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“The Living Building Challenge is especially important at this make-it-or-break-it moment when humanity must rapidly address climate change in disruptive, systematic ways. At a cusp when world populations continue to place increasingly radical strains on the biosphere, innovating on how we redesign the built environment is imperative.”   http://challenge.bfi.org/Winners/Challenge_Winners

Very Exciting news for everyone involved with The Living Building Challenge.  Congratulations to all the staff at the ILBI, many of which we have got to know over the past few years…and especially to Jason McLennan whom we were so pleased to visit with at our home just days before this announcement.  So, to everyone involved with the LBC, Congratulations…YOU are making a difference and thank you for providing so much inspiration to us.
Ann and Gord

Monday morning entertainment at the Baird household involved a carbon calculation for the damage being inflicted upon the land next door to Eco-Sense.

Goodwin Farm pre impact – Red outlines indicates new damage

The Scar next door (it is now 3 times bigger)

Over the past year, we have borne witness to the desecration of approximately 20 acres of forested land between our eco-sense home and Thetis Lakes Park.  This large parcel of land is shared between two municipalities, Highlands and View Royal.  Goodwin Farms as it states on the sign on Munn Road, is one of the original homesteads of the area.  The land consists of many connected wetlands with some rocky outcrops, high bluffs backing onto Thetis Lakes Park, a beautiful creek, and various streams that feed the wetlands.

Creek on Goodwin Farm (before bridge)

For one year there have been diesel guzzling machines clearing the land, fires burning the life, and dumptrucks bringing in an estimated 10,000 loads of untested clay fill.   The damage started with the loss of approximately 10 acres of forest in the Highlands portion bordering Munn road (Feb 2011).   The project then ventured into View Royal (Nov 2011) to clear cut another approx. 10 acres on the other side of the creek and wetland.

Yesterday at dawn I ventured over to see what was really going on…and despite listening to excavators, dumptrucks, fires, and chainsaws for over a year, I was unprepared for the extent of damage to this spectacular wetland forest.  (We had had phone conversation with the land owners over 3 years ago and had asked at that time if we could walk the land and were given the ok).

Wetlands – Mowed Down

As mentioned, approximately 20 acres have been decimated, but in addition to this, a wetland in View Royal, (across the street from our home), that was covered with wetlands shrubs 8-10 ft high has been mowed down and organics removed, and a bridge has been constructed over the creek in a riparian zone.

Now, noise is one thing that we have had to deal with 7 days a week…listening to the crunching of forests, the grinding of excavators, the screaming of chainsaws, and the beeping of everything that goes into reverse.  If this wasn’t bad enough, we have had to endure an enormous spike in rodent populations competing with us for our local organic food.  We have lost entire crops to these displaced creatures and have attempted to cull the population with traps…sadly we have ended up killing as many song birds as we have rodents.  We have however enjoyed the enormous new population in woodpeckers, owls, and hawks.  But the down side is that the woodpeckers are damaging many of our healthy douglas fir trees. 

Now, just when you think it can’t get worse…it does.  About a month ago, our well water started to taste VERY metallic.  It had been five years since we last tested, so of to the lab went a water sample.  And guess what, it failed on three counts; coliforms, nitrates, and dissolved solids.  As well , all the dissolved metals were higher that historical testing data…you know things like LEAD.  Yummy!  Today we are shocking the well and testing the water column depth.  It would be difficult to prove what caused the failed test…even lack of rainfall this fall/early winter (possibly due to climate change) may have contributed.  But, knowing what we know about ground water recharge and the importance of wetlands, it is not unreasonable to question the impacts of deforestation and untested and possibly contaminated fill deposit may have contributed to the quality of our most precious ground water.

Old growth Maple Forest – still intact

Carbon Calculations:

Here at Eco-Sense,we have made it our life’s work to live a low carbon lifestyle and to teach others about the benefits of such.  Our individual carbon footprint is about 2.8 tonnes perperson (about the same as for the average German person)  The world average is 4.5 tonnes.  And get this, the average Canadian is 18.8 tonnes of CO2 per year.  By now most people know that in order to avoid runaway climate change that will leave the planet uninhabitable to life as we know it, we ALL have to reduce our carbon footprints to zero in the next few decades.

