Tech Valley
Spring 2012 • Issue 25 • FREE
eco LOCAL Promoting sustainable communities, healthy lifestyles and local business
THE GREEN BUILDING ISSUE
INSIDE:
DESIGNING WOMEN Sophie Castro and Karen Totino of Green Conscience Home and Garden PLUS: Adirondack Alternate Energy Chips Landscaping Phinney Design Group The Residence at Shallow Creek Zero Energy Consultants
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Apple blossoms at Saratoga Apple
On the Cover Meet Karen Totino and Sophie Castro of Green Conscience Home and Garden in Saratoga Springs.These two enterprising women are the go-to people if you want to de-tox and green–up your home and landscape.Karen and Sophie have created a one-stop shop for all things green and sustainable for the home. If they sell it, it has a green conscience behind it. And you will have a clear conscience, knowing that your next remodel project will be safe, healthy, and friendly to the planet and to the people that you love the most – your family. Your life will be better with a Green Conscience! Karen and Sophie are not only eco-LOCAL, they are a treasure in our community. Find these gems at 33 Church Street, just a two blocks west of Broadway, in the big red brick building.
DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES
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News and Views Holistic Health The Wellness Doc Money Matters Ask the Energy Expert Life…Stylized! Washington County Local Sound Eco-LOCAL People
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Rainwater Management 101 Chips Landscaping Phinney Design Finding Your Green Conscience The Sun Never Sends a Bill Adirondack Alternate Energy Greening the Glove City Legacy Timber Frames Practical Energy Savings Solutions ZeroEnergy Consultants The Residence at Shallow Creek Radiating Warmth - The Stovery Virgil’s House ecolocalliving.com 5
Letter from the Publisher 2012 is proving to be a rather interesting year so far. After an abnormally warm winter with little snow, Spring has arrived in rapid succession and it, too, is bringing forth some warmth that, for the northeast, is usually seen in May and June. Not that anybody is really complaining. We human beings seem to prefer warmth over cold; the light winter and now warmer Spring is being embraced by most people. Even the creatures in our midst are enjoying the quick greening of the landscape and the easy access to food. The squirrels and birds are all very busy, gathering materials for their soon to be arriving brood. Is this warming a sign of climate change? We are breaking temperature records - we apparently have not been this warm since 1894. Was there climate change back then? The fact is, the climate has always been changing. Look back into the long history of the planet and one can see that change is the norm. Our myopic view of a generation is no standard of what the climate should be. Change, it seems, is the only constant. The universe has it's own plans, and we earthlings can only adapt to the changes that are thrust upon us. This is, by the way, our true purpose, and skill. It's the reason we, as a species, have made it this far. So instead of lamenting that change is disrupting what we think of as “normal,” we should instead be embracing change and learning the skills of resiliency. Becoming resilient means that we are able to adapt to the changes, whatever they may be. That, in essence, is what being “green” is really all about. Those with the smaller footprint can endure the changes. Those who can grow their own food, who have skills to barter, who have a home that won't freeze in the winter when the fuel oil man doesn't come…they will survive, even thrive when the Shit Hits The Fan. They'll be making compost, while everyone else is in panic mode. In this issue, we celebrate those who have embraced resiliency. We've brought to you here some of the best minds and hearts in our region who have been “green” before it was trendy. These are the leaders, the pioneers who have forged the path for us to follow. Their innovation, vision, and a whole lot of courage in the face of adversity and challenge has gotten them to this point of being recognized and respected as leaders that they are. And the timing could not be better. While we are in the midst of the paradigm shift of epoch proportions, the wisdom of these leaders will be highly sought after. So consider yourself lucky that you have this copy of eco-LOCAL in your hands, because you have an insiders view of the “who's-who” in sustainable building and alternative energy in the greater Capital Region of New York. If you are forging your own path towards resiliency, these are people that you want to know! Earth Day comes on April 22nd, and eco-LOCAL is hosting a Green Building Symposium, at a very unique home in Queensbury, Warren County. The newly finished “Residence at Shallow Creek” has been built as a showcase of the latest sustainable technologies and methods, old and new. Come meet the team of professionals who's vision has come to life with this one of a kind home. Get up close and personal with the direct application of Passive and Active Solar Power, Geothermal Earth Energy technologies, Local and Reclaimed Building Materials, and Living with the Land Design. See page 41for more details.. Thanks for reading, as always. Remember to support the advertisers inside with your business and love. For without them, this magazine would not exist.
