Home
. FAQ . Gallery
. Op-ed . Site
Map . Bios . Links
. Contact
BuildingCircles
Organization
Creating affordable
and sustainable, nature-integrated homes for independent living |
| Op-Ed |
From the
Rocking Chair
by Robert
Bornn and Laura Worth |
9/7/07
Aging in Place
Gracefully on Vashon
8/19/07
A Brighter Future Minus
the Mercury
7/12/07
Is Rural Washington
Ready for Affordable, Green “Hobbit Homes?”
6/17/07
All
That’s Green Isn’t An Emerald
11/17/06
Vashon
Needs to Develop a Comprehensive Environmental Strategy
8/4/05
Learning about
Water Quality
| 9/7/07
Aging-in-Place Gracefully on Vashon
By Robert Bornn and Laura Worth
VASHON ISLAND, WA, September 7, 2007.
We
would like to see Vashon organizations and residents more proactively plan
for the aging of Islanders. Across the country there is a social
movement afoot to support the right of elders to live independently.
One manifestation of that is the national “Aging-In-Place
Initiative," which promotes comprehensive community planning of infrastructure,
dwellings, and public buildings as well as facilitating effective social
support networks and services for older demographics. Today, aging-in-place
and independent living represents a growing intentional strategy to
prevent premature institutional care. According to AARP, nearly 9
in 10 Americans over the age of 60 would like to live in familiar surroundings
as they age.
To facilitate aging in place on Vashon,
we advocate housing designs that consider the future needs of residents
while creating affordable, boldly green housing today. As we age,
downsizing becomes an appropriate strategy for containing the cost of building
and maintaining our homes. Downsizing
also minimizes our ecological footprint. Smaller homes require less
material, labor, cost of financing, energy needs, and maintenance.
We have heard-tell that some elders living
on Vashon are expecting to retrofit existing homes to permit aging in place.
They may expect to easily retrofit otherwise conventional, multi-story
homes with elevators for simple aging-in-place. Unfortunately, elevators
don’t widen hallways, doors, and bathrooms. They aren’t easily converted
to a comfortable residential floor plan suitable for our special needs
as we age. They limit access and don’t permit friends in wheel chairs
to visit us. Anyone who has spent time in a wheel chair or relying
on a walker knows this may become their own downfall when it comes to staying
in the home they have come to love.
Instead of retrofitting, we advocate building
entirely new structures on
Vashon with comprehensive universal
design that result in human-friendly, nature-integrated dwellings.
By downsizing into new, highly durable dwellings we can more cost-effectively
plan our aging-in-place. Low-cost upkeep along with responsible energy
and water use are integral to the authentic green “living
buildings” that are advocated by the Cascadia chapter of the Green
Building Council. Along with many others nationwide, we are designing
structures that can make owners proud to be modeling responsible, carbon-neutral
living.
King County is receptive to plans to handle
density on Vashon by downsizing from homes that have served growing families
in days gone by, to what they term Accessory Dwelling
Units (ADU). The compact ADUs can permit rental income from a
former primary home to help pay for construction and property taxes.
For additional
savings to Vashon active adults, home designs should ultimately permit
straightforward conversion to assisted living “in place” to avoid premature
institutional care. For example, for each year of home care residency
that eliminates premature nursing home care, $30,000 to $70,000 could be
saved. Through forethought, universal design, and social engineering
these savings could be used for health and wellness expenses that improve
the quality of our lives in our own homes.
Our personal favorite design is a “Hobbit
House,”
single story, nature-integrated
dwelling. The Hobbit House design can permit exceptional visual
and acoustic privacy in our rural community without requiring enormous
spaces between homes. The privacy permitted by “open clusters” enables
greater density and reduces the per house cost of land.