So, just for fun, we took some time this morning over coffee to calculate the carbon footprint of the activity next door on Goodwin Farms.  We used various sources for our information.  “The Climate Challenge; 101 Solutions to Global Warming” written by Guy Dauncey, is a well researched source of information.  (In particular, check out chapter 1, with a photo of our house and family).  We did an estimate on the number of dumptrucks, the concrete blocks, the crushed rocks, and the amount of diesel fuel used over this one year period following the Environment Agency carbon calculator.  We were shocked at the the results…especially when combined with the loss of sequestered CO2 in the forest and soils.

Total estimated CO2 for the damage to this land to date is 3869 tonnes for the materials and equipment and 3240 tonnes for the lost forest (8.1 ha at 400 t/ha).  Total is 7109 tones of CO2…in one year.  

So get this,  that would be the equivalent of 1580 world citizens carbon footprints or 2538 Eco-Sense citizens.  For Canadians that would be 378 average Canadians carbon foot print per year.  This is criminal.

Why the hell are some people allowed to spew such excessive CO2 into the atmosphere while the rest of us work our asses off to reduce our ecological footprints?  Our culture tells me that they must be 2539 % better and more important than me…and that every other living thing is NOT important.   But even more importantly this illustrates how it is not the regular people causing the problem…sure we all need to do our part, BUT…it’s the wealthy elite that have the money.  The top 10% of our population is causing the problem by means of the laws that we the majority (the 90%) have control of.  We can change the laws if we stop allowing the money and power to destabilize our climate and destroy our ecosystems.  So, while 90% of us bust our butts to reduce our carbon footprints (as we should), and give up our airflights and reduce our driving, the carbon emissions continue to soar.  The top 10% who control the media, the message, the sheeple (sheep people), have actually convinced us that we are the problem.  The entire Highland’s population (2000 people) would have to cut their carbon emissions by 3.5 tonnes to offset what has just happened on this land…then there’s all the other such equally devastating projects currently occurring in the Highlands.  Pretty soon, none of us could have a carbon footprint if we were to truly offset what the top 10% are emitting into the atmosphere.   See table.  We know what needs to be done.  We need a price on carbon (provincial and municipal level) and we need to take personhood rights away from the corporation and give rights to nature (I have heard that this can be done at the municipal level).  

Mad as Hell

Why the hell do our laws allow these people to commit ecocide on this land and impact all generations of people and species that occupy this part of Vancouver island now and for many hundreds of years into the future…if there even is a future for the earths species…and the science is telling us that that is becoming increasingly UNLIKELY.  Listen to Gwen Dyer on CBC IDEAS with Paul Kennedy.

RV Park?

So it gets worse…The damage may only be getting started and there are all kinds of rumours flying about what may be the plan for that land.  The official line is that they are building a barn and pasture land.  Unofficially I have heard that Fort Victoria may like to move to the Highlands so that they can develop that much more valuable land where the RV park currently sits.    Great!  An RV park next door to Eco-Sense.

So for now, I’ll grab my bottled water (since I can’t drink mine), a snack of imported veggies (since the rats ate mine), and try to find some sanity on a hike…now if I could only find some quiet natural place to go for a hike.  Just think…we’ve got it good compared to what our kids are facing.

The Eco-Sense proposal to create a new land use policy called the Net Zero Additional Dwelling (NZAD) was presented to District of Highlands council on Monday night (Feb 6th, 2012).  The document (NZAD Proposal) was accepted as correspondence by council.  Council then took it a step further by recommending that discussions with staff be initiated.  This means that we can now officially meet with the planner who will prepare a staff report making a recommendation to council of what the next steps would be to introduce such a policy.  YEAH!  We meet with the planner on Feb 16th.

Meanwhile…here in the mud…

• We met with the geotechnical engineer who suggested that we needed some sort of retaining wall to build the small eco-dwelling.  This would be on the north side against the bank.
• 

  Gord standing in the N/E corner of the building site

  Ann said no to concrete…and both Ann and Gord scratched their heads.  Tim Krahn, the structural engineer, suggested rammed earth tires.  So this looks like we may go that route…recycled tires and mud.  We have lots of mud.

• The connections have been made between the pond and the existing under road water pipes…did I mention we have mud?…lots of mud.  After ripping up the driveway, it rained.  More mud.
• We have been repairing the road and were able to use recycled crushed concrete for much of the repair…especially for the road that was moved away from the lower gardens and the new eco-dwelling site.
• 

  Used pipe...some good bits...some not so good

  We have put drainage into the roads and buried the electrical cable for the new BC Hydro service.  Also some used PVC pipes.  PVC is banned for the Living Building Challenge, however it’s ok to reuse what was already here.