-David DeLozier, Publisher 6 ecolocalliving.com
eco LOCAL PUBLISHER / EDITOR / SALES David Delozier 518-858-6866 ecolocalliving.com DESIGN / PRODUCTION Centerline Design 518-883-3872 PHOTOGRAPHY David Delozier, Patricia Older, Tracy Frisch CONTRIBUTORS Bruce Brownell, Kevin Carey, Dr. Jessica Davis, Sue Ann DuBois, Tracy Frisch, K. George Keleshian, Travis Kline, Harry Moran, Patricia Older, Dr. Michael Quartararo, Kathleen Quartararo, Johanna Sophia, Greta Yakel SUBSCRIBE The eco-LOCAL magazine is a free bi-monthly magazine for people choosing to lead more sustainable lifestyles within the greater Capital Region of New York. It can be found throughout the region at independent retailers, shops, restaurants and other high traffic locales. Visit www.ecolocalliving.com to find a location near you. If you would like to receive a subscription by mail, send $12 along with your name and address to: Eco-LOCAL Media PO Box 621, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. If you would like updates and information by email, please sign up at our website. SUPPORT We seek to transform this special region of upstate New York into a local living economy of vibrant towns, productive farmlands and healthy open space. By reading eco-LOCAL, you become part of our team. The eco-LOCAL magazine is brought to you solely by the advertisers found within. Please tell them you appreciate their support of eco-LOCAL. We are all in this together, and we must support each other. Thank you!
Every effort has been made to avoid errors and misspellings; however, if you see an error, please accept our apologies. We welcome your ideas, articles, and feedback so that we can give you the best service possible. Eco-LOCAL Living does not guarantee nor warrantee any products, services of any advertisers, nor will we be party to any legal or civil claims or promises. We expect advertisers to honor any claims or promises. We reserve the right to revise, edit and/or reject any and all advertising with or without cause. Liability is limited to the cost of the ad space in which it first appeared for printing errors of the publisher's responsibility or if the publisher fails to print an ad or article for any reason. We reserve the right to edit articles if needed for content, clarity and relevance. Unless otherwise noted, we use the Creative Commons License (in place of standard copyright), which allows anyone to freely copy, distribute, and transmit all content, although it must be attributed in the manner specified by the author or licensor, and no one may use it for commercial purposes, or alter, transform, or build upon it.
News and Views Great Cloth Diaper Change www.naturalfamilyfestival.com. Location of festival: Sportsplex of Halfmoon, 6 Corporate Drive, Halfmoon NY (off Exit 9W). The Natural Family Festival and “Great Cloth Diaper Change” is organized by the Holistic Moms Network & Jessica Davis MD, Sonrise Diaper Service and Earthy Crunchy Momma.
On Saturday, April 21st (Earth Day weekend), the 1st Annual Natural Family Festival will host the site of an international cloth diaper changing event where families can participate in a fun-filled day of kids activities,healthy eating, seminars, shopping and an opportunity to set a world record! From 10:00am-2:00pm, families with children of all ages are invited to come play and learn about Green, Eco-friendly, Holistic and Natural Family Resources from throughout the Capital Region, Southern Vermont and Western Massachusetts. In its second year, The Great Cloth Diaper change event will take place at 12 noon and attempt to break last year’s Guinness World Record of 5,026 simultaneous cloth diapers changes. For further information about the Natural Family Festival and how families can participate in setting a world record, go to
The Natural Family Festival and The Great Cloth Diaper Change event was created by three professional mothers who are passionate about the well-being of their families and how their lifestyle choices affect the earth and the environment their children grow up in. Their goal is to raise awareness about local Natural Family Resources and the usability and ease of cloth diapering so that families can make more informed choices about caring for each other and the planet. “Each year billions of disposable diapers enter landfills where it takes hundreds of years for them to decompose, if ever,” says Heather McNamara, Executive Director of the Real Diaper Association. “Building off the success of last year’s event with 127 locations in five countries, we hope to show the entire world that cloth diapers are a real option for today's modern families who may be seeking more planet-friendly and affordable alternative to disposable diapers.”
OH the ego... GO! By Kathleen Quartararo people around me. “See? I’m right, right?” A everyone else do the same thing. Reminders, short term, self-induced feeling of I need reminders, man! satisfaction that (according to my Kathleen Quartararo is the owner of Virgil's House, Saratoga Grandmother) “makes no matter who” Springs' most eclectic café, located at 86 Henry Street.
