Green Living in the Sonoran Desert
Posted on 28. Oct, 2010 by admin in Opinion
Phoenix, Arizona carries some of the country’s most consistent high temperatures though out the summer. Living here one gets used to living with 110+ F days and the heat doesn’t go away at night. I have been out at 1 or 2 AM and the temperature still reaches over 100 degrees.
Every once in while you will hear of green homes in the desert that use all types of green tools like passive energy and light techniques to hold the cool air in during the summer and prevent the cold air from gaining into the house during the winter. Passive lighting helps to use the natural day light to flood through your house, preferably in a way that does not heat up your home’s temperature.
There are a ton of great products out there like Solatube lighting to retrofit your house to make it more green. But if you are one of the few to build new then the possibilities are endless. I once saw a house way out in the desert that was a steel beam structure with a concrete roof with cool water running through tubes embedded into the concrete ceiling slabs. The water was always reused and the coolness from the concrete was pushed down into the rooms due to cool air being heavier than warm. The warm air was then pulled out with a single ceiling fan in the center of the room.
Truly amazing – No air conditioning in Phoenix
Here is a two part video (watch the first) that shows another example of a really true sustainable house being built right smack in the Sonoran Desert.
Enjoy!
Neal
Grey Water – The Cheap Way
Posted on 22. Oct, 2010 by admin in On the farm
One of the main projects I want at the Sonoran Farm is the use of grey water. I would like to capture and reuse as much of the current water that I am already using. Capture water from the shower, the washing machine, the sinks or what ever it may be so long as it doesn’t contain anything harmful like human waste. In order to work towards a sustainable permaculture lifestyle.
I have been getting quotes on different types of different grey water install types. The bottom line is having 100% grey water capture added to an existing house is quite expensive and the payback period versus that of other green projects doesn’t stack up.
I wish I could do it all but I can’t so when I can’t afford it I improvise. You’ll find a five gallon bucket in my shower. Each day I capture around three gallons of water that would otherwise go down the drain. This water is then used to hydrate my plants around the house. I know this is small and too much effort for most which is just lame, but this is a start and its free!
Have a leak, grab a bucket and resuse, resuse, resuse.
