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The Four Corners area has a centuries-old tradition of sustainable design. As an example, the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde opened all the living spaces to the sun for comfort during the day. The clay and stone construction provided thermal mass to store the sun's energy to heat the spaces at night. The cliffs' overhang shaded the dwellings when the sun was high overhead in the hot months of summer. Later in history the Ute tribes' seasonal Tee-pee migrations worked with natures' cycles. From the homesteaders' log cabins, the boom town miners' housing clusters to the Hispanics' family adobe compounds, all are appropriate lifestyles which have provided comfort in our extreme climate, while fitting easily into their surroundings. These designs are an example of "sustainable" architecture.
What does sustainable mean?
It means that the building materials are gathered without depleting the source. It means that the energy requirements are fulfilled from non-polluting, renewable sources. It means the desirable natural features of the site are saved and also used to temper the climate. The promise of the Three Springs project is to incorporate the wisdom of old indigenous and vernacular building into a community that is appropriate today utilizing our newest progressive methods while sustaining itself far into the future.
The development process is the creation of human habitats and surroundings that fit the functional, social and emotional needs of the human animal while also allowing for wildlife.
The first step is community planning. Three Springs¹ developers are attempting to create a forward thinking village with its own sense of place and identity. Unlike suburban development which derived from the needs of automobile-based transportation, Three Springs will blend residential, commercial and institutional functions into human-scale compounds accessible to people of varied means. Bucking the trend of suburbia will allow for less reliance on driving and more on walking, biking and health-sustaining activities. Mixed together are home offices, cottage industries, schools and businesses which are form based leading to desirable neo-traditional lifestyles.
Three Springs may also consider centralized energy and resources development. Large scale solar arrays or a hill top wind farm are a couple of ideas. A centralized ground loop geo-thermal heat and cooling system would save on horizontal excavation or vertical drilling instead of individual units. Our local plant matter could be utilized for clean burning automobile ethanol and bio-diesel fuel. Centralized wetland sewage
treatment could also supply bird and other wildlife habitat. Major precipitation runoff areas should be directed to green areas and to recharge our groundwater.
Providing space for such activities is part of site design. The earth is not laid out on a grid-neither is Three Springs. Natural features such as topography and vegetation of each area will be considered when lot lines, building envelopes, footprints, roadways and utilities are located. Buildings will be oriented to take advantage of views, solar access, natural drainage, privacy and wind protection. Yards are to be gardens of life that accommodate humans, pets and wildlife in a beautiful and comfortable manner. They should lead seductively to more built exterior and interior spaces. Native drought tolerant plants are part of good permanent agriculture (permaculture) design.
The goal of space planning is to create interior and exterior areas that feel good while fulfilling current and future programming needs. A variety of home sizes encourages a diverse population. By organizing homes to be "not-so-big" they can be cozy and comfortable, less expensive to build while utilizing less resources. Simple geometries using module units of construction does this and can lead to mass production savings. Designs should allow for future modifications brought on by future programming needs such as an enlarged business or family. Forms should be friendly (not intimidating) & welcoming (not pretentious). Creating floor and landscaping plans that handle heating and cooling loads naturally is desirable. If there is clear southern exposure, elongating structures East/West will increase solar energy potential and cut down on West overheating wall sizes. This East/West elongation can also allow passive solar and natural light to get to North interior areas without fans or pumps. Creating South-facing courtyards with deciduous trees provides natural shading to prevent overheating while encouraging year round use.
A goal at Three Springs is that sustainability will be a major determinant in decisions about materials and methods of construction. For the past several decades, low fuel costs have allowed builders to import materials from industrial cities for construction
in rural areas. Today, economics and the goal of sustainability support looking locally for materials with low embodied energy while keeping the money in the community. Embodied energy is the quantity of energy necessary for the fabrication of a specific material including all energy inputs from raw material extraction, to transport, manufacturing, assembly etc. Three Springs is fortunate to be located in an area abundant in natural building materials. Selectively-harvested lumber is a growing industry in the Rocky Mountain West. Straw is a readily available agricultural waste product throughout this area. Our native stone is abundant and varied. Sand and clay are plentiful in the Four Corners area and have been used for construction here for thousands of years. Pumice and perlite are also regional lightweight natural insulating materials. Many of these natural construction materials have the added benefit of non-toxicity and are highly desired by healthconscious inhabitants. Another source of sustainable local building materials are those with high recycled content, such as local: paper, plastics, metal and glass. Still good, but not as desirable as local materials, are non-regional: recycled, renewed and reclaimed resources. Examples are cork and bamboo flooring.
Individual decentralized energy and resource systems can be used to replace or supplement standard sources. On-site electricity production from photovoltaic or small scale quiet wind generators is desirable. Electricity conservation utilizing compact fluorescent lighting and high efficiency appliances is now commonplace.
Space heating and cooling production can be derived from pellet or high efficiency clean burning wood stoves. Optimizing passive solar energy gain is accomplished by balancing room volume, south glass and thermal mass. This can save on energy and help create comfortable well lit indoor environments. Sizing window overhangs correctly helps prevent overheating and protects exterior walls. Successful active solar thermal hot fluid radiant floor systems are no longer experimental and can quickly pay for themselves. Individual ground loop geo-thermal heat and summer cooling has become nationally acceptable. High efficiency boilers and furnaces can become back-up instead of primary. Space heating and cooling conservation can be accomplished by utilizing high levels of insulation and thermal mass. We also encourage the use of curtains or other night insulation to prevent unwanted heat loss or gain.
Individual building resources should be conserved but also produced as naturally as possible for owners of varied economic status. Domestic hot water can be heated by active solar systems or high efficiency on-demand only water heaters located close to the users source. Thoroughly insulating hot water pipes also conserves energy.
Potable water is precious so therefore low flow showerheads and dual flush toilets are recommended. Sewage treatment can be split into black and grey water. Also flushing toilets or watering exterior plants with below grade sub surface discharge are good uses of grey water. Composting toilets save on initial plumbing costs and water usage.
Interior air quality can be enhanced with house plants or cross ventilating windows. Filters on a furnace system or portable mechanical air clearers will remove some undesirable indoor pollution. An attached heat exchanger will conserve on lost heat for fresh air requirements.
The on-site building trades can also add to sustainability. Quality control of the actual work should ensure tight construction to minimize air infiltration, heat loss and moisture problems such as mold and mildew. Utilizing labor from close to the job site saves on transportation costs, energy consumption and pollution. Reusing construction scraps also saves on land fill costs, transportation and land wasted.
Aesthetically, the regional architectural styles lend themselves to the use of native materials. Southwest styles flow naturally from their thermal mass thick wall masonry construction. Mountain designs derive from local or reclaimed timber and native stone. With our talented local construction trades, even the most contemporary styles can be adapted to fit the Three Springs climate.
The designer can easily create a marketable product using local natural, reclaimed and recycled materials with the additional sales feature of energy efficiency while visually enhancing the entire village. These strategies should be incorporated in custom and semi-custom as well as production level projects. All of this together can make Three Springs a magnet for people interested in enhancing their lives, as well as the lives of others around them.
Finally, a goal for any sustainable design, whether it be small or as large as the entire Three Springs community is to create a maximum score on the following common sense scale. Our future descendants deserve our efforts just as we now enjoy those of our regional ancestors.
© copyright by Greg Madeen - Architect
written 11/22/2005