I cannot believe how powerful this baby is! Just when I think my ego is a mere speck, I find myself smack in the middle of a battle of proving… (I’m right, I know more, my way is best, who do you think you are!?) Now I am distracted and annoyed, fighting against something I don’t like. Yuk. Been down that road. Remind myself to breathe. The “high” of the righteous speech is pulling me in! No, I will not go there. Then, TRY OH SO VERY HARD to resist the urge to share all this “justification of my feelings” to the
Is the ego an addictive substance similar to a drug? Addiction, by definition: “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is physically or psychologically habit forming.” A quick feeling of euphoria, showing someone else how wrong they are! Then the guilt or maybe disappointment of my behavior. Who do I think I AM? When someone has a different idea, doesn’t like mine, or acts in a way I would not, why do I feel challenged? What do I have to prove? Why can’t I just notice and move on? Or just listen… Why is a verbal battle often the response of choice? We have a strong need to control our environment.. as if someone else thoughts, choices or ideas would infringe on us! Why this desire to get other people on board with OUR WAY? Live and let live. Let it be. To each his own. Let freedom ring. We know this. We believe it. We even sing it. Now to remember to live it. To practice it. To embrace it. And let
And speaking of
REMINDERS… Come in and try one of our fantastic homemade soups! Bring in this coupon and Get any cup of soup for $1! Serving breakfast, lunch & dessert all day
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Register now for $20 • Day of the race $25
The kLaVoy5k is a local 5k race (all welcome: runners, joggers, and walkers) to benefit The Center for Donation & Transplant – Donate Life and spread awareness about organ, tissue, and eye donation. April 28th will be the 5th year of the race at the beautiful Saratoga Springs State Park. The race is in memory of Kristen LaVoy who had an auto immune kidney disease. She was fortunate enough to receive a kidney transplant which gave her many more quality years. The Center for Donation will be on site to educate, a DJ to get you pumped up before and after the event. The Albany Running Exchange will be handling the chip timing, they will announce awards, and minute by minute finishers.
Register on line through www.active.com keyword; kLaVoy5k
Complimentary moisture wicking t-shirts to the first 200 registrants and complimentary massages by Welcome Relief before and after the race.
April 28th • 8:00AM Saratoga Springs State Park
FIRST-EVER SARATOGA TREE INVENTORY SETS STAGE FOR CITY’S MASTER TREE PLAN Don’t’ be surprised to see plenty of tree hugging going on around town during the spring leafout. Volunteers organized by Sustainable Saratoga will be wrapping their arms (and a tape measure) around street trees as part of a first-ever survey of Saratoga’s urban forest. Every City-controlled tree in the urban core will be logged into a database. Volunteers will record location, measure the size of trunk and canopy, and not each tree’s condition. We would love to have your help. Go to sustainablesaratoga.com and click on the “Call for Volunteers” tab. Or send us an email at saratogatreesurvey@gmail.com.
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TELL US YOUR TREE STORIES - Sustainable Saratoga’s Urban Forestry Project wants to hear about your life with trees. Email us at saratogatreesurvey@gmail.com. Tell us about the biggest and best trees in your life. We would love to learn from Saratogians about Saratoga’s most beloved, most impressive, and oldest trees. Please nominate your favorite (giving location, description, and stories). If possible, include the location and the circumference at about 4’6” off the ground (so-called breast height). As part of our Arbor Day celebrations around April 27, Sustainable Saratoga will celebrate your stories and the public’s favorite trees.
Holistic Health By Dr. Jessica Davis
The “Greening” of a Doctor-Mom with local chapters spread around the country. Saratoga has a chapter that meets on first Thursdays at the library. (www.facebook.com/HMNSaratoga) From the national website: “HMN strives to connect parents, create supportive communities, and help parents and others to learn about holistic and green living. Holistic parenting begins with an understanding and respect for how all living things are connected and how we impact one another. As such, holistic As a doctor and a mom, I believe that “going parenting embraces green and non-toxic green” is not just a trendy thing to do, it is living, non-violent communication, and vitally important for promoting health and natural health.” preventing disease. Sometimes it can seem like all the pressure to For me, the process of becoming a mother go green feeds into 'Mom Guilt' just as much was the motivation behind living more as anything else. I have found this group to consciously. Like most women, pregnancy is be a safe, non-judgemental, non-intimidating the time that I started to realize that I was place to explore different ideas and learn completely responsible for another life. Then from other parents who are already living when my oldest was born it became green in various ways. The bottom line is that incredibly real. At that time, I was already a only you can decide what works for your doctor finishing my residency, and was used family, but it can help to see how others are to making decisions in the hospital that doing it. involved life and death. But somehow having my own child... this tiny being who is Here's a few basic priorities I recommend for completely dependent on me to nurture it and parents interested in healthy green living in make decisions based on their best interest... my practice: • Eat Real Food. Eat organic & local still felt like a tremendous leap in when you can. Avoid the “Dirty Dozen”. responsibility. • Get Active. Get outside. Play in the I slowly began to re-evaluate old dirt. assumptions, and make new decisions with a • Go Organic/Homemade with your different frame of reference. Rather than just personal care and cleaning