Register Article July 2007
July 12, 2007 Section: Business Edition: DM Page: 1D
Green projects could take root here, ecovillagers say Hicks Lynn Staff
By LYNN HICKS REGISTER BUSINESS WRITER
Fairfield, Ia. - About 30 people cool off in Stacey Hurlin's living room as temperatures outside soar toward 90 degrees. Chilled air streams out of the vents, and a ceiling fan swirls above.
The cost of this comfort: almost nothing.
Hurlin lives off the power grid, in a solar- and wind-powered "ecovillage" north of Fairfield that sustains itself by growing organic food, collecting rainwater and recycling sewage. Living richly - with high-speed Internet and flush toilets - can be economically and environmentally sound, ecovillagers say.
"I'm amazed at how easy it is to live off the grid," said Hurlin, who moved to Abundance Ecovillage a year ago. "I'm appalled that it isn't happening more."
As a haven for followers of Transcendental Meditation, Fairfield is fertile ground for such a project. But some homebuilders and sellers say the market for off-the-grid developments is growing in central Iowa.
"Absolutely," said Susan Webster, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent in Des Moines who specializes in selling green homes. "Buyers are out there, but developers are not ready to go there."
Demand for environmentally friendly home developments is fueled in part by rising energy costs and concerns that fossil fuel-hungry homes contribute to climate change.
But there are many shades of green. The best-known project in central Iowa is Hubbell Realty Co.'s conservation communities in Waukee, Grimes and Carlisle, which incorporate native prairie landscaping and stormwater management.
Webster and others believe there is room for projects that go further, even off the grid.
She wants to establish green developments in Warren County, but she's butting against zoning ordinances that require two-acre lots and neighbors concerned about high-density projects.
Developments like Abundance Ecovillage cluster homes into smaller lots and use the rest of the land for common areas, such as orchards, greenhouses and ponds. Smaller yards mean less lawn maintenance and the resulting environmental damage.
Abundance Ecovillage forgoes grass turf for an "edible landscape." Grapevines cover trellises in front of homes. Yards are filled with hardy kiwi, gooseberry, native plum and other varieties selected to thrive in southeast Iowa's hot summers and cold winters.
"It's a radical thing, growing food where you live," said Lonnie Gamble, founder of the ecovillage.
Gamble, an electrical engineer by training, lives a couple of miles away on a farm that serves as a testing ground for the ideas he's incorporated into the ecovillage. He hasn't paid an electric bill in 15 years, he says. He powers his old Mercedes-Benz sedan with sesame massage oil recycled from the Raj spa in nearby Vedic City.
But a green lifestyle needn't be Spartan, he argues.
"Our showers are just as hot, and our beers are just as cold," Gamble said.
He shows off one ecovillage home - a 3,600-square-foot house with five bedrooms and four baths - that uses 100 kilowatt-hours of power a month. A typical home might use 1,000 kilowatt-hours, Gamble said.
The home's annual power bill: $300 a year in propane, used as a backup to solar and wind power.
The secret is conservation, Gamble said. The homes use day lighting, efficient compact fluorescent and LED lighting and power-sipping appliances. Earth tubes - a low-tech version of expensive geothermal systems - keep the homes cool.
Alternative energy can be economical, Gamble argues, if power is used more wisely.
"That's the trick to make solar and wind power work across our economy," he said.
The ecovillage includes five houses now and has sold three other lots. Gamble envisions 21 homes, plus 10 families in multifamily buildings. Homes, which are built with locally milled lumber, are averaging $100 per square foot to build, Gamble said. That's similar to entry-level homes in the Des Moines area, builders say, and much less than custom building.
Gamble was not a professional developer, and he said the six-year-old project has taken longer than expected.
"It's changed from a for-profit venture to a labor of love," he said. But others have proven that green developments can have solid returns, he said.
Weldon Abarr, co-owner of Iowa Home Crafters, a custom builder based in Ames, visited the ecovillage this month with other members of the Center on Sustainable Communities, a Des Moines-based nonprofit that promotes green building.
He was impressed that Gamble was able to find economical ways to build homes and use alternative energy. But he said central Iowa homeowners need more awareness and education before an ecovillage can take off.
