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Ok, so maybe that title is a bit over the top, but it expresses how I felt awhile ago when I noticed a little eco-urban love-fest happening on our very own website.

Floyd was actually the one who pointed it out to me. Joy at Café Refugio left a comment on our Midtown beekeepers page announcing that her shop would soon be carrying their honey. Let it be known that we had nothing whatsoever to do with this connection, other than simply celebrating both of their eco-urbanist efforts.

What Makes a Hero?
Actually, this simple exchange represents one of the very reasons why we included the Heroes page on our site. If our mission is to be a catalyst for social change towards eco-urban community, it has to be a foregone conclusion that “its not all about us.” We recognize that people everywhere are doing things to make a difference, both here in Sacramento and elsewhere. They do it because they care, because they’ve got their eyes open and see that it takes individuals acting in good conscience with everyday-type decisions to change anything, because they aren’t satisfied with the normal excuses for doing nothing (namely, apathy, cynicism and ignorance); often they do it because their own quality of life is better for it. Sometimes, these good people have chosen a few focal points within their sphere of influence to really make their mission; sometimes, they’ve got their hands in all kinds of related activity. And sometimes, its just a single, simple action, diligently applied or one, humble choice in the face of difficult obstacles. And these people—our Hereos–often do what they do without any recognition, because recognition isn’t really their end goal. Which means they usually don’t see themselves as “Heroic” material at all.

But we do.

A Microcosm of Eco-Urban Community
So, being the community-minded folk we are, we decided these people needed a place to be affirmed for what they are doing, and to see what other people are doing and be inspired. We hoped that as the page grew, visitors would find new ways to make a difference or make connections with others who are making a difference. Actually, in a small way, the page would reflect the kind of community we ideally envisioned forming in the projects we’re building. Can you imagine living in a community where you and your neighbors each care enough to “do something (anything) to make a difference”? I can. Its what we’re working to create.

So, here we are, only three “Heroes” into it (a fourth Hero is forthcoming soon…) and its already beginning to happen. With one simple exchange—local honey at a local coffee shop–the world is better, cleaner, healthier and happier. How cool is that!

So, our thanks once again to Joy Moscovian and Erik and Makayla for being your wonderful eco-urbanist selves and demonstrating to us the simple but incredible potential of an eco-urban community.

Doing Something
Hopefully, you’re now thinking, “that’s cool, I should nominate someone”… or “maybe I should tell them about the stuff I’m doing.” If you are, DO (we’ll even give you a free coffee at Refugio to do it)! We figure, the more people are featured the more we’ll see the kinds of exchanges like the one that prompted this entry. Community forms, the world is a better place to live and everyone wins. Or you could drop your own line of encouragement in the comments section, because when you’re in the marathon of “making a difference,” its nice to have some cheering along the way.

Jason

P.S. Update on the Midtown Beekeepers, they’ve grown to about 45 hives and are stilling selling out fast. Oh yeah, and Joy’s had a few leads on unbleached napkins.

O.K. so now it is my turn to shed some light on how I spend my time here at LJUrban. I am responsible for ensuring that we build the highest quality sustainable construction we can afford to produce. There are other things too but I thought I would concentrate on the “Green Building” aspect for this post and hopefully follow up with other new innovative ways that people are building sustainably as I come across them. We have not yet been able to define precisely what feature will be included in our homes. Each project will have its own eco-friendly features and hopefully each will progress with a greater shade of green until we are able to create truly ecologically balanced communities.

So, as I had mentioned in a previous post, I recently finished a course at UC Davis on Sustainability and the Built Environment. I was tasked with researching and writing a paper and giving a presentation on something in that field of study. I chose to research “Sustainable Structures” that are primarily dependant upon concrete for strength and durability, and compared four systems for various factors related to energy-efficiency, sustainability (recyled or reused content) and durability.

Green Sandwich Technologies 2006

The results you ask. . . well, in my opinion, one of the coolest products out there right now is called the “Green Sandwich Panel.” It consists of a core (made of either foam or biomass) surrounded with a steel wire cage encased with concrete plaster. The panels are erected by hand, tied together and then a spray-applied concrete plaster system or shotcrete is applied.

SCIP’s maximize the thermal mass effect, which translates to greater energy-efficiency. The presence of concrete surfaces on the interior and exterior of the structure separated by an insulating core allows a thermal flywheel behavior to take place. When the interior of the house is heated or cooled the wall system absorbs that heat or cool. When the temperature in the house changes, the walls will begin emitting the retained heat or absorbing it as the case may be. The exterior skin behaves in the same manner by preventing the heat or cool to radiate inward. Their energy efficiency is maximized in warmer climates, especially those with large temperature differences between day and night, like the deserts of the southwest, where homes built with thermal mass walls (including traditional adobe structures) have been most popular. Structures built using these technologies can be designed to require a significantly smaller heating and cooling system or possibly no cooling system at all.

The Green Sandwich SCIP panel utilizes very sustainable materials. Green Sandwich panels are made from 40% recycled material content by weight, and 60% by volume. All waste is 100% recyclable. They use BASF’s environmentally-friendly Styropor EPS foam in the panels. “The wire mesh is 40% recycled steel (Mostly from the auto industry), and the shotcrete skins are a minimum of 40% fly ash (A byproduct of coal burning). Green Sandwich Panels can be fabricated with a core of 100% locally harvested biomass. The source of this bio-mass can include “rapidly renewable” content, such as orchard trimmings, road-side weed growth, straw and stalk mowings.”

From the standpoint of durability these systems rival that of a precast concrete system. The insulation materials are isolated within the concrete envelope and therefore are not as susceptible to moisture, termites, or physical damage.

The SCIP structural system appears to be the most holistically sustainable option for construction of residential housing. The Green Sandwich panel exceeds the renewable and recycled material content of all of the systems analyzed. Either system if used broadly would reduce lumber consumption, energy consumption, carbon production, and building waste.

Micah

I like the word, “Serendipity.” Google tells me its “The art of finding something by looking for something else.” That’s close but not complete. To me, serendipity has divine orchestration written all over it, which I personally find somewhat comforting these days. I mean, let’s face it, humankind hasn’t exactly shown a lot of foresight of late.

LJUrban had a serendipitous moment recently. We had some custom cabinets made for our office. It took a long time to get the design and material choices down, but we finally got it right, thanks to the patience and persistence of Jon at blankblank. A clean, urban, modular design. Lots of counter space. Custom to our specific needs. Eco-friendly materials (wheatboard and Japanese kiri wood).

However, when we actually got the cabinets, there were some flaws with the kiri wood front panels. Jon took one look and assured us that the panels would be completely redone.

In the meantime, Vanessa learned about the coffee table dilemma at Café Refugio. Joy had these re-used tables that worked but didn’t add any style points to her shop. Hmmmm…our botched front panels might be a good fit. We invited her to take a look and as soon as she saw them, she flipped out. Turns out that way back in the interior design phase, she had done a little research on green tabletop materials and really, really wanted kiri wood tabletops in her shop but, alas, it was too expensive. What about the flaws?, we asked. No concerns. So, we asked Jon what would be done with the panels and he said the manufacturer would just throw them away.

Micah, being the generous volunteering-type he is, offered to refabricate the panels to fit her tables and VOILA!, Joy suddenly found herself with eight custom-made kiri wood tables. Jon gets to spin a problem into an eco-opportunity. We get to support local eco-effort.

Nice.

Serendipity.

Jason