products. do what was cheap, quick & easy, (my prior • Keep Learning. Make informed standards as a busy overworked med student decisions. and resident!) I thought about what would • Do what you can, one step at a time. be better for my child. There were still some • Get Support! serious constraints on my time with some 80 hour a week rotations, but with major help from my husband and a part time nanny we We are lucky to have so many fabulous local managed to cloth diaper, breastfeed, and businesses and organizations as resources for babywear. There were so many other 'could green products, education and support. It is have/should haves' but that was what we impossible to list them all here. Please visit could handle at the time. www.jessicadavismd.com/resources for more My first son was born in Rochester, and when holistic parenting and green living resources. I finally had time to look for moms' groups I was lucky enough to find a chapter of the Holistic Mom's Network. (holisticmoms.org) HMN is a national non-profit organization
Jessica Davis MD practices in Stillwater NY as “The New Mom’s Family Doctor”. She is board certified in Family Medicine and Integrative Medicine, and also practices Medical Acupuncture. For more information call 877-6646116 or visit www.jessicadavismd.com
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The Wellness Doc By Dr. Michael Quartararo of Adirondack Advanced Chiropractic
Green Environment, Green Body
Recently, while exercising, I was watching “The Doctors” program on television. Occasionally, they have some great information on health and wellness. This was NOT one of those episodes! This episode was talking about how there is a new, breakthrough treatment for “spider veins”. Spider veins are a form of varicose vein, but smaller and more of a cosmetic issue than a health/pain issue. One of the doctors on the program is a cosmetic surgeon he was extremely excited to demonstrate this amazing new technology. Without going into great detail, and to stay on point, he basically injected detergent into the tiny veins and everyone watched in awe as they disappeared. His words: “Watch as I inject detergent into the veins.” THIS is the exciting new technology? Injecting detergent to remove a cosmetic blemish on your skin. What's next injecting botulism toxin in your face to remove wrinkles? Oh that's right that's being done already, that's what Botox is. When I was younger we feared Botulism; that's why mom always kept the meat in the fridge and not on the counter. Why did we fear this toxin that we now inject freely into our bodies? Botulism by definition is “a sometimes fatal disease of the nervous system acquired from spoiled foods in which botulin toxin is present, especially
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improperly canned or marinated foods.” Also, the longer the list of ingredients, the more Sometimes fatal is scary enough for me to avoid artificial and toxic the food will be. this toxin at all costs. 4. Go through your cabinets and look for We are injecting detergents and killer toxins into harmful chemicals. Are there cleaning products our bodies delicately balanced eco-system and and/or detergents you wouldn't want your infant wondering why we are sicker as a nation than around? There are many companies now making most other industrialized countries. We take more products to clean your home that are non-toxic and more medications each year and at the same and eco-friendly. Check out www.melaleuca.com time try to figure out our health care crisis. The and Seventh Generation. These companies solution to this crisis starts with a realization that specialize in GREEN products that limit the toxins your body's environment needs to be GREEN. This in your home environment. is directly analogous to understanding that our 5. Have a relationship with a wellness world and its environment need to be GREEN. doctor! We are experts in getting and keeping More chemicals in our body's eco-system equals your body GREEN. There are many strategies to more harm and less health. It's that simple! Here get your body GREEN, let us help you help are some tips to GREEN your body. yourself. 1. Take fewer medications when possible. You have the ability to help your body's Most medical doctors are on board with this environment but it takes change. It starts with concept. The days of better health through more changing your paradigm of health and welldrugs is fading fast. Ask your doctor if there are being. Is your paradigm one that believes more alternatives to your health care issues. Maybe the drugs and chemicals makes the body work medications can be taken for a short time as you better? Or, do you have the paradigm that health make lifestyle changes to improve your health, or comes from within, and allowing your body to maybe there are natural alternatives toward function efficiently without harmful toxins is the which he or she can guide you. way to optimal health. If this concept is 2. Only eat organic and local food. We are congruent with your beliefs or you would like very fortunate in this area to have great local more information, visit our website at farms to provide us with fresh local produce and www.aacfamilywellness.com. We are committed meats. Take advantage of this! Some of you may to educate the communities we serve about be challenged with the cost difference but if you health and wellness. As always, Be Well! eat better quality foods, you may be able to take Dr. Michael Quartararo has been a chiropractic wellness fewer medications, there's your money savings. practitioner for 17 years in Saratoga. He is the CEO and founder of AAC Family Wellness Centers, a Milton family What's your health worth? 3. Read labels! A great rule of thumb is if you can't pronounce the ingredient you should not be putting it in your body. Red number 3 and monosodium glutamate are NEVER good for you!
and pediatric wellness center. He is a member of the New York State Chiropractic Council, International Chiropractic Council, International Pediatric Chiropractic Council and World Chiropractic Alliance. He can be reached at aacdocs@adirondackchiropractic.com or aacfamilywellness.com.
