Living Energy Farm is looking for partners to build affordable housing powered by direct drive DC Microgrids, in the context of condominium style multi-family housing developments. We’ve already built or retrofit three cooperative homes that use this technology (see below for more details), and we want to see this movement grow.
We have new housing projects in the works in Charlottesville and Louisa. We’re looking for investors, partners, and supporters. Please contact us if you or your organization wants to get involved.
Why build energy independent cooperative housing?
Most cities in the U.S. now have a crisis of affordable housing. From the broader environmental perspective, the impact of climate change is growing. Efforts to address climate change that rely solely on producing more “renewable” energy increase the ecological impacts of extracting vast supplies of minerals necessary to meet consumer demands. The energy inputs necessary for housing loom large. All of these issues can be addressed in some measure by energy independent, cooperative housing.
A wise application of cooperative design can enhance human well-being. Since the WWII era, residential square footage per capita has grow four fold in the U.S. while indices of happiness have declined. Suicide and drug overdoses are at records levels. Cooperative housing that enhances social engagement and support in a manner that fits with American culture can help rebuild the social fabric of our communities. Co-living arrangements are growing in various urban areas. Our proposal is to make them both affordable and fully energy independent.
Demand-side solutions that leverage energy instead of wasting it
In our area, tens of thousands of acres of forest are being felled and paved over to make room for solar electric fields. Paving hardwood forests to “address climate change” is extremely foolish, and yet it is by far the dominant model because better approaches are not popularly understood. We have a better answer, and that is cooperative housing with a wise mix of solar electric and thermal systems that gather all needed energy on site and leave the forest standing.
Solar thermal energy systems have historically been crippled on the market as a result of trying to supply energy to large, sparsely occupied and poorly insulated American houses within a narrow temperature differential. The result is costly and ineffective. Our solution is to use rock and dirt under the floor as thermal mass. Our approach is much cheaper and simpler than traditional solar energy systems.
Instead of destroying forests to build solar fields that pump energy into a grid and then finally into buildings — with substantial energy attrition all along the way — we collect all energy on site. Every watt of solar electricity we generate captures tens of watts of solar thermal energy, and solar thermal systems are three times more efficient per square foot than solar electricity. Unlike the marketing campaign for misnamed ‘geothermal’ systems that are extremely expensive (and still rely on high attrition grid power), our systems are affordable and leverage energy on site.
Inexpensive, extremely efficient housing
We have built housing, both new construction and retrofits, at rates far below market that operate with extreme efficiency. This is accomplished with a mix of shared and private space. Apartments that allow for private and family space are wrapped in a shared thermal shell that dramatically increases efficiency. Shared solar thermal systems provide energy at a fraction of the long- term cost of conventional mechanical systems.
With thick wall construction, much of the labor has low skill requirements and can be rapidly learned. By employing sweat equity and training opportunities, we have never had a shortage of helping hands with stacking and stuccoing straw. Skilled labor is employed for framing, electrical and plumbing systems.
Costs and Return on Investment
Outlined below are three cooperative houses we have built (or retrofitted). In each of these projects, the cost per capita is under $20,000. (The first and third projects include the purchase price of the land. The second does not as it is a larger farm.) We are able to keep costs very low for a number of reasons. First, we are able to do much of the work ourselves, including the skilled labor involved with the construction of solar electric and thermal systems. Second, because the house is cooperative, square footage person is significantly reduced. Third, we are able to employ quite a bit of voluntary/ unpaid trainee labor for straw and stucco. Fourth, our solar thermal systems are much simpler (and we think much better) than historic systems that employ more complex thermal storage. And finally, because thermal systems are shared by a number of users, the cost per capita for good quality equipment is low.
In terms of building more of these facilities, all of these factors will remain in place except the first (our own skilled labor). The purchase price of land is, of course, highly variable based on locale. That said, we believe that hiring skilled labor, as well as increases in material costs, will likely double the costs of these projects on a per capita basis. Even at double the cost, our projects are, because of the appropriate design and shared use of thermal systems, extremely efficient both in terms of energy and capital. This creates an excellent opportunity for a positive return on investment.
Projects
1) Woodfolk House
Nature of Construction: Straw wrap retrofit, extensive solar thermal, no solar PV, on grid.
All Costs Including Upgrades: $14,500 per resident.
Energy Use: 9% of American average per resident.
This house was built with cinder blocks decades ago by a low income family in Charlottesville VA. It was abandoned in the early 1990s. We purchased it in 1999.
A strawbale shell was wrapped around the existing house, and a second floor stacked over the rear part of the house with trusses. Radiant floor heating was installed. Solar thermal panels provide both water and space heat. The walls are 18 inches thick throughout. An extensive orchard was planted around the house and remains highly productive.
2) Eartheart
Nature of Construction: New construction, fully off-grid, wood frame, strawbale. All Costs Including Upgrades: $15,000 per resident
Energy Use: All energy generated on site.
This is the primary residential structure at Living Energy Farm. LEF is a community technology development center in Louisa VA.
Our award-winning Direct Drive DC Microgrid (D3M) costs 20% as much to build as a conventional, battery based solar kit and operates for a lifetime with near zero ongoing maintenance costs.
Earth Heart is a cooperative, strawbale house with extensive solar thermal collection, strawbale walls, and a very large thermal mass. Solar hot air is collected on the roof and blown under the radiant slab floor. The only energy costs for this structure are a very small amount of firewood burned in winter for supplemental heat and depreciation of built systems.
3) Magnolia House
Nature of Construction: Strawbale retrofit around existing structure.
All Costs Including Upgrades: $17,000 per resident
Energy Use: Not calculated, project ongoing.
Magnolia is a cinder block “second home” built in 1951 in the town of Louisa. We purchased it in 2014. As the first step in the off-grid transition, we wrapped a straw bale shell around the entire house, stacking straw directly against the cinderblock. The cost of that project was $15,000. Of that sum, replacing the windows cost $10,000. Because the house itself is shaded, we constructed a large shed that is useful for both storage and for mounting solar panels (both thermal and electric) in an area with good solar exposure next to the house. We are completing the solar heating systems at this time. We are using a glycol based heat collection system to push heat into the old radiators.