In addition to building structures on Vashon
that support us as we age, we can also build supportive, intergenerational
communities based on affinity and humanist core values. Active
adults can build cooperative communities for mutual aid and support,
known as naturally occurring retirement communities or NORCs. Many
of a growing number of self-help intentional communities of elders across
the nation also now refer to themselves as villages. They are affirming
that -- just as it takes a village to raise a child -- it indeed takes
a village to support our aged with the dignity they deserve.
Robert Bornn is a green futurist and multi-media
producer (www.bornn.com and 463-4284).
Laura Worth is a life and business coach, specializing in Web strategy
and development (www.coachworth.com
and 463-9283). They are founders of Vashon Island’s BuildingCircles
Organization, designing affordable and sustainable, nature-integrated
homes for independent living and LifeSense
Institute, a nonprofit for environmental education dedicated to improving
quality of life on Vashon-Maury Island.
|
| 8/19/07
A Brighter Future Minus the Mercury
By Robert Bornn and Laura Worth
News
Flash! Finally Available: affordable, true-color,
LED lighting (or “SSL” solid state lighting) with standard fixture bases.
VASHON ISLAND, WA, August 19, 2007.
Why
is LED lighting considered by many to be more “green” than compact fluorescence
or standard incandescence?
1. Virtually no heat is generated by LEDs
2. LEDs use far less power for equivalent
brightness.
3. Longer lasting with 10,000+ hours of
use.
4. Without residual mercury, LEDs allow
easier and safer disposal.
5. Their colors are more accurate.
So why are these ubiquitous little lights
just entering prime time?
First, upfront cost has been a big factor,
although at today’s prices their considerable energy savings and exceptionally
long life suggest that the “supremacy” of most incandescent and fluorescent
lighting is waning.
Pure, white light in LEDs has been difficult
to achieve, especially for conventional lighting of interiors. White
light LEDs first began to be introduced in a wide variety of battery-powered
devices, such as flashlights and lanterns. Most solar-powered lighting
also uses LEDs because of their low power drain and longevity. Nowadays
white light LEDs are “clustered” to provide equivalent brightness to other
lighting and the introduction of standard fixture bases makes it possible
to use them with conventional house wiring.
Finally, the LED’s parent industry, the
semiconductor industry, has had a poor history regarding the consequences
of its manufacturing practices. Improvements have finally been seen
from worker-safety to more integrated, cost effective, greener” materials
processes and recycling. Recent commitments made to reduce energy requirements
for future computers (and “chips” in general) are pointing to a time when
silicon (from sand) will be a more people and earth-friendly choice.
So why are these LEDs not available on
Vashon? Incandescent light bulbs are history and compact fluorescent
light bulbs are pretty much pretenders to the throne. We need to
let GE et al. know that we see that the emperor has no cloths and that
CFLs aren’t good enough. Let’s ask for LED lighting at Thriftway,
True Value, and Island Lumber and Hardware. If Vashon stores won’t
carry them, let’s buy them on the web at any number of on-line resources
like The LED Light, Inc. (www.TheLEDLight.com). Other LED commercial
links are listed by Vashon’s BuildingCircles Organization links
page. A growing market makes it happen faster for everyone!
Your future may well be brighter and the earth a little greener.
Robert Bornn is a green futurist and multi-media
producer (www.bornn.com and 463-4284).
Laura Worth is a life and business coach, specializing in Web strategy
and development (www.coachworth.com
and 463-9283). They are founders of Vashon Island’s BuildingCircles
Organization, designing affordable and sustainable, nature-integrated
homes for independent living and LifeSense
Institute, a nonprofit for environmental education dedicated to improving
quality of life on Vashon-Maury Island.
|
| 7/12/07
Is Rural Washington Ready for Affordable,
Green “Hobbit Homes?”
by Laura Worth and Robert Bornn
VASHON ISLAND, WA, July 9, 2007.