Money Matters By Harry Moran, CFP® AIF®
Spring Cleaning
As we head into spring after our oddly mild and almost snowless winter, our thoughts may turn to getting our houses in order. In this vein, I'd like to offer four steps for tidying up our financial houses with the goal of making them more sustainable. Break up with your mega bank! After the financial debacle which came to a head in the fall of 2008, there has been an understandable groundswell of interest in moving savings away from the large financial institutions, whose reckless and greedy behavior so greatly contributed to the crisis. A number of organizations coordinated another round of “break up with your mega bank” campaigns to coincide with Valentine's Day. If you missed that opportunity, it's not too late! Fortunately, we have several great local community financial institutions in this area. The Opportunity Finance Network and the Calvert Foundation both offer great online resources for finding community-based financial institutions that channel capital into the communities that they serve, rather than into the mega banks who primarily extract capital from those communities. Before you close out your old account though, be sure to get your new account opened first, order checks and an ATM/debit card, set up online billpaying if you'd like this feature, have your
employer reroute the direct deposit of your pay if necessary, and notify any companies who direct debit your account of the change. Once you have started receiving direct deposits into your new account and are sure that there are no outstanding checks or automatic debits that still need to clear, close your account. Caveat: follow the bank's account closing procedures rather than just withdrawing the last dollar and hoping the account goes away or else you may find yourself being charged inactivity or low balance fees on your old account.
rebalancing. Have you taken advantage of socially responsible investment (SRI) options if you feel they are a good fit? If your plan doesn't offer such options, have you informed your employer that you'd like to have them added?
Consider joining a CSA or frequenting your local farmer's market. Supporting the local food economy remains one of the most important actions we can take to bring about a transformation from our current extraction and transaction based economy to a nurture economy based on relationships and community. Local If you have any consumer debts, look at options Harvest is one great resource for finding CSA's for consolidating them under one or two low and farmer's markets. interest rate loans. As you're looking into local Each spring gives us another opportunity to bank/credit union savings and /or checking clean house on many levels and prepare for account options, inquire about their credit card new growth. We live in exciting times and, balance transfer options and/or home equity while the challenges are formidable, we have loans or lines of credit. Since the interest on some powerful tools at our disposal for helping home equity loans and lines of credit may be our communities and ourselves become more tax deductible and interest rates are so low at ecologically and financially sustainable. Spring this point, they can make very attractive debt forward! consolidation vehicles though you need to do your homework. Make sure you structure the Harry Moran helps socially conscious investors define and their highest goals by aligning their money with their repayment of the home equity loan so that you achieve values. A 25-year veteran of the financial services profession, Mr. pay off the balance in a reasonably short time Moran has held the Certified Financial Planner® designation frame and don't unwittingly turn a 3-5 year car since 1991. He is a member of First Affirmative Financial loan into a 15-20 year home equity loan. Since Network, a national professional organization dedicated to meeting the needs of the socially conscious investing this creates an almost too convenient way to community, and a member of the Impact Investing Division of tap your home equity, proceed with caution if Portfolio Resources Advisor Group, a registered investment you've had difficulty managing your credit in adviser. Mr. Moran can be reached directly at Sustainable Wealth the past. Consult your tax preparer re: the Advisors at hmoran@prg-group.net or 518-450-1755. Mention of specific securities, funds, or companies should not be deductibility of interest. considered an offer or a recommendation to buy or sell the Take stock of your retirement plan. Have you looked at your asset allocation recently? If not, the volatile markets of the last few years may have created a portfolio that is no longer aligned with your risk tolerance and therefore needs
security, fund, or company. To determine the suitability of any particular investment, please consult with your investment adviser. Remember, past performance is no guarantee of future results and no investment strategy can assure success. The opinions expressed are those of the author and may change without notice. Securities offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc., member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, SIFMA.
