his friends, Saddler had the foundation poured for the house where he will live with his wife, Laurie Konwinski.
On a recent afternoon, Saddler was still standing in mud in what is now the basement of a three story house. Saddler was lamenting a bit of PVC pipe he had used as a sleeve through one of the foundation walls, not because it was grueling work in the mud but because the sleeve is one of the only synthetic materials in the project. If Ithaca had an "All Natural" certification for residences, the Saddler's place could be the poster child.
Without such luxuries as open space for a large solar array or land for geothermal heating, the couple have found other ways to be ecologically-minded by focusing on small things like building out of nontoxic materials, using the excavated earth as an insulating berm around the house and orienting the house for maximum solar gain and protection from the cold. They also plan to install photo-voltaic panels.
With little space to work with, these urban homesteaders have managed to have a self-sufficient sensibility. And being part of a community is what it's all about for the Laurie and Todd. Building sustainably downtown can also help educate people in the community who might be interested in alternative design practices.
Although the construction costs were higher on this project than a comparable house would be, in the long run the energy savings will offset the added cost. The question for the the couple was not, "Can we afford this?" but, "Can we afford not to do this?"
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