Re: [biofuel] Our new off grid home

2004-05-10 Thread Rick Lubrick

Congradulations Steve.  I'm anxious to hear more from you about the
how-to's of your new home endeavours.
- Original Message -
From: murdoch [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 10:47 AM
Subject: Re: [biofuel] Our new off grid home


 On Mon, 10 May 2004 01:09:49 +0900, you wrote:

 I have exciting news to share. Today we closed on our off
 grid home in 5 acres of woods. PV, Wind, Rain Water filled Cistern,
 Veggie Oil powered VW Rabbit generator, wood heat, etc. Paradise! I
 will be sharing photo's and construction articles as we expand and
 improve our little slice of heaven. Expansion of the rain
 harvester/cistern, and solar water heater with wood backup is the
 first order of business.
 
 Steve Spence
 http://www.green-trust.org
 
 Congratulations Steve! What you've wanted for so long.
 
 Best wishes
 
 Keith

 That sounds like a serious score.  Enough acreage to stretch his wings
 in a number of ways, and more progressive technologies than I imagine
 usually come with almost any house, even one lived in by open-minded
 sustainably-minded progressive people.

 When I bought my place (which in a number of ways does not meet the
 level of score that he made) I found that it was somewhat hard to find
 such a place, and to get realtors even to make me aware of them.

 Even something as simple as getting home insurance with good credit
 can be difficult for a home that is not cut from the usual cloth.  I
 live in a fire-prone area where everyone is allegedly concerned to
 mitigate risk, and the risk affects all of us, and yet even though I
 went well out of my way to buy one of the most fire-resistant homes in
 the State, the insurance companies just on general principle were of a
 mind to reject what was different or unknown to them.  It is a myth,
 in my view, that the capitalistic process works perfectly in this
 sense to encourage construction of items less likely to result in an
 insurance payout.

 Anyway, back to the point, for folks who know in their hearts that
 they want to make their home purchase consistent, if possible, with
 some of their sustainability efforts, I encourage them to insist on
 their goals.  They may meet a lot of resistance that may cause them to
 doubt themselves.

 Forewarned is fore-armed, so I am passing on (i.e.: warning) that many
 many people in the real estate business and others, up to and
 including folks who have some mind and awareness and enthusiasm for
 sustainability issues, will discourage you from buying a ready-made
 home along the lines of what you've decided you want (and there is
 plenty of variance amongst sustainably-minded people as to what they
 want everything from materials to shape to features is up for
 debate).

 You can build your own, which I did not do, but I have the feeling
 that in a large percentage of cases, this turns out to be a longer
 haul (both financially and emotionally) than the owners allow
 themselves to be aware of when they first get into it.  This is not to
 discourage such an impulse... (in fact with a sustainable technology
 type home, I think it may sometimes be the only way, and I think this
 particular decision is *very* individual-situation dependent) but to
 lay out some of what I encountered.

 All in all I'm extremely pleased that I insisted on things to be my
 way, and not the way I was told it was normally done, and it looks to
 me like we could be hearing a lot from Steve, along the same lines.






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[biofuel] Our new off grid home

2004-05-09 Thread Steve Spence

I have exciting news to share. Today we closed on our off
grid home in 5 acres of woods. PV, Wind, Rain Water filled Cistern,
Veggie Oil powered VW Rabbit generator, wood heat, etc. Paradise! I 
will be sharing photo's and construction articles as we expand and 
improve our little slice of heaven. Expansion of the rain 
harvester/cistern, and solar water heater with wood backup is the 
first order of business.

Steve Spence
http://www.green-trust.org





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Re: [biofuel] Our new off grid home

2004-05-09 Thread Keith Addison

I have exciting news to share. Today we closed on our off
grid home in 5 acres of woods. PV, Wind, Rain Water filled Cistern,
Veggie Oil powered VW Rabbit generator, wood heat, etc. Paradise! I
will be sharing photo's and construction articles as we expand and
improve our little slice of heaven. Expansion of the rain
harvester/cistern, and solar water heater with wood backup is the
first order of business.

