My Built Environment: Good, Bad, and Really Ugly

Today is the day of the big LEED test. I think I am ready, I have been studying and cramming for the last two weeks, and my head is full.

I have been spending all of my spare time the last couple of weeks studying to take the exam to become a LEED accredited professional. For those of you who don’t know, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Currently, this is all the rage for public and commercial buildings. In very simplified terms, it is a way to design buildings, and the site around them more sustainibly that traditional practices. All kinds of things are looked at such as energy consumption, daylighting, off-gassing, material selections, landscaping etc. Projects have to earn a certain number of points to achieve various certification levels. Of course, the higher the certification level, the more “green” the building is. This all has positive merits of course, and is the way things should just be done. It should be the standard, rather than an option.

Anyway, this is no easy test to study for. This is a complicated program, and the test itself is not open book. I don’t think I have studied so hard since I took my licensing exam way back when. The test is this Friday, so I will let you know how I do. Fortunately, you do get the results right away.

I thought I would take a few minutes to update everyone on the progress of my development project. My partner and I have have been spending a lot of time over the course of the last few days looking at layout options, sorting out how much property we are actually purchasing, and looking at performas. The idea we are shooting for is to do something a little different than the norm. We don’t want to plop a street through the middle of the property, and place lots lots on both sides, instead we want to create a community. We want to have the homes face outdoor spaces that are created by the homes themselves. We want the garages accessed by alleys, with the fronts of the homes facing greenbelts. Our inspriation are the projects created by The Cottage Company. I have included a picture here from one of their projects.

Last week, before Thanksgiving we had a meeting with the county. This will be an interesting project, as it will be entitled in the county, but since it is within the growth management area, we have to follow city rules. We are also under the guidance of the northwest sub-area plan. In general, I think the county is supportive of our idea, but it will take some variances as the county hasn’t seen a project quite like this. I have taken there comments in mind and have continued refining our concept plan to keep the spirit of what we want to do, but make it a little easier to entitle. The biggest comment we had was for the need for a public street access for the project. I wasn’t totally surprised by this, but was hoping we could get away without a public street.

I will keep you all informed of the progress.

Some of you know that my business partner and myself have trying to find a piece of property to develop for the past year. We took a run at a great piece of property earlier this spring that would have been a very ambitious project. Ultimately we didn’t get the property, which was probably a good thing. Shortly afterwards, we found a great 5 acre piece of ground in North Fort Collins. It is located within the northwest subarea plan of both the county and the City of Fort Collins.

By zoning, we can only get 9-10 units on this property, including the existing home. I am excited about this project as it will allow us to do some experimentation with a development style this town has not yet seen. We also want to be as green as possible with this development, while still being fiscally responsible. Some of our ideas are a community wide geothermal system, or photoveltic system. We shall see. I will keep the readers abreast of the process as well as some of our ideas.

While helping to prepare some of the meal for Thanksgiving, I got out an electric hand mixer that I use a lot for small jobs. Using this hand mixer got me to thinking about a different aspect of sustainability, and that is how we have become a throw away society. These days, most of the everyday products we use are made of plastics or other similar materials, particularly the gears in the motors. These arn’t good plastics either, but cheap plastic designed to keep the end product costs low. But what usually happens? These products, particularly household kitchen appliances work well for a few months, maybe even a few years, then they break. Because they are so cheap, it is easier to buy a new one and throw the old one away…contributing to our landfill waste.

What is it that got me thinking about this? The hand mixer I mentioned above, is an old mixer. I got it from my mother when I settled in my own place 20 years ago. Now having a kitchen appliance for 20 years these days is really something, but this hand mixer is older than that. I remember using it as a kid, in fact I remember this particular mixer being around as long as I can remember….so that is pushing 40 years! And it is still going strong. Now it might not be the prettiest thing, it isn’t stainless steel, it isn’t shiny white, but a faded yellow…and it is made of metal. But in this case, it isn’t a beauty contest. It stays in the drawer and only comes out when needed, usually once a week or so.

Imagine what it would be like if common everyday items, be it kitchen appliances, toys, or whatever, where built to last. We wouldn’t have to throw everything away. Sure it might be more expensive initially, but it would sure be cheaper in the long run. Imagine having to shell out $100 or so for a good hand mixer that lasted 40+ years, instead of shelling out $30 every few years? Imagine how much less stuff would be trash, how much less resources we have consumed in making and transporting those products…now that is sustainability.