  

  Gord in trench with electrical cable

• We have been doing lots of brainstorming for systems, materials, and logistics.  We have been busy.
• The rats ate all most of our winter broccoli just when it was in it’s prime.  We are overrun with rats…no doubt from the death and destruction being inflicted upon the land next door…rodents have got to go somewhere when their home is destroyed.  Ann’s pissed.  In desperation we set snap traps…much better than poison, but only caught one so far…then there was the Robin Ann caught…then there were tears.
• Last update we reported that our well water had failed the potability test…It tastes much better these days and three of our neighbours have reported that their water is fine.  Once again, this could be due to the death and destruction occurring adjacent to the wetlands next door…no way of knowing.  Still have to re-test our water.
• Pulled 28 ticks out of the dog this morning.  Most were Deer ticks that can carry Lyme…one spot had a red bull’s eye…common on the dog.  Poor Boo…at least he is vaccinated for Lyme Disease.
• After much deliberation with our facebook community, we have a name for the new Living Building Project; Highlands Habitat by Eco-Sense.

NZAD vs NZFA …WTF?

Well… if you have read our last update, we introduced our new project…the creation of a new small NET ZERO everything dwelling in our lower garden.  We have set our goals high with this project are aiming for full LIVING BUILDING certification.  Along with this we are attempting to implement new land use policy called the NZAD (Net Zero Additional Dwelling), which would legally allow us to build a secondary dwelling.

Two council meetings have passed since we submitted our proposal on Jan 3^rd to the District of Highlands for presentation to Mayor and Council.  The NZAD (Net Zero Additional Dwelling) policy has yet to be sent to mayor and council by municipal staff.  20120103 NZAD letter.   It is a policy that has been pre-drafted by us and has been discussed at great length within two council appointed sustainability advisory groups.  We very much like the Highland’s planner…Back in 2005, she was instrumental in designing and counseling us when we created our protective covenants on the Eco-Sense land which allowed us to build our house on previously impacted land.   But these days she is extremely busy with the sudden influx of rezoning and development issues on her plate.

The municipal planner has been so busy addressing rezoning applications for NZFA developments, that our application for the NZAD (Net Zero Additional Dwelling) has been placed on the backburner so she can get her head above water.   We do understand, but we had hoped that our application would have been seen as an opportunity to learn from, wherein the present applications for NZFA could be viewed with a new lens of sustainability where the new developments could include at least something greener like net zero water, zero waste, zero toxic materials, net zero energy, or zero land damage.  Oh… we forgot to define what the NZFA applications are – Net Zero Fuck All.  Yes we are on the back burner to big money and conventional status quo development sprawl.  We had really hoped that our project would provide discussion points for council and District of Highlands staff in their assessment of all the developments currently on the table.  So…what to do…well we are building anyways.  The only municipal barrier is that we cannot rent out the dwelling until we have approval to do so.  We are following all the rules.

Ann with her winter veggies...good for PMS and BMS

It has begun.  The Living Building Challenge is providing us ample opportunity to have sleepless nights afflicted with BMS (Busy Mind Syndrome).  Ann is also afflicted with PMS… which results in ‘interesting’ times for all of us when BMS and PMS simultaneously present themselves.   This update dives into the early thoughts and research as we begin the house design, systems design, infrastructure design and more.  In all honesty not until starting this update did it strike me as to what we have actually accomplished in two weeks.

Our disillusionment and anger over the proposed pipeline and tankers on the BC coast has led us to design a building that doesn’t require any of that shit to operate, thus to prove the point that we can function with very little fossil fuels.  Even more is to accomplish these goals building an affordable home for someone with little embodied energy.  We plan on utilizing recycled and natural materials while simplifying systems. Oh, we have LEARNED so much from building the Eco-Sense home and our research sponsored by the Real Estate Foundation and VanCity.  This new small dwelling will be fully passive solar and Net Zero Energy, Net Zero Water and Zero Waste and will function as part of the ecosystem as it evolved in place.

House design:  The basic design is done.  The dwelling is a little bit larger than we anticipated, as it has to accommodate all the systems.  We are being smart with placement (thanks to a tip from the Highlands building official), and have decided against a separate mechanical room.  The systems, instead, will be incorporated throughout the body of the house.  Can you imagine what the human body would like if all of our systems were in a separate compartment away from the body?  It would look like a really big poorly fitting heavy backpack…with all the organs crammed into it and a lot of extra wires and pipes.