Steve Spence
http://www.green-trust.org

Congratulations Steve! What you've wanted for so long.

Best wishes

Keith



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Re: [biofuel] Our new off grid home

2004-05-09 Thread murdoch

On Mon, 10 May 2004 01:09:49 +0900, you wrote:

I have exciting news to share. Today we closed on our off
grid home in 5 acres of woods. PV, Wind, Rain Water filled Cistern,
Veggie Oil powered VW Rabbit generator, wood heat, etc. Paradise! I
will be sharing photo's and construction articles as we expand and
improve our little slice of heaven. Expansion of the rain
harvester/cistern, and solar water heater with wood backup is the
first order of business.

Steve Spence
http://www.green-trust.org

Congratulations Steve! What you've wanted for so long.

Best wishes

Keith

That sounds like a serious score.  Enough acreage to stretch his wings
in a number of ways, and more progressive technologies than I imagine
usually come with almost any house, even one lived in by open-minded
sustainably-minded progressive people.

When I bought my place (which in a number of ways does not meet the
level of score that he made) I found that it was somewhat hard to find
such a place, and to get realtors even to make me aware of them.  

Even something as simple as getting home insurance with good credit
can be difficult for a home that is not cut from the usual cloth.  I
live in a fire-prone area where everyone is allegedly concerned to
mitigate risk, and the risk affects all of us, and yet even though I
went well out of my way to buy one of the most fire-resistant homes in
the State, the insurance companies just on general principle were of a
mind to reject what was different or unknown to them.  It is a myth,
in my view, that the capitalistic process works perfectly in this
sense to encourage construction of items less likely to result in an
insurance payout.

Anyway, back to the point, for folks who know in their hearts that
they want to make their home purchase consistent, if possible, with
some of their sustainability efforts, I encourage them to insist on
their goals.  They may meet a lot of resistance that may cause them to
doubt themselves.

Forewarned is fore-armed, so I am passing on (i.e.: warning) that many
many people in the real estate business and others, up to and
including folks who have some mind and awareness and enthusiasm for
sustainability issues, will discourage you from buying a ready-made
home along the lines of what you've decided you want (and there is
plenty of variance amongst sustainably-minded people as to what they
want everything from materials to shape to features is up for
debate).

You can build your own, which I did not do, but I have the feeling
that in a large percentage of cases, this turns out to be a longer
haul (both financially and emotionally) than the owners allow
themselves to be aware of when they first get into it.  This is not to
discourage such an impulse... (in fact with a sustainable technology
type home, I think it may sometimes be the only way, and I think this
particular decision is *very* individual-situation dependent) but to
lay out some of what I encountered.

All in all I'm extremely pleased that I insisted on things to be my
way, and not the way I was told it was normally done, and it looks to
me like we could be hearing a lot from Steve, along the same lines.






Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html

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Re: [biofuel] Our new off grid home

2004-05-09 Thread Art Krenzel

Steve,

Where in the world have you taken up the challenge of living off the grid?

Art Krenzel
  - Original Message - 
  From: Steve Spence 
  To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2004 6:59 PM
  Subject: [biofuel] Our new off grid home


  I have exciting news to share. Today we closed on our off
  grid home in 5 acres of woods. PV, Wind, Rain Water filled Cistern,
  Veggie Oil powered VW Rabbit generator, wood heat, etc. Paradise! I 
  will be sharing photo's and construction articles as we expand and 
  improve our little slice of heaven. Expansion of the rain 
  harvester/cistern, and solar water heater with wood backup is the 
  first order of business.

  Steve Spence
  http://www.green-trust.org





  Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
  http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html

  Biofuels list archives:
  http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/

  Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address.
  To unsubscribe, send an email to:
  [EMAIL PROTECTED] 


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