[Strawbale] Build Green - SB on The Nature of Things -David Suzuki

[Michael K. lough]

>Beth A wrote:
> > That will be an interesting program.  I wonder why Mr. Suzuki chose to > 
>showcase a home that is so expensive and out of reach from the regular > 
>person.  There's an excerpt in the This magazine from July-August 2004 > 
>that indicates the Randy Bachman home cost around $500 per square foot!
>
>
>That was then, this is now. You could compare that cost to the price of 
>newly introduced technologies, and recall that new computers used to cost 
>$3- to $5,000 not that long ago, and digital cameras were once only toys 
>for the rich.
>When Randy Bachman's rammed earth house was built, he was basically 
>subsidizing the workers to learn and even develop or refine the building 
>methods. Costs have come down since then, but it still cost a lot to hire 
>someone to build an RE house.
>But the knowledge that these can in fact be built here in Canada has 
>inspired, and will continue to inspire, others to build their own or to be 
>more open to other building technologies. SB among them.
>So Randy's gamble pays off for all of us.

The question of how much space a human should need to condition using non 
renewable energy sources for the purposes of "living" is a difficult one to 
answer in North America where "success" almost always implies largeness even 
now. Take away the "carrot"  from workers of living in a large house with a 
big car(s)  and there is suddenly no incentive to climb a corporate ladder 
or open hundreds of franchises. Take away the notion of "success" and the 
treadmill stops spinning but also the lights go out…
There is no bidness like showbidness after all and even Dave Suzuki knows 
this …

Im not sure there was any point at all in building such a house in the first 
place other than lowering RB s energy costs. The workers probably went onto 
other things as they do in Canada  (no RE apprenticeship systems just 
glorified workshop "experiences" shall we say ) that is of course IF they 
were actually Canadian landed or permitted to work in Canada… In Toronto 
illegal Eastern Europeans and Russians are the cheapest for the "dog 
jobs"…nearly half of all renos are done by illegals. Its the same in the US 
A?  "Sheerocka" being a Mexican sheetrock worker   in New Jersey I believe ?

Anything can be built if you have enough money The market in Canada may not 
be able to afford energy efficient housing like RB can…Like hybrid cars they 
are too expensive for most in the first place …One  thought is if the energy 
question is a global one then perhaps the answer should be a global one …? 
Instead of building an "energy efficient" 4000 squ feet and up mansion  (oxy 
moron?)  somewhere for a load of money why not not use the energy in the 
first place by living somewhere else? Assuming of course that if you are 
building such a house you can afford to live anywhere.and you are not simply 
building to resell to those hungy for "success". of course. Not for everyone 
but surely if the question is global the answer can  be global and if the 
equation indicates it is costing a great deal to condition an interior 
environment to emulate a temperate climate then why not just move to a real 
temperate climate?

Some hard questions are coming down the road …Some years ago I read of a 
couple that lived in the Bahamas for the Winter on a rented yacht, they had 
worked out that it was as inexpensive to do this than live in their Canadian 
home where everything including food cost more, surely as we watch the cost 
of gasoline climb this holiday weekend in Canada we have to ask some hard 
questions about   living anywhere where  a lot of expensive energy is 
consumed just to survive ? Perhaps "success" should be the ability to live 
without needing a load of energy or needing to build a gargantuan earth 
bermed greenhouse and perhaps it could also  mean the ability to leave an 
industrial Northern clime  and live where you can drive a smartcar all year 
round? (if you even have to drive) Would that be "success"? I am guessing 
but I imagine Mr Suzuki would agree privately that it would be but as he is 
likely receiving benefit from his Canadian associations he is unlikely to 
suggest that his viewers leave the country!

Michael  Lough