The Future’s So Bright: Sustainable Communities and Eco-Villages

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg of ‘Green Opinions Media‘ is our guest writer this week.

Jeff started ‘Sustainablog’ in July 2003, he is the Managing Editor, and ‘Sustainablog’ is now one of the longest-running green blogs on the web.

Jeff has been mentioned in the San Francisco, Chronicle and St.Louis, Post Dispatch as well as dozens of blog sites around the web.  Read more about this accomplished writer.

We are pleased to bring you Jeff’s post on “The Future’s So Bright: Sustainable Communities and Eco-Villages”

So, what will the eco-community of the future look like? Something like this?

Or, maybe, something more like this?

The answer? Both… and neither.

For decades, the “ecovillage” has been a countercultural icon: a community built by members interested in living both outside of modern consumer culture, and in closer harmony with natural rhythms. Increased environmental threats, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and dwindling natural resources will compel many more of the “treehuggers” amongst us to reject the suburbs for rural agricultural communities, urban co-housing initiatives, or existing neighborhoods dedicated to “greener” community standards and redevelopment practices.

These developments, however, will likely only be the tip of the iceberg for the green community of the future. Let’s face it: most citizens of developed nations aren’t willing to take drastic steps to lower their ecological footprints. Tiny strawbale houses will get quizzical looks, if not outright sneers. However, traditional residential development is becoming greener. In some cases, consumers want greener housing and neighborhoods; in others, buyers simply want lower utility bills. That’s OK – we don’t need everyone to become a diehard treehugger. Still, many of these new developments will borrow concepts from their “crunchier” predecessors, including

• Small-scale energy production: Builders of new structures have an advantage here: it’s much easier to build for solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal heat pumps than to retrofit existing structures. And even the most hardcore climate change denier will find independent energy production appealing… especially once the system’s paid off and producing free energy.

• Locally-available building materials: Again, energy prices (particularly transportation fuels) will make locally available materials much more appealing for builders and buyers. The large dumpster outside of renovation sites may become a thing of the past as builders look to reuse materials in new structures.

• Water conservation and reuse technologies: While cisterns and rain barrels may raise hackles on aesthetic grounds, or for fear of giving pests a breeding ground, greywater systems that reuse water from sinks and showers are relatively unobtrusive… and cut down on the water bill.

• Economic Self-Reliance: The traditional eco-community generally produces the things it needs: food, clothing, furniture, and more. While more mainstream green development will still rely to some extent on national and global economies, various manifestations of “mixed-use development” focus on putting local businesses close to their customers. Customers can walk or bike to these businesses, thus cutting down on gasoline use.

In order to be successful financially, greener housing developments will have to reach beyond a “dark green” demographic, and be able to convince mainstream consumers of the advantages of buying an eco-friendly home. To create this appeal, developers will likely incorporate some or all of the following elements into their eco-communities:

• Certifications: LEED, ENERGY STAR and the new Water Sense are among the most prominent certification systems for residential and commercial building. The eco-community of the future will have to meet at least some of these standards: mainstream buyers won’t accept green claims at face value (nor should they have to).

• Technology: The mainstream buyer will still want comfort and convenience in their eco-community, so technologies that enhance efficiency, conservation and independence will be key to giving these developments widespread appeal. From programmable thermostats to next-generation solar energy products, builders will rely on technological developments to provide the desired balance between a small environmental footprint and the amenities expected in a modern home.

• Aesthetics: We’ve all got ideas of what a house should look like, and communities that feature residences that diverge radically from these expectations will likely have limited appeal (I’d love to live in an Earthship, but realize I’m in the minority). Smaller houses will likely become more acceptable as energy prices continue to rise, but just because a buyer doesn’t want a McMansion doesn’t also mean that s/he wants something that looks like it might have come straight out of a science fiction movie.

Given the ecological challenges we currently face, we need the eco-community to become the norm for both new development and renovation. In many cases, we won’t bring new residents into these communities by extolling their environmental virtues, but by demonstrating that “green” can mean comfortable, affordable and modern. If we focus on the needs and desires of the widest market possible, we may reach a point where we won’t need to market “green”: buyers will just come to expect it.

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