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Ask the Energy Expert By Greta Yakel, Adirondack Solar
Solar-The Newest Home Improvement to Increase Property Value
For decades, it has been a widely known fact that installing a new kitchen or updating a bathroom has a high return on investment and increases a home's value. Now, after the release of two studies in 2011, solar electric systems have joined the pack. With the rapid growth of solar installations across the United States, more homeowners can realize the benefits derived from going solar; added home value and differentiation. The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released a study stating, “there is strong evidence that California homes with PV systems have sold for a premium over homes without solar systems.” The premium ranged per watt of capacity, but averaged around $5.50 per watt. As noted in the study, “this corresponds to a home sales price premium of approximately $17,000 for a relatively new 3,100-watt PV system (the average size of PV systems in the study).” The study further asserts that the price premiums solar homeowners will receive when they sell their home appear to be comparable to the investment made to install the system. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) released a report that was consistent with the findings of the Lawrence Berkley study. The NBER report concluded that, “homes with solar panels add between 3 percent and 4 percent to the value of a home and can actually be higher in areas with a large number of college graduates and registered Prius owners.” While the studies analyzed the California home market, they give our local market a peek into how home valuations can be affected by the installation of solar electric systems. With the real estate market experiencing uncertainty and volatility, home owners who are ready to sell are trying to find ways to get the most money out of their home. Having a solar system installed may be a step in the right direction. Beyond the primary benefit of increased home value, here are some other points to consider: Traditional benefits of going solar: These include reducing or 12 ecolocalliving.com
eliminating monthly electric bills, becoming energy independent, reducing pollution and hedging against rising electricity costs. These are great assets to pass on to perspective homebuyers, thus giving them peace of mind. Differentiation: In today's market, sellers have to differentiate their home from the many comparable offerings on the market. Having a solar system can give sellers an edge. For example, a customer of Adirondack Solar recently sold his home that had a PV system installed. Many perspective buyers were enticed by the potential savings and fixed energy costs associated with the solar system. He was able to capitalize on the competitive situation and received an offer above asking price. Adirondack Solar has received many thank you letters from customers with similar situations who were able to take advantage of the increase in property value because of their solar installation. Ease of transfer: Homeowners who are considering purchasing a PV system while knowing that they may eventually sell their home, may want to consider buying a system outright over leasing a system. Owning a system will allow the seller to add value to the home while leasing a system presents transferability challenges in an already difficult real estate market. Homeowners that purchased a solar electric system may have made a much better decision than they originally expected. With the support of the two economic studies, these homeowners can expect to see a price premium and a return on investment should they ever sell their home. PV systems are also helping to differentiate the property in a sea of comparable homes for sale. As the solar market continues to grow, PV systems may become a home improvement project that homeowners cannot afford to miss out on. Adirondack Solar is a New York-owned, family business that prides itself on offering the best quality and service backed by years of experience. For more information, please call (866) 452-7652 or visit us at www.adksolar.com.
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Redox Signaling Molecules are naturally created within every living cell of the body. They are so essential to life that without them you would die. In fact,as we grow older we produce fewer and fewer of these molecules, resulting in a process we call aging. For the first time science has stabilized these molecules in a solution outside the body that when taken internally allow us to replenish and increase our cellular efficiency. ASEA increases ones endurance,boosts the immune system and strives to balance the body's cellular makeup. We live and die at the cellular level.
Now sharpening reel lawn mowers.
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Life… Stylized! By Kevin B. Carey, Communication Coach at lifestylized.com
There is a Time for Every Season... I find it counter intuitive that we go through the motions and the emotions of setting goals and New Year's resolutions in January, when this is a time of consolidation and hunkering down, rather than attempting improbable changes in behavior or in taking on ambitious projects. Late winter and early spring, usually March is the month for hope, for ambition and for unbridled optimism. This is the time for considering major changes, for reconfiguring our future, and for aligning with the earth and seasons in a rite of comprehensive renewal.
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” -Anne Bradstreet Even though it is snowing on the first day of March I have a sense of unfinished business, as I consider the innocuous winter we are experiencing. As much as I have enjoyed a bland non-season I recognize many, who earn their living from snow and storms, are having a difficult time. In fact this temperate interlude hardly provides the base to leap out of winter blues into a spring season full of promise and potential.
Winter is a great time to rethink, to reconsider, and to renew our confidence in our ability to make significant change. Winter is great for dreaming and imagining, for research and evaluating and for innovation and for speculation. However, March is the month for defining our goals and planning our projects. This combination of the consolidation of winter and the promise of spring provides the creative turbulence to stimulate productive opportunity and extraordinary possibility. This is when you should plan your year and determine; where you are, where you are going, and how you will get there from here? Change is the essence of life! Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.
