Better Housing to Build Better Lives

Next year 275,000 more people will call Southern California home. Our population will continue to grow at this rate (comparable to the post-World War II boom) every year into the foreseeable future.

According to the state Employment Development Department, jobs will be available for these newcomers. However, there already is a shortage of suitable housing. We simply are not building enough affordable homes to accommodate our increasing population.

All of Ventura County’s cities are experiencing shortages of affordable housing. We need creative ways to fulfill these needs. We need to build better, more livable homes and communities that are both affordable and sustainable.

Fortunately there are model designs available that integrate environmentally sensitive homes into healthy communities.

For almost 20 years, researchers at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have been compiling information on the building of sustainable homes and communities. RMI highlights a Pacific Gas and Electric design project in Davis that has transformed an average tract house design into a super-efficient home. Amazingly, the construction of this house cost $4,000 less than the standard model, mainly due to reductions in heating and cooling needs. Savings accrue with a 15% reduction in energy use annually.

Money saved on utility bills boosts the local economy. Energy-efficient homes are good for both their occupants and for society. Simple concepts make a difference. Making the building the right shape and pointing it in the right direction significantly reduce energy use. Using integrated, energy-saving designs actually simplifies the construction process. The good news for new home builders is that it is easier to design and build energy-efficient affordable homes from scratch than it is to retrofit existing structures. However, retrofits can also produce substantial savings.

In its publication “A Primer on Sustainable Building,” RMI highlights another project in the city of Davis, Davis Village homes, calling it, “the nation’s oldest green neighborhood.”

This development--now among the most desirable places to live in Davis--was designed with energy efficiency, pleasant lifestyle and community interaction as imperatives. The homes are close together, which encourages neighborliness.

A key element of the development is central common land that is graded to permit storm water runoff from the roofs and paved areas to be returned to ground water. These low-lying swales have been planted with many trees, shrubs and vines that provide shade, food and beauty to enhance this human habitat. Almonds, grapes nectarines, oranges and other foods abound.

Residents may do a little organic farming in the neighborhood’s common areas. In some seasons, residents can choose their breakfast by seeing what is ripe on the branches. Income from the almond harvest is used to offset neighborhood association fees.

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Wherever it is built, affordable housing often equates with high-density housing. Such a design approach requires mitigation in the form of energy-efficient designs. Houses that expose thermal mass, particularly to the south, can use the cheapest form of energy available: passive solar. Ventilation ducts buried in the earth during construction provide natural cooling.

Super-windows, efficient lights and increased insulation reduce energy use while increasing ambient comfort. Photovoltaic panels on the roof produce solar electricity, the surplus of which can be sold to utility companies. Moving rainwater into cisterns and onto lawns or landscaped areas reduces runoff and flooding downstream. Appropriate shade plantings further reduce energy use (particularly by air-conditioning). This last design is being used by Los Angeles Unified School District in collaboration with the nonprofit organization TreePeople.

Zoning changes can also promote sustainable community design. Adopting zoning that allows for what planners call mixed village use permits the incorporation of smaller apartments for rental by elders and young professionals with duplexes, single-, large- and multifamily homes, as well as light industry and business.

This true mixed village use is the basis of old European city design. Home businesses are encouraged. The higher density achieved through apartments or homes being close together leaves more space for common land. In many existing communities, the only public spaces are sidewalks and roadways. These streets should be equipped with traffic calming elements to create slow-car areas.

Planting islands in roadways provide percolation areas for runoff, reducing flooding effects by irrigating appropriate shade trees. These reduce energy use by providing natural cooling. Shade trees over narrow streets can reduce the air temperature by as much as 10 degrees.

Efficient links with public transportation and enhanced bicycle and pedestrian access increase safety and security and promote a less auto-dominated lifestyle. Residents become less dependent on cars and walk or use bicycles or trolleys for their daily trips. High-density housing frees up space for community purposes, such as meeting halls, playgrounds and gardens.

Increasing commons area replaces functionless lawns and driveways with land for planting. The ability to provide for basic food needs is a major means of empowering low-income people and provides a sound basis for a sustainable community.

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David White is a leader of the Ojai Permaculture Guild. Contact him at 646-9809 or artdetour@aol.com. The Rocky Mountain Institute can be contacted at (970) 927-3851 or www.rmi.org.