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Friday, December 26, 2008

I Need A Small Plot of Land for Green Building

There are a lot of inspiring stories in circulation about innovative green building and land developments all over the country. Pick up a Dwell magazine and you'll see mind blowing contemporary designs in arid desert, lush Pacific forests and secluded Northeast cabin country. But, the whole idea of green building and sustainable design is to have it accessible to the most people possible so that the concepts actually reduce carbon use.

In Lawrence, MA, Powerhouse Enterprises erected an extremely green and energy efficient home. The health and beauty of the house is astonishing. It is being sold for $300,000, which considering the innovation involved, isn't a bad price.

But, I live in Worcester. Why can't these ideas and practices be proliferated to all regions? Shipping a green home long distances (my Lawrence example isn't far, but I'm talking more about somewhere like Arizona) defeats the purpose of building an energy efficient dwelling. All regions can get into something like this, I'm convinced.

What I want to do is get funding from who-knows-where and buy and develop a piece of land in Worcester with a green and cleanly built home. I don't care if I live in it, sell it, or whatever, but this is something I want to do for Worcester. Sustainable living in Worcester with green buildings being marketed and built could bring a new sense of vitality to the region. I love all the three deckers, but retro-fits and condo-conversions get old after a while.

The real estate bubble left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. This idea sounds simply delicious. This is sort of just a stream of conciousness business proposition. But, what do you think of this idea? I've seen something like this happen in Philly. Any suggestions, criticisms or comments?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You should look in to the University of South Carolina. They do a lot of green work (well okay a lot for the south east) including a "green dorm" I think it's good in theory but some things could have been done a little differently. However, if you could convince them that your region would be a challenge of sorts and would make an impact on the green world maybe they would be in.
There is a man to get in touch with Curt Collins is him name. He is a Green Party activist. One of the few people I have ever seen care so much about the world around him... if anyone can get funding and develop projects he would be your co-pilot. Super friendly and easy to reach. You can find him on facebook.