Infrastructure design (non- nerdy types may wish to skip ahead)

Solar thermal and heating design:  So very cool!  Spent three days thinking, and researching components.  This will be a tour all unto itself.  Simplicity of design rules for removing costs, nasty products, efficiency, maintainability, and cost… Ooops did I say that twice.  Sustainable design does NOT have to be expensive… our research on the Eco-Sense home showed us that our solar thermal system amortized over a 10 year lifespan comes in at a cost of $0.09 kWhr… better than BC Hydro; if you don’t believe us just wait a year and see, or look at your second tier cost on your hydro bill now.

A warm house is important for Boo...He hates toques.

Heat Load:  House heat load calculations bring it in at 3,700 BTUH on the coldest day… can you say negligible?  Yeah for passive solar design and a highly insulated building envelope.  Details:  R70 roof, R66 walls, and a solar thermal battery in the form of a 22’ long, 3 foot deep and 2 foot wide water tank under the home, with recycled insulation over top, and an insulated cape outside the house envelope.

So, in summary, here is where we are at today: 

Gord in the digger

Jan 10-12^th –  Rented Bobcat.  Gord reorganized lower garden and re-routed the driveway on the outer edge away from garden area and future deer fencing.  Gord will never go back to the shovel and now suffers from TICS…Testosterone Induced Child Syndrome.  He’s like a kid in the sandbox with his digger toy.

Trench going into pond

Jan 13-15th  – Cleared small trees out of old man made pond that doesn’t hold water.  Begin preparations for resurrecting the pond that will hold about 250,000 Gal of water.  This pond will service all irrigation for upper and lower gardens and provide potable  water to the lower dwelling (after filtration and UV sterilization).

Jan 15-26^th – correspondence with ROWP (Registered Onsite Wastewater Professional) for design of Flush Toilet Ready policy AND stand-alone grey water system. 

Emily with Ann's red hair - Taking a break from design work

Jan 10-20^th – Designed 500 ft²  Dwelling.  Gord learned how to use Google Sketch up.  Great tips from John Gower (of Gower Design), and now on to Cindy McCaugherty from Raincoast Homes.  Both excellent friends who do amazing design work.  Cindy will put our plans into AutoCad, work her cob home design and detailing magic and send to the engineers who have already been prepped (Kris Dick and Tim Krahn)

Trying to keep sense of humour in the evenings...Boo with Red hair

Jan 16, 2012 – Electrical permit.  Must pay the permit fee on entire solar installation cost.  Must install a new service connection in the lower garden.  Must install a minimum 100Amp service even though we don’t need it.  Must pay for a new transformer on the Hydro pole.  Must use toxic wood treatment on bottom of new service pole.  Living Building Challenge does not allow toxic materials red list items…so plan B.  NO new pole:  Build small shed for electrical to attach to and then bury cable all the way to the dwelling (100 ft).

Jan 23^rd – Gord spent more time in the bobcat prepping the dwelling site.  We will have enough earth on site from the excavation to build the dwelling.  More TICS behaviour.

Jan 23^th -25^th – design and research heating system, and solar thermal etc.

Jan 24^th – well water test at our house failed!  Took water sample in for testing on Jan 9^th.  Finding out what is going on?!?!?!?!?!  VERY Upsetting.  Could it be due to the damage from next door (see last update)????  Could it be due to all the goat manure we put on the garden?  High in nitrates, coliforms, lead, dissolved solids, and too hard.

If we want veggies...we have to plant them

Jan 25^th – plant lettuce and early greens.  Pick up all the bits and pieces for the underground infrastructure.

Two diggers - Two men - prepping dwelling site and moving fill

Jan 26^th – make goat cheese.  Hire local guy (with TICS) and excavator to finish site prep.  Dig out dwelling site, dig trenches, and dig trench to connect pond to existing buried water pipes.  Our land is currently NOT beautiful…but thankfully we have not dug up any undisturbed land.

Whew…that’s it I think.

Gord and Ann

Links:  

Into Eternity.  A  thought provoking documentary about nuclear waste…it’s not what you think.  Nuclear waste has to be looked after for more than 100,000 years.  Next week is hard to predict…let alone 100,000 years from now.  Interesting exploration of ideas.  What do you think?  It comes in 5 parts as it keeps getting removed from the internet. Here’s part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HnQAz7oYwQM

Spoil.  Half hour beautiful documentary by the best nature photographers on the planet.  See the Great Bear rain forest, learn about the tar sands, and the pipeline.  Inspirational AND disturbing. http://vimeo.com/19582018