BuildingCircles Organization (BCO) has announced new plans to build advanced
homes to enable mature adults to live affordably and independently well
into the future. The organization is looking for forward-thinking
individuals who wish to build an authentic green Primary Residence or Accessory
Dwelling Unit (ADU) on their property. The homes will combine low-maintenance,
durability, and energy efficiency. They will allow environmentally
conscious homeowners to “age in place” gracefully over the years without
fear of unnecessary institutionalization. BuildingCircles is offering
to work with landowners to achieve the future of sustainable housing now.
These affordable custom home design concepts
are by Robert Bornn and Laura Worth of Vashon Island, founders of BCO.
Nancy Henderson, founder of ArchEcology, LLC in Seattle will provide the
architectural and universal design services. As a well-respected
LEED® Accredited Professional, Nancy will assure the highest national
LEED® standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. She will
work closely with the County to assure that BCO advanced architecture is
in compliance or exceeds code. Together the team will combine the
comfort, accessibility, and safety necessary for independent living with
carbon-neutral sustainability and extreme durability. Long-term,
these homes can easily be converted to accommodate assisted living.
These single-story, compact homes will be nature-integrated to blend into
Washington’s rural character while reflecting permaculture consciousness.
Bornn explained, “We take a comprehensive
approach to authentic green housing design that goes way beyond ‘green
chic.’ These high quality but simple homes will reflect strong environmental
values regarding the effort to reverse local and global environmental degradation.
This is a chance for people to not only build a lovely home in which they
can ‘age in place,’ but also to lead the way in modeling comprehensive
environmental and affordable world housing solutions.”
Worth adds, “Most of us older folks would
like to settle into a lovely home that we know we won’t have to move from
if we develop limited mobility. If we have a friend who needs to
spend some time in a wheelchair or needs a walker, we want to know that
they can use our bathroom when they visit us and have room in the kitchen
to keep us company while we cook.”
Under King County code, a Primary Residence
or ADU on a property can be rented if the owner lives in either.
Between rental income, energy savings, and the savings that accrue from
avoiding unnecessary institutional living, the organization says that the
Primary Residence or ADU can pay for itself. Additionally, by meeting
King County Master Builders Association’s “Built GreenTM” standards, permit
fees and other costs may be reduced for either or both the Primary Residence
and ADU.
An added benefit of these nature-blended
homes is a legal increase in density through affordable rentals that will
help to maintain rural diversity.
Bornn stated, “Design of each BCO ‘living
house’ will maximize its capability to heat and cool itself. Over
time they are expected to return as much energy to the grid as they use,
dispose of waste, and manage water runoff responsibly.” He went on
to say “They will achieve low-cost maintenance and reduce risk from vermin,
fire, and earthquakes. Appliances and materials for interior walls,
cabinetry, ceilings, and floors will be chosen in consultation with the
BCO team to minimize environmental impact and maximize energy savings.”
Bornn elaborated that this nature-integrated
housing will be highly insulated, well ventilated, and constructed of durable,
thin-shell concrete with advanced moisture-control for greater comfort.
Living roofs will permit most of each building’s footprint to be permeable.
The load-bearing green roofs can contribute to the surrounding ecology
and be used for gardening or small-scale farming.
Worth added that the homes will nestle
into the earth with a combination of gentle and dramatic slopes, stonework,
and vegetation. Using ‘above grade’ sites will permit abundant natural
light while reducing exposure to the water table. Sunlight can be
admitted through windows on most sides of the house as well as skylights.
She continued, “Individual choices of landscape
foliage as well as stonework, masonry and other finishes to doors, windows,
overhangs, decks, courtyards, and walkways will make each home a unique
expression of individual taste and style.”
Regarding alternative green energy, Bornn
says “BuildingCircles homes will have an option to include aesthetically
pleasing, ‘solar-energy ponds’ for space and water heating.
The SolarHarvester is an invention of Robert Bornn and Jon McWhirter (formerly
of Vashon). These unique ponds will collect solar energy passively.
Earth-sheltered heat storage and a ground-loop cooling system will
provide year-round comfort.