"Where do we find people who don't expect the AC to always be at 68 degrees?" he said. "People are interested in green, but they don't know what it all means."
Hurlin, who moved to Abundance Ecovillage last year, said she thinks the ecovillage concept could work anywhere, even in the Des Moines area. She's a recent convert herself: After her last child left home, she and her husband decided they were finished with five acres of mowing and sold their 4,800-square-foot home in Fairfield and moved into an 850-square-foot house.
She plugs into high-speed Internet on her laptop. Thick walls and insulation keep down her bills for propane, which she uses for heating and running the dryer and stove.
She hasn't given up much, she said, and has found unexpected benefits to living off the grid.
"It's hard not to be smug when a storm goes through. We can see the lights go off in the city from here," she said.
Executive Business Editor Lynn Hicks can be reached at (515) 284-8290 or lhicks@dmreg.com
Details of Abundance Ecovillage:
LAYOUT: The 15-acre real estate development is organized into four neighborhoods of nine to 12 lots each.
PLANTS: 4,000 square feet of greenhouse space, gardens and orchards. Developers have collected several thousand edible and useful plants from similar climates around the world. A separate business housed at the development also sells produce in a community-supported agriculture venture.
POWER: Photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine provide most of the power, with a soybean-oil-powered generator serving as a backup - less than 2 percent a year. Each home has a maximum energy budget of 250 kilowatt-hours a month, about a quarter of a typical home's energy use. Solar and wind are complementary: When the sun isn't shining, the wind is often blowing, weather data for the Fairfield area show.
COOLING: Earth tubes draw outside air 8 feet under the ground, where it is cooled naturally and then pumped into the home. Founder Lonnie Gamble says the tubes can keep a house at 70 degrees on a 100-degree day.
WATER: Ecovillage relies on rain for its water, storing it in ponds and underground tanks. Solar panels provide hot water for each home, with propane as a backup.
SEWAGE: Millions of red wiggler worms and carbon material help break down toilet wastes, liquids from which will eventually flow into a constructed wetlands system.
CONSTRUCTION COSTS: Homes are averaging $100 per square foot, Gamble said. Residents must hire their own designer and builder and adhere to Maharishi Sthapatya Veda design principles. The principles proscribe the proper placement and layout of homes to maximize positive effects on occupants.
LAND COSTS: A 4,900-square-foot lot, approximately 1/8 acre, costs $35,000, which includes the cost of the energy system, water collection and purifying and sewage/wastewater recycling, and allotments in the greenhouse, gardens and orchards.
OTHER COSTS: A $60 monthly fee covers costs of maintenance, a gardener for the common areas, and snow removal.
MORE INFORMATION: www.abundance-ecovillage.com.
Advice for green development
Lonnie Gamble's advice for developing green neighborhoods:
· Developers should partner with builders who can build spec homes. Gamble and his partners decided not to build homes, only to provide the land, energy systems and other infrastructure. Some people reserved lots but didn't follow through, holding up the project. "If you build spec houses, people will buy them," he said.
· Use the alternative technology yourself before selling it to others.
· Consider building developments inside an urban area to minimize sprawl and enable people to live without cars.
· Plan on a long build-out time and lots of time educating prospects. "People may have a hard time envisioning a pleasant, high density, car-free environment," he said.
Panora development planned
A New York couple wants to create an off-the-grid housing development near Panora. Mary Ann and Rob Litchfield hope to break ground next year on farmland they inherited. The initial project could begin with 25 to 50 acres and grow much larger, Mary Ann Litchfield said. The project, on Iowa Highway 44 six miles east of Panora, could integrate solar and wind power, permaculture - a type of sustainable agriculture and landscaping - and other elements they've learned from Abundance Ecovillage in Fairfield and other green developments. The Litchfields, who are retired in the Finger Lakes area of New York, plan to move to the area and build a straw-bale home from oats grown on the property.
Living off the grid
POWER: Solar tubes heat water. Solar electric panels and wind turbines capture energy and store it. Excess energy is sold to a local utility company.
WATER: Water from ponds is filtered and used for toilets and faucets. Rainwater is collected in underground tanks and cleaned to use for drinking, cooking and bathing.
PLANTS: Edible landscaping, including grape and kiwi vines and fruit trees, surrounds homes. The village includes a greenhouse.