Young communards in the backwoods of Vermont and high plains of Taos knew that surviving in frigid climes meant something better than teepees and log huts. With well-worn Whole Earth catalogues as guides, they began figuring it out. Back then “Save the Trees” was a mantra uniting the movement. Northern New Mexico’s earthen homes were obvious solutions for the bands of broke kids from “back East” with idle time and strong backs.
Their experiments evolved into Mike Reynolds’ Earthships. Abandoned automobile tires were everywhere and free for the taking. Pounding free dirt into them and stacking them into walls two feet thick made cozy shells that walls of south-facing glass warmed in the winter. And cooked in the summer.
It wasn’t until Santa Fe architect Ed Mazria wrote the Passive Solar Energy Book in 1979 that building science replaced do-it-yourselfism for the next generation of green builders. But the legacy of homegrown innovation and experimentation continues to thrive.
Attending the first National Green Conference in Denver in 1997 was inspiring and shocking. Rubbing shoulders with the industry’s nationally recognized experts was an inspiration. Finding an absence of consensus was a shock. One group of panelists related horror stories of failures of design and construction and admonished listeners to go back and try things and see if they worked, and if they didn’t, then come back and tell everyone what went wrong.
For instance, putting skylights in bathrooms mistakenly believing people wouldn’t turn on electricity-wasting lights when working families typically use bathrooms in the dark of morning and night, especially in winter, skylights were simply heat-wasting chimneys. Or carpeting floors with foam underpadding that negates solar gain.
Modern building science has narrowed green building to three key concepts: water and energy efficiency and indoor air quality. Performance-based codes allow builders maximum creativity.
You can read the original article by Kim Shanahan at www.santafenewmexican.com
Actually, the early days of green building in America were centuries, even millennia ago. The earliest southwestern adobe houses and temples were erected in the 1100s and 1200s, a few of which are still standing. The Cherokee resided in wattle and daub structures at the same period of time. Etc. The earliest days of European style green building in America were in the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s when the first settlers set foot in North America. The Spanish of the 1500s and 1600s built their Southwest missions (fortified monasteries), churches and other buildings with adobe. The British predominantly used wood, etc. All of these cultures built using methods and materials we’d consider “green” today! 🌱🌲🌳🌴🌵🌿🍃🍀