Thinking ahead
Once upon a time, I visited an ark. The Ark. The one that was years ahead of its time on the Island, presenting a model for ecological living that seems quite appropriate now. Thankfully, some of the people involved in the original effort are still providing input.
This morning, I watched a video produced by Peter Rukavina. He interviewed Larry Jones, and they toured the infrastructure of the new Jean Canfield federal building in Charlottetown. From what I saw, I think I’d like one of my own.
OK, perhaps not an office building with 500 civil servants. How about a new home, with some thought given to the design and energy needs. The idea of integrating geothermal heating, solar energy and a pinch of “green thinking” makes perfect sense. I could live with windows that were partially shaded by my solar collectors. I could learn to live with constant temperature in my heating/cooling system. I could appreciate free electricity to power all my electronic toys.
Admittedly, I don’t have a personal budget of $58 million for the “next house”, but I don’t intend to have an army of neighbours. Maybe I can rig up some smaller examples of the infrastructure shown in the video, and forego a website to show how much energy is being produced right now (although it does lead to great bragging around the water cooler).
Let’s see. My shopping list will include an well insulated building with natural heating, electricity production and a great view of the sea. All of the above seem reasonable and possible. A plan?
