Our plans to come up with plans for small, green, solar heated homes for Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community near Asheville took another step forward this past week.
First, I went to visit the Nauhaus being built by Clarke Snell, Jeff Buscher and Tim Callahan of
the Nauhaus Institute. (http://www.thenauhaus.com) It is a super-insulated passive house that Clarke
says could stay warm from body heat of 6 people! And the walls are made of industrial hemp, a great
insulator!
At SEEE I discovered a firm called Compact Cottage Company in Asheville,
(www.compactcottages.com) building very small affordable homes. We plan to meet next week to
discuss ideas for homes in Hickory Nut Forest.
I also learned about Katrina Homes (http://www.cusatocottages.com ), which were designed for re-
building after the hurricane. They also have some good ideas and designs for attractive affordable
homes. I am really excited about being able to offer folks GLASS houses - Green Little Affordable Solar and Sustainable!
If you're interested in seeing the sites where these homes might go, visit www.HickoryNutForest.com
Friday, August 27, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Micro-hydro coming to the Eco-community soon
We have been studying and learning for the past two years and hope to be able to start construction next month. In future blogs we will explain all the components that go into a system like this including calculating the water flow, pressure, size of pipes, type of turbine, type of inverter, batteries, and grid tie. Since we plan to both sell power to the grid and draw on the grid and be able to run the building off-grid, all that adds more complexity to the design. There is lots of expertise available on solar systems, but much harder to find for micro-hydro. But we are determined and slowly it is all coming together. More later.
To see more future information go to www.hickorynutforest.com
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Going to the Southern Energy & Environmental Expo
The S.E.E. Expo is the largest and longest running sustainable technology and green building event in the South. Participants can talk with the most leading regional businesses that offer cutting edge technology systems, legitimate 'green' building services and a host of products for sustainable living. They can also earn about the many conservation organizations and their efforts to protect our environment and boost the economy, and better yet, join a few!
Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community is announcing a new solar green home package of plans ranging in size from 750 sq.ft. to 1800 sq.ft. These are all passive solar designs and incorporate many features that make a home energy efficient, eco-friendly, healthy, beautiful and affordable. Buyers will be able to choose from locally harvested wood, SIP panels, rainwater catchment systems, radiant floor heating, timber frame designs, solar panels and various natural building materials. Prices for homes plus land start at $199,000. Stay tuned. More details to follow!
The Expo is this weekend August 20-22nd at The Western N.C. Agricultural Center. For more information on the S.E.E. expo go to http://www.seeexpo.com/
For more information about the Hickory Nut Forest lots and land visit www.HickoryNutForest.com.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
One resident's green-building journey at Hickory Nut Forest
1. Green building – guiding principles
So, we’d bought a lot and were ready to start to create our own dream home. What could we use to guide us on our journey with its many challenges to keep us on the right road to a home that is gorgeous, well-built and sustainable. The Hickory Nut Forest website and our community’s shared vision provided both the framework and the context. Here’s what we came up with for our house, something we could use to explain to visitors in one easy to remember acronym GREEN
Our ambition
Gift - grant wealth, opportunity and expression to our local people
Respect - live happily in harmony and low impact with our land and community
Energize - model 'positive energy' behavior and give energy back
Educate - learn, share and grow sustainable ways, challenge assumptions and take risks
Nurture - value the natural assets entrusted to us
When we’re not sure which way to go, this is our guiding star
2. Our dream design
We stood on the lot on the spot where the topography of the land suggested we should build. Gazing through the trees at the spectacular view down Hickory Nut Gorge we began to imagine how our house may look. With help from Ryan and John, we began to sketch out our ideas for a passive solar house. With George our architect and Sam our builder on board, these ideas soon took practical shape in the form of sketch-up drawings and formal plans and in what seemed like no time at all, the building permit was granted and we were ready to translate our plans into reality. Now we had to wait….for the unusually long and severe winter to subside so that we could put in a driveway and get started!
3. Building
With the summer underway the next dreams come...the Living Roof. When we first drew up our plans we had this cool idea to have a roof garden over our garage. This week, that dream took a step closer to reality. With the house progressing to plan and our garage foundation in place , it was time to ‘ask the expert’. We had a visit from Emilio from Living Rooms Inc to help us in these unchartered waters. To our great relief he was able to reassure us that we had a great location for our 14 x 12 ft garden and that it was very realistic to envision a thriving roof garden outside our second bedroom window. So here’s what we need to do now to get ready
· Up weight the floor joists to be able to take 55lb per sq ft – enough for 6in deep soil, plenty to grow whatever we wish
· Build the roof with a slight slope (1/4 inch per foot) and a waterproofing layer to facilitate drainage
· Build an 8-inch ridge around the top of the roof with a drainage mechanism to retain the soil.
There is much more to do, and step-by-step we make the dream a reality. It's such a blessing to be part of the Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community, building a community that has the same green principles as us. www.HickoryNutForest.com
Thursday, August 12, 2010
What you really get!
Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community near Asheville North Carolina is a growing community. I recently sat with one of the owners as he talked about why he decided to build there. His words made me see the place in a new light. "I didn't just buy a few acres to build a house. I bought a a piece of land that has conserved over 200 acres, has an organic food garden, streams, a beautiful holistic retreat center and a community committed to a sustainable future. I couldn't do that all on my own." Wow...what an insight.
To help get the word out about this amazing place, we have recently been listed with Green Eco-Communities.
Look forward to talking with you all more soon.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
From Mary & Keith's Excellent Adventure
Today, after a brief visit to downtown Asheville for a delicious vegetarian Reuben and pumpkin spice decaf lattes (we eat out at restaurants or cafes only about once a week on average), we drove up winding mountain roads to the town of Gerton, North Carolina in order to visit the Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Village. We even crossed the Continental Divide on the way up the mountain!
From it's website, Hickory Nut Forest is a project described as "a unique eco-friendly community close to Asheville with plans to combine land conservation, green-built homes, organic gardening and renewable energy from wind, water, sun, and geothermal sources. Here, you can be part of designing a 'net zero energy homes community' that creates more renewable energy than it uses."
Another exciting aspect of Hickory Nut is the creation of a retreat/conference center which sits along a rushing mountain stream on the site of an old grist mill, with a basement yoga room located just alongside the stream. While we were visiting, we were also able to witness how the team is beginning the process of reconstructing several centuries-old log cabins on the site. It is obviously a labor of love, and the timber recovered from the ancient cabins is beautiful and enormous.
As far as the sites for the homes is concerned, they are magnificent sites along a ridge overlooking the valley below, and the homes themselves will be certified green, using the best low-impact and healthy materials which will be conscientiously sourced. Water conservation, super-insulation, passive and active solar, geothermal and other technologies will also be employed in the building process, and waste water will be recycled using various cutting edge permaculture methods.
The land surrounding the conference center is lush with tall trees, rhododendron and mountain laurel---a varied forested landscape. Adjacent to the conference center site is an organic orchard and garden which uses permaculture principles and may evolve into a form of community supported agriculture or similar project.
The Hickory Nut model is very captivating because part of our life's vision is to live close to the land in community, and potentially being part of a retreat center is very attractive to us based on a life-long dream of working and living in a retreat atmosphere.
While we are not currently in a position to buy a plot of land and begin the process of building a home in an emerging eco-village, we can see that the community that will emerge at Hickory Nut is one we will be sure to watch as it finds its feet and comes to certain fruition. We wish everyone at Hickory Nut the very best, and we hope to visit again to witness what will certainly be a transformative ripening of the vision behind this community.
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