Green Built
Cohousing Topics
Below are all of the blog entries, articles, and descriptions of past and future events on our website related to Green Built. Can't find something? Let us know
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California recognizes Cohousing as a more Sustainable Living Environment
Submitted by Bob Miller on Sat, 01/07/2012 - 14:27 in
By Bob Miller
The theme of the 2012 National Conference is “Creating Sustainable Neighborhoods; Learning from the Cohousing Experience.” Governor Jerry Brown of California recently endorsed the concept of cohousing as a more sustainable living environment.
The Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards are made each year by the Governor of California. This year Jerry Brown was at the awards ceremony to recognize McCamant and Durrett Architects of Wolf Creek Lodge as one of the recipients for 2011. The awards are “given only to individuals, organizations, and businesses who exemplify exceptional leadership for protecting and enhancing the environment while at the same time promoting economic growth”.
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New Hampshire Governor visits state's only cohousing neighborhood
Submitted by Cohousing Coaches on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 04:59 in
By Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach
According to story in today's Union Leader, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch yesterday toured Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm, the state's first completed cohousing neighborhood.
He wasn't the first New Hampshire Governor to walk the Peterborough property, though: the community was built in 2008 on the historic homestead of Gov. John Steele (1789-1865), and the basement of his renovated now super-insulated home (now offices) houses the ultra-efficient renewably-fueled wood-pellet-burning boilers that circulate heat and supply hot water to the 29 homes clustered onto just five of the 113 acres, preserving extensive woods and farmland, the story notes.
Designing super eco-cohousing, start to finish
Half Day Workshop: Fri 1:30 – 5:00
Price: $60, includes lower carbon footprint
From Trees to Houses: Green Harvesting, Processing and Building
Half Day Workshop: Wed 8:30 – 12:00
Price: $60
This workshop will examine sustainable choices from siting, harvesting, and processing to building with your own resources. We will focus on energy and material efficiency, low cost and low impact options, natural lighting, heating and cooling and how small can be both beautiful and sustainable. We will also examine sustainable forestry's connection to green building including embedded costs, assumptions and appropriate scale/size. As a case study we will examine an 800 square foot hybrid house kit (an example of end-product forest management) helping to clarify the integration between sustainable forestry and efficient and affordable housing. We will explore concepts which include direct solar gain with air-core mass floor, hybrid post and beam, I-Beam rafters and joists, membrane insulation systems and much more.
Green: Getting a Zero Carbon Footprint
Charles Durrett
There are brilliant minds working today to design new solutions that will make a difference on the impact we have on our environment. But if we do not build places where people can come together, learn about their green responsibilities and possibilities, and support each other to implement these changes, these brilliant solutions will go unused. Charles Durrett, internationally recognized architect and author, will demonstrate how cohousing offers a sense of community that holds people accountable to others and to their environment. McCamant & Durrett consistently employs green and sustainable practices because together with the group they are able to discover and implement zero energy solutions that really work -- a solution where people can save and steward successfully.
Green: Environmental Design in Cohousing in the Northeast US
Marc Rosenbaum
This session will examine the state of the art in environmental design in cohousing in the northeast US. The focus will be on energy use, renewable energy supply, waste treatment, and building durability. The bulk of the presentation will be case studies of built projects. Some guidelines for prioritizing green investment will be given. Presenter: Marc Rosenbaum, P.E., Energysmiths, has consulted on environmental design for cohousing since the early 1990s. Projects include: Pine St., Pioneer Valley, Alchemy Farm, New View, Island Coho, Cobb Hill, Pathways, Mosaic Commons, Peterborough, Ulster County, and Putney Commons.
Marc Rosenbaum, P.E., Energysmiths, has consulted on environmental design for cohousing since the early 1990s. Projects include: Pine St., Pioneer Valley, Alchemy Farm, New View, Island Coho, Cobb Hill, Pathways, Mosaic Commons, Peterborough, Ulster County, and Putney Commons. He is a longtime student of how to make good buildings.
Green: Renewable energy at achievable scale and cost
Bryan Bowen, Bryan Bowen Architects, P.C.
This is an informative session on what alternatives exist for renewable energy for your communities, how to find out about rebates and tax incentives, and how to implement these systems successfully.
Bryan Bowen Architects, P.C. is a multidisciplinary design collaborative:explores how we may live more lightly upon our earth in beautiful and healthy environments. In addition to a focus on cohousing, the practice includes passive solarsingle-family homes, eco-retrofits, multifamily housing, mixed-use projects, and commercial work.
Download: Slides
Green: Net-Zero Energy homes and community buildings
Bryan Bowen, Bryan Bowen Architects, P.C
We'll define Net-Zero Energy, look at general strategies for achieving it, and review some case studies of remodels, new homes, community buildings, and new neighborhoods.
Bryan Bowen Architects, P.C. is a multidisciplinary design collaborative:explores how we may live more lightly upon our earth in beautiful and healthy environments. In addition to a focus on cohousing, the practice includes passive solarsingle-family homes, eco-retrofits, multifamily housing, mixed-use projects, and commercial work.
Download: Slides
Green: Common Sense Sustainable Site Development
Best Site & Land Use Strategies - That Can’t Be Cut in a Budget Crunch
Jack Wilbern/Meda Ling, Cohousing Collaborative
What is Sustainable Site Development? This discussion will look at Cohousing’s potential as a catalyst for renewed understanding of the interrelationship between environment, economics, and human society, and will examine several common sense approaches toward building truly sustainable communities.
Jack Wilbern and Meda Ling are principal partners of Cohousing Collaborative, LLC, a cohousing development company serving the mid-Atlantic region.
Green: Sustainability through Comprehensive Design
Mary Kraus, Kraus-Fitch Architects
From the initial design process through day-to-day neighborhood living, cohousing offers unique opportunities for creating a more sustainable society. Beginning with an outline of what is inherently sustainable about cohousing, this presentation will examine a wide range of sustainable design opportunities available to cohousing groups – from climate-sensitive site design and energy-efficient detailing to the bigger picture of relationships and context. Sustainability is not just about solar collectors – it’s about understanding how everything fits together to allow lower-footprint living.
Mary Kraus is a principal architect with Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc., specializing in cohousing and ecologically sustainable design. She has been living at Pioneer Valley Cohousing, the first cohousing community to be completed on the east coast, since move-in 14 years ago. Mary can be contacted at mkraus [at] krausfitch [dot] com.
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