| 4/28/06
LifeSense Institute
Brings New Energy to Vashon-Maury
Island
Vashon Island, WA, April 28, 2006.
The
nonprofit incorporation of LifeSense Institute on VMI was
announced today by founders, Robert Bornn and Laura Worth. The new
company’s mission is to “facilitate scientific and social innovations that
achieve human-friendly and sustainable ecosystems.” LifeSense
Institute has launched two projects toward that goal: Vashon
Energy Project (with its Project Solar Harvest) and
BuildingCircles
community
development. Robert explained, “This is a crucial time to begin an
entirely new approach to practical solar heating and nature-integrated
housing.”
Project Solar Harvest will
demonstrate an innovation in solar energy use that has shown success in
several northern latitude countries. Bornn explained, “Simply put,
we will collect the heat from this summer’s sun and store it in the ground
for use next winter.” He continued, “If this solar technology is
as useful as we think it will be, we would like to see Vashon play a leading
role in introducing it in the Pacific Northwest.” A three-stage pilot
is planned, first with an educational and data collecting model, then with
increasingly larger feasibility prototypes. The culmination of the
pilot project will be a “neighborhood grid” for residential or commercial
heating. The neighborhood grid can also be used for solar-heated
greenhouses, allowing year-round local growing. A potentially cost-saving
modification invented by Bornn will also be tested.
The BuildingCircles Project
will facilitate the emergence of adult co-housing communities that are
affordable, ultra-green, and nature-integrated. Worth explained,
“A good number of people I’ve talked with on Vashon like the idea of developing
intentional adult communities for support as they get older. They’re
just not doing anything about it yet.” Worth continued, “Our role
is to facilitate people coming together to define goals and act on them
cooperatively. A few neighbors may just wish to create small mutual support
systems for things like cooperative grocery shopping.” Bornn explained
further, “Some people may want to collaborate with each other on more ambitious
structural improvements like access ramps or raised beds for gardening.
Ultimately, the company will facilitate very comprehensive communities
for independent living that are ultra-energy efficient, low-maintenance,
affordable, and integrated into nature in a way that preserves our island’s
rural character. It just takes motivated people and community support.”
LifeSense Institute
is available for consultation. It is also building an advisory board,
fundraising, and developing collaborative relationships with other island
groups and individuals. Contact them at www.buildingcircles.org,
and send CVs and resumes to robert@buildingcircles.org or laura@buildingcircles.org.
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