BuildingCircles Organization was founded
by Bornn and Worth to sponsor Bornn’s alternative housing designs.
Originally inspired by Buckminster Fuller, Bornn began to develop his designs
in the 1970s for an artists’ community he founded on an island in Maine.
Bornn and Worth have a long history of
founding teams together in Silicon Valley for such diverse projects as
development of special needs and medical device products and public health-education.
Bornn says that the organization’s development team will work in a collaborative
process with homeowners to translate concept designs into mid-level, affordable
homes that encourage older adult independence and achieve authentic sustainability.
The design team shares a unique commitment to permaculture and living buildings.
The commitment extends to evolving the designs into low-cost, manufactured
housing that can contribute solutions to the global housing crisis.
Nancy Henderson, LEED® Accredited Professional
has joined the founders to design and build these homes using BCO design
concepts. Formerly with GGLO of Seattle, Henderson works at the intersection
of affordable, green housing that utilizes universal design principals.
She says that she left GGLO to “found ArchEcology out of a passion for
housing and sustainable design.” While at GGLO she founded and chaired
its Sustainable Design group for five years. During that time she
lead in-house education efforts which resulted in a third of the office
becoming LEED® Accredited, adoption of an Environmental Policy, and
development of an Environmental Management Plan. She also founded
GGLO’s Affordable Housing Action Team to develop a focused expertise in
the office to specifically address the unique needs of affordable housing.
She serves on the Board of Directors at the Housing Development Consortium.
She is also a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.
BuildingCircles Organization says that
its mission includes the design of small-scale adult communities oriented
around neighborhood centers that are environmentally sound, affordable,
and diverse.
Intelligent placement of each home in relationship
to the topography and to each other will provide visual and acoustic privacy
in what Bornn terms “open clusters.” Energy, water, and waste disposal
systems can be even more efficient when shared in “neighborhood grids.”
The extent of community involvement and mutual support of neighbors can
be personal options.
Bornn commented, “Ultimately, we expect
to work with a variety of public agencies to build carbon-neutral or even
carbon-negative, energy efficient, modest homes that are suitable for rural,
exurban, and suburban living in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.”
He continued, “BCO’s goal is to make environmental advances on a variety
of fronts by using sustainable and recyclable building materials, design,
and technologies. Bornn explained, “The United Nations
is predicting a need for 50 million new homes each year just to keep pace
with population growth. We are designing the initial custom homes
with long-term, rapid manufacturing solutions in mind. Our mission
within 5-10 years is to support variations on our custom designs and technologies
that can be modularized. On a large enough scale, with appropriate
government agencies and visionary NGOs getting involved, widespread adoption
of these low-cost carbon-negative designs may contribute to a significant
reduction in global warming and the well-being of the world’s increasing
population.”
Contact BuildingCircles Organization by
calling Robert Bornn or Laura Worth at 463-4284, robert@buildingcircles.org,
or www.buildingcircles.org. Contact Nancy Henderson at (206) 860-2904
or nancyh@archecology.com.
****
Robert Bornn and Laura Worth are cofounders
of BuildingCircles Organization on Vashon, designing
affordable and sustainable, nature-integrated homes for adult independent
living (www.buildingcircles.org).
|
| 06/17/07
All That’s Green Isn’t An Emerald
By Robert Bornn and Laura Worth
Vashon Island, WA, June 17, 2007.
Buying a piece of land on emerald
Vashon may have unwittingly put you in the Ivy Leagues – that is, the league
of landowners facing down the problem of tree-choking ivy. Ivy can
look lush and green, but we are learning the hard way on Vashon that all
that looks green just isn’t sustainable.
How doth ivy kill thy trees? Let
us count the ways: ivy climbs trees, develops tree-like strength
itself, cuts into bark like razor wire, and keeps light from penetrating
the forest canopy. On the forest floor, ivy prevents new tree growth
from getting the sun and nutrients it requires. In last December’s
wind storm hundreds of pounds of ivy, made even heavier with rain, brought
down trees that were already stressed by other factors. Left to itself,
Vashon will sadly be deforested in a few years. And there go our
lungs.
