The popularity of older, inefficient residential models, particularly the American suburb, has dropped as higher fuel prices make long commutes more costly and mixed-urban neighborhoods and other community-based housing options gain steam. Some people are settling in areas with other proponents of green living and increasing their sustainability as an entire neighborhood.
One example of these eco-communities is co-housing, a housing movement several decades old and popular in Europe:
"Co-housing was dreamed up in Denmark in the idealistic 60s. It allows residents to live in communities where they own their own homes but are actively involved in running their own neighborhoods, which often include a common house where shared dining and other activities are an option." - CNN
Co-housing has traditionally emphasized close communities and shared neighborhood responsibilities, and although the Cohousing Association of the United States does not list sustainability as one of the Six Defining Characteristics of Cohousing, it's clearly an integral value:
"There are 113 co-housing communities around the country, and about 90 more in the works, said Craig Ragland, executive director of the Cohousing Association of the United States. Though sustainability has been a longtime trend in cohousing, Ragland said he's seen increased interest in recent years toward the use of solar energy and other green building practices. Some communities have gone so far as to pay carbon offset fees, he said." - Boston.com
Some intentional community projects resemble eco-cities in miniature, as residents participate in conservation projects on their land and live in environmentally friendly houses. In fact, the Cohousing Association points to EcoVillage in Ithaca, New York, as one example. According to this community,
"Our village currently includes two 30-home cohousing neighborhoods, FROG and SONG, and a third neighborhood (TREE) in the planning stages, an organic CSA vegetable farm, an organic CSA/U-Pick berry farm, office spaces for cottage industry, a neighborhood root cellar, community gardens and varied natural areas. Over 80% of the 175 acre site is planned to remain green space, including 55 acres in a conservation easement held by the Finger Lakes Land Trust." - EcoVillage at Ithaca
The Ithaca project isn't alone in its preservation of open spaces, either. Sunward Cohousing in Ann Arbor, Michigan maintains 20 acres with no less care, as the houses themselves use only one-quarter of the development's space, and several acres form part of the community's native prairie restoration project.
Winslow Cohousing near Seattle in Bainbridge Island offers this environmental profile:
"Buildings are sited near each other and parking is located in one corner to preserve wooded areas and open space. Paved lanes connect all the homes, creating the pedestrian neighborhood. All construction is to strict energy-saving standards, and radiant floor heating is standard. Our refuse/recycle center and composting/worm bin projects are part of our care of the environment. Our landscaping uses drought-resistant, hardy, native species, edible by human or wildlife whenever possible. No fertilizers or toxic products are allowed on our land." - Winslow Cohousing
Cohousing isn't for everyone. Some people value that very suburban space and intense privacy that feels like isolation to intentional community proponents. Luckily, increased awareness and media attention on carbon footprints and environmental responsibility means sustainable building principles are bleeding over into the traditional housing market as well. New, more eco-driven neighborhoods may not place as much emphasis on community as cohousing does, but the homes adhere to strict energy efficiency standards and contain renewable construction materials. Designers include wide sidewalks and incorporate the homes into walkable areas with close access to amenities like parks and libraries. A remarkable new development called Geos will go up in 2009 in Arvada, Colorado with the astonishing aim of going 100% geosolar instead of using fossil fuels for energy.
As painful as the U.S. housing market is now-and I should know, as I attempt to sell my house in hardest-hit Florida-the opportunity clearly exists to transform this foreclosure-ridden, suburb-choked landscape.
Further Reading:
Interesting. People need to consider their effect on the environment in every aspect of live from the cars we drive to the homes we live in. PowerVote hopes to motivate a million like minded votes to the environmental cause.
Written in September 2008