skyl4rk's manifesto

[skyl4rk]

I am interested in reducing the cost of living so that time can be spent on creative pursuits rather than full time employment.

I would like to see the natural environment close to my doorstep so my goal is to impact the natural environment in the least way possible (or practical).

I would like to use shelter design so that an up front investment in design, building time and material cost will result in an extremely low operating cost for housing over the life of the structure.

I am willing to make some major lifestyle changes to find a low cost, low energy mode, and question utility and user satisfaction of many of the systems currently in homes.

I want to use technology to improve quality of life as much as possible, but within cost and energy use limits.

I would like to scale back the cost of shelter to about half of an average annual salary, and the resulting shelter should have very low utility and fuel costs to operate the shelter.

The method of providing low cost shelter needs to be viable for large numbers of people using the same method, it cannot be a scavenger method or have negative health or environmental impact on neighbors.

Shelter is just one of the systems that needs to be rethought to increase the amount of free time and decrease impact on the natural environment. Transportation, food and community infrastructure all need to be considered and redesigned as well.

The type of system that interests me has the following characteristics:

Low electricity use: electric power is for lighting, data (computer), occasional tool use and music. No high power appliances such as clothes washer or vacuum cleaner. Refrigeration only if powered by a separate solar/battery system. The main electric system should be covered by a 200W solar panel system (at the most, it could be less), with a small wind generator as backup.

Low heating energy needs: highly insulated, modestly sized structure with large solar collector and a large heat storage mass, with woodburner backup for structure heating and storage mass heating. Separate solar/battery system for powering heating fans.

Lifestyle changes: food storage methods that do not require refrigeration, bicycle transport, choice of clothes to allow for easy washing and drying, go to bed when it is dark, water conservation through changes in bathing practices (washcloth rather than shower), in rural areas composting of human waste, food production and preservation on site, limiting the number of material things owned, focus on production of knowledge and intelligence stored on digital medium rather than physical production of goods, efficient operation of any technology used.

So those are some thoughts on a design for a system that should allow the resident to have a lot of free time to focus on his or her own interests. It is an approach to a black box theory that there should be a product (black box) that will provide a human with the food, water, shelter and clothing needed to survive, and the individual can choose how much luxury he or she wishes to add to the basics provided by the black box by working for cash. In other words an up front investment can provide you with the things you need to survive, and once that is achieved, you can decide how much you want to work for additional comfort and luxury.

I am nowhere near achieving any of this but am working on the parts of the system and may be able to attempt to put the entire system together some day. The word system is somewhat pompous, in reality I am talking about a solar powered and heated shack somewhere within biking distance from a town.

[Daox]

Welcome to EcoRenovator skyl4rk. Good to see you over here.

That is quite the list and probably has many things we're all striving for. Let us know what you are working on now. We'd love to help and give ideas.

I Like a lot.