Everything around you is preparing for a glorious year, so why not you? The days are longer, the sun is warmer, your energy is higher, and your selfawareness, your self-esteem and your selfFor all I know the weather gods may have decided confidence are primed for success. You are an to forgo spring and shoe horn us directly into integral element of the earth and not constrained summer. Or even worse, the summer may be the by some arcane calendar system. Everything is winter we never had? Don't laugh it has happened aligned for you to grow and change, to expand and before. But it is the sense of winter and it's learn, and to experience the joy of renewal. seductive compression; the curling up against the Everything in life is connected somehow. You may elements, the flame dancing in the firelight; the have to dig deep to find it but its there. Everything patience to wait out and endure the long dark is the same even though it's different. Somehow days, and the reward of renewal, rebirth and a everything connects back with your life. The faces luxurious reawakening. in certain places may be different, but the situation Even though the winter has been the mildest many is the same. Irony is a hidden factor that creeps of us can remember - perhaps our cellular memory around us in life, letting its presence felt only after will provide the scar tissue to greet the beginning it has left. Picture back to a year ago and the of spring like the glorious transition it represents. It situation you were in. Look at how things are is obviously not just a physical experience but also different yet somehow everything it still in a spiritual metamorphosis, which lifts our spirit and someway cognate. Everything connects together to rekindles our optimism. Perhaps the process will form the balance of life, to maintain structure. survive even when the conditions that germinated Change is and always will be inevitable, but our seasonal recalibration have temporarily everything is relative, and all the moments and times in your life will come back around again, you abandoned their formative role? just might find yourself on the other side of the coin. Things are always changing, as fast as “Spring everything stays the same.
an experience in immortality” -Henry David Thoreau
You are the season. This is your time, your opportunity, your season and reason for change. ecolocalliving.com 15
RAINWATER
MANAGEMENT 101: FOR HOMEOWNERS STORY BY SUE ANN DU BOIS OF CHIPS LANDSCAPING PHOTOS PROVIDED
Concerns over water quality, use, and the management of rain events are not new. A 2008 Gallop Poll revealed: “When Americans were asked to rate their level of worry about each of the 12 environmental concerns, the top 4 related to “quality of water”. With the emergence of “Green” dialogs filling our current media and political forums you may have heard the term: “storm water management” and how it relates to environmental problems in our region. Storm water runoff is basically rain water running off rooftops, driveways, sidewalks, streets and other man made areas, washing pollutants into nearby water sources. In addition, during heavy rain events the water picks up speed and force when an abundance of these impervious (solid) surfaces exist, contributing to local flooding, racing down streets, and filling antiquated storm water management systems. Over the past few years, urbanization in our region has increased square footage of manmade surfaces and reduced naturally occurring areas that would allow snow melt and rain to seep back into soils, filter and return rainwater to our ground aquifers. Presently there are an abundance of options available for homeowners to make a difference in rainwater management. You can play a huge role in the “solution” by instituting some very simple to more complex earth friendly practices. A recent University of Delaware study revealed: “if every U.S. homeowner dedicated 50% of their property to rainwater gardens, gardens and native plantings, they would equal the expanse of our National Parks”. By taking a simple Rainwater Survey around your home you can be a part of the solution. First and foremost, onsite consultation or construction should be completed by knowledgeable, well trained professionals. With the intoxication of “green” dialogs these days, you will want to check out any potential contractor’s credentials, skills sets, examine past projects, ask for references to articles written on the subject matter, 16 ecolocalliving.com
check out business references and ask many questions before you engage any contractor on your behalf. If choosing a particular product line, do your homework and check it out before your investment Assess your Roof Management Practices On the most basic level, any homeowner can capture and reuse rainwater with the installation of a Rain barrel. We use a Rainxchange® 75 gallon capacity model that installs right into the roof downspout, filters large debris before entering the barrel, and offers a spigot for filling watering containers. And an extra bonus for gardeners: rainwater is rich in nutrients for plants. On a larger scale, every homeowner’s roof has the potential to manage and return rainwater to our aquifers with a roof top drip line. Using proper stone, and drainage methods you can eliminate gutters and leaders and channel your rooftop water along an installed foundation drip line. In our region we have also discovered this is a great way to manage roof top snow and spring melt, and reduce long standing wet basement problems. This drip line will filter and carry water underground to a particular area to perk (slowly seep) back down into the soil. But be sure it is properly installed! We have observed systems in our area using poor filtration media e.g. stone selection and above ground drainage pipes only leading to other ecological problems such as vegetative decay and mosquito breeding. Assess your Outdoor “Green” Spaces Typically property owners envision huge open grassy spaces for their outdoor living environment. But did you know that some grassy surfaces can be considered “impervious” That means that their high
