Photovoltaics

In every cohousing neighborhood I've lived in or visited, sustainability has been an explicit core value, particularly expressed in how the community was designed and built. Many of us have the luxury to choose to live lightly on the earth, "changing the world, one neighborhood at a time," as a Coho/US bumper sticker puts it.

This year’s National Cohousing Conference was a treasure trove of useful information for established cohousing communities and forming groups. One of the more visionary, yet practical, sessions was a presentation on renewal energy led by Mark Daugherty, energy systems consultant and chief technology officer for Great Lakes BioFuels in Madison, WI, and Bryan Bowen, a Colorado-based architect, specializing in low-impact, environment-friendly housing design. Attendees learned about some sobering trends on peak oil and global warming, along with positive steps that cohousing communities are uniquely qualified to take.