Now in summer’s calm, as we enjoy our island’s
forests, it has become apparent that nearly everywhere the trees are choked
with ivy growth. On Vashon, ivy is an invasive species introduced
by modern life. Just last night, another tree announced its demise
when it fell on a PSE line and left part of the island without power.
Without authoritative information about
forest health, even with the best of intentions, the link between responsible
ownership and caring land stewardship can be a tenuous one. Many
landowners are unaware that the ivy clinging to their beautiful trees is
choking them. Many of us like the green appearance it gives to our
forests and somehow think of the ivy invasion as a natural phenomenon.
There are many sources of information about
care of our forests for private landowners, including information about
invasive ivy and what to do about it. On Vashon, as in many other
locations, goats are being rented for ivy control. Rent-a-Ruminant,
owned by Tammy Dunakin (206/251-1051), brings goats into the ivy league
to control ivy on the ground, but most tree strangling ivy probably also
still requires removal by hand. The Vashon Parks District has
an EarthCorps volunteer program to help manage ivy in our parks. Contact
the Park District at 206-463-9602. In Portland, the No Ivy League
is a thriving organization from which we can learn..
Contrary to some popular opinion, there
is a deep tradition in America for land stewardship. Native American
tradition required that we should consider the impact of human interactions
with the land on seven generations to come. Only in recent times
has the legal convention of land ownership been introduced. In today’s
environmentally conscious world, we are integrating the concepts of caring
stewardship with responsible ownership. The abuses of the “landed
gentry” of old agrarian worlds should be relics of yesteryear. Here’s
where the futurist and the conservationist can break bread: restore the
Vashon Emerald we call home!
*****
Laura Worth is a life and business coach,
specializing in web strategy and development. (www.coachworth.com and 463-9283).
Robert Bornn is a green futurist and multi-media producer (www.bornn.com
and 463-4284). They are founders of Vashon Island’s BuildingCircles
Organization www.buildingcircles.org), designing affordable and sustainable,
nature-integrated homes for independent living.
|
| 11/17/06
Vashon Needs to Develop a
Comprehensive Environmental
Strategy
By Laura Worth and Robert Bornn
Vashon Island, WA, November 17, 2006.
Defeat
of the PUD initiative should not be taken to mean Vashon citizens have
no interest in taking control of our energy future. In this sense,
the PUD won by focusing community-wide attention on environmental issues.
Vashon needs to develop a comprehensive
energy and environmental strategy. This strategy should promote advanced
energy, water, and environmental solutions in the context of the world-wide
environmental crisis represented by global warming and the degradation
of our air and water.
We are encouraged at the recent offer by
Bangasser, Yousoufien, and Emmer to support formation of a nonprofit organization
for energy conservation. If it gains broad support from many sectors
of the community, it could test the business model proposed by the PUD
candidates. In the short-term a pilot like this would improve conservation
on Vashon. In the long-term, if the business model is viable, it
could be implemented on a larger scale.
However, energy conservation measures represent
only a part of the environmental picture. Our community needs forums
where energy and environmental issues can be examined, carefully and cooperatively,
in a more systematic and thorough way than was possible in the heat of
an election.
In the course of this PUD campaign, hundreds
of smart and dedicated Vashon citizens grappled honestly with energy, environmental,
technological, and organizational issues. To move closer to an environmental
strategy that will unite our community, we propose a diverse "think tank/incubator"
approach to evaluate, test, and make recommendations to individuals, industry,
nonprofits, and government organizations.
Elements of a Vashon Comprehensive Environmental
Strategy could include:
1. voluntary Vashon standards and recommended
practices for limiting CO2 emissions. Renewable fuels such as
biomass, biodiesel, ethanol, and wood as well as their non-renewable cousins,
coal, oil, propane, and natural gas all contribute to global warming. Their
use produces CO2 and other destructive emissions.
2. evaluation of alternative energy
sources suitable for Vashon. A "think-tank/incubator" can evaluate
and test a number of freely available current studies regarding new energy
technologies, including contemporary, environmentally sound, tidal and/or
off-shore wave power, solar heat (daily direct and seasonally stored) and
new forms of solar photovoltaic "PV" methods. We need to steer clear
of yesterday’s outdated inventory and ideas and think systematically and
carefully about new, realistic energy solutions for Vashon.
3. advice to principals in private and
public organizational efforts such as creating neighborhood grids for
power, water, and sewage; organizing non-profits and for-profits engaged
in research and development of new technologies; working to promote widespread
retrofitting for conservation. A funded and committed team could
rapidly develop non-profit and for-profit financing mechanisms including
grants, co-op membership dues, and micro-loans.
4. positive "political cover" for various
agencies to be safe, yet flexible, in implementing public health, zoning,
and building codes in such a way as to support innovative, environmentally
sound technologies. Mitigation, not litigation!
5. public education and support for
voluntary standards for healthy environmental and energy practices
(for
example, the Master Builders' Association BuiltGreen specifications and
King County's adoption of those standards under its "Build Green" significant
incentives program).
We call on PUD opponents and proponents
alike to work together on new solutions. We can’t survive as
a species without a concerted effort. After a rest and recovery from
the election, we must all move forward. We need to continue a series
of public meetings to organize this more comprehensive effort. Call
Robert Bornn (463-4284) or Laura Worth (463-9283) for details and visit
us at www.buildingcircles.org.
****
Robert Bornn and Laura Worth are cofounders
of BuildingCircles Organization on Vashon,
designing affordable and sustainable, nature-integrated homes for adult
independent living (www.buildingcircles.org).
|
| 8/4/05
Learning about Water Quality
By Laura Worth
August 4, 2005. Once a month
on Quartermaster Harbor, Saturday mornings are a time for neighbors to
meet neighbors, learn about environmental issues on Puget Sound, and compare
notes about plans afoot for improving the health of the harbor. People
for Puget Sound sponsors these ShoreWatch gatherings of concerned
citizens all around the Sound for informal conversation over coffee with
scientists and other guest experts. ShoreWatch encourages each participant
to bring a new guest from their neighborhood to the next meeting and in
the process has expanded grass roots knowledge about the environment and
activism for the health of the Sound.
Examples of ShoreWatch topics to date include
the "Strangely Popular Septic Social" featuring Public Health’s Larry Fay,
Section Manager of Community Environmental Health. Larry presented
authoritative answers about the state of septic systems and their care
as well as alternative systems like newly permitted self-composting toilets
noted on their website (www.doh.gov). In June there was a Birdwatching
and Oil spill Forum. Last Saturday, July 30th, Phil Bloch, Natural
Resource Scientist from Department of Natural Resources met with concerned
ShoreWatch neighbors (picture).
Future presentations under discussion include
repeat performances of the "Septic Social" and storytelling about the history
of Quartermaster Harbor. Also planned is a "work party" to re-plant
the native Olympia oyster in QuarterMaster Harbor in hopes of reestablishing
colonies of this little work horse. Because the Harbor is so polluted,
these oysters would initially become toxic to humans, but could serve as
an inspiration to explore what might be harvested as food if Quartermaster
was brought up to reasonable standards. As a side benefit the oyster’s
digestive system might serve as a tiny filter to water pollutants and it
forms reefs that become habitats for other marine life. For details
or to schedule a ShoreWatch event in your neighborhood, contact Mary Beth
Dols at 382-7007 and mbdols@pugetsound.org.
****
Laura Worth is a life and business coach
on Vashon Island. She is also a cofounder of BuildingCircles
Organization on Vashon, designing affordable and sustainable, nature-integrated
homes for adult independent living (www.buildingcircles.org).
|
|