compaction, poor vegetation and maintenance practices make it “hard surfacelike” The water does not penetrate the soil but runs rapidly off, much like your sidewalk or driveway. Choose more garden areas with native plants and region friendly perennials. You really did not want to cut that lawn or spend the money to water it did you? You can also install a “rain garden”. These are becoming increasingly popular with homeowners. Select a depressed area of the property and use plants that like wet environments and native plants to “soak up” the water, allow the roots to filtrate, and return water to the underground. But again, this must be installed properly. Selecting a depressed area, throwing in a couple of plants and then having your lawn service run mowers around defeats the purpose. Cornell Cooperative Extension can help. They can lead you to many references for proper design and installation. A real D.I.Y.er project!. Assess your Outdoor Hardscapes Hard outdoor surfaces such as asphalt, concrete and manufactured pavement material can often take up huge square footage in our properties, contributing to generous amounts of rapidly moving rainwater and flooding. Take a look outside your window or stand outside during a rain event to see just where the water is going and how fast it is moving. At one of our lakeside regional gardens, we actually observed extensive water run-off and damage to dedicated garden beds immediately after the installation of a massive impervious paver surface driveway. If you are considering resurfacing, new walkways etc, consider permeable surfaces. These actually allow the water to perk down
through the surface, versus gaining speed and running off. At a basic and relatively economical level you can use rubble material as a natural walkway throughout your gardens or driveway surface. Residential friendly stone walkways and driveways, again properly installed, can also help perk that water into the ground. At a more sophisticated level you can install permeable interlocking pavements. These are fabricated interlocking blocks that allow for spaces in between. These spaces along with specific aggregate (stones) allow rain water to immediately filter down back into the ground. We have had great success using this material. An old Victorian structure in Saratoga Springs built in a well known bedrock area, had a history of cement walkway buckling and icing every season. Now a dental office, the surface at this building was becoming a major problem for patient access. With installation of a permeable pavement walkway, and combining it with a Rainxchange® rooftop collection system, we were able to provide a safe walkway, and earth friendly solution that provides water to nearby gardens and water feature. So consider permeable if you are looking to resurface or create a new outdoor patio. Assess your Current Watering Systems and Outdoor Features At the higher level of solutions, you may be considering upgrades to your automated sprinklers or decorative water features. You can use Ranxchange® systems to collect and reuse rainwater to service drip irrigation, outdoor manual watering or keep your water feature full for the season, with all collection stored underground. And if you do not have -continued on Page 23 ecolocalliving.com 17
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Phinney Design FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION GREEN IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR WELL-BUILT INTERVIEW BY DAVID DELOZIER PHOTOS PROVIDED
At the proverbial fork in the road, the road less traveled is often eschewed for the highway. But it is the less traveled path that often brings the greatest rewards in life. In the construction industry, “going green” is the buzzword of the moment. And yet, it is trendy today primarily due to the pioneers who chose the less traveled path from the beginning. Once such firm that leads the pack is the Phinney Design Group (PDG) in Saratoga Springs. Under the tutelage of founder Michael Phinney, PDG has quietly emerged as one of the most innovative and respected architectural design firms in the Northeast. PDG is a multi-disciplinary Architecture, Interior Design, and Green Building Consulting firm with a focus on sustainable and environmentally sensitive construction methods. The firm is located in a green building on the corner of Beekman Street and Grand Avenue in the historic Dublin Neighborhood of Saratoga Springs. Having developed a reputation as the area’s leading sustainability consultants and having worked on the very first certified green building in New York State in 2001 and the first certified green building in the Adirondack Park in 2007, Phinney Design Group’s founding principal, Mike Phinney
BUT IT IS THE LESS TRAVELED PATH THAT OFTEN BRINGS THE GREATEST REWARDS IN LIFE
has been a regular lecturer at building industry conferences and has presented several case studies of the firm’s work in energy efficient and environmentally friendly design. Senior Architect, Andrew Allison brings over 15 years’ experience of commercial and hospitality planning and design. The two backgrounds have combined to allow PDG to become an award-winning design consultant within a large diversity of project types. Eco-LOCAL Living: What got you interested in the concepts and methods of sustainable building?
Michael Phinney: I was born and raised in the Adirondacks and spent almost all my waking time outside. A strong connection to the natural environment has always existed in me. When I was in Architecture School at RPI, I was disenchanted by the ultramodern, urban inspired architecture that was the rage at the time, highly manufactured buildings with no concern for the energy or resources they consumed while building or once occupied. I decided to focus my last year at RPI on “Environmental Awareness in Architecture.” The research I did lead me to projects in Germany that were built in the late eighties and early nineties, this was at a time when the U.S. was peaking at building “sick buildings.” Once I graduated, I was always trying to inspire or educate my clients and colleagues to think about how their buildings would affect the environment. ELL: What type of sustainable building elements are incorporated into the work done by your firm? MP: As the company has grown over the past decade, we are more diverse than ever. It’s a group of highly talented architects and ecolocalliving.com 19
designers who all have different levels of passion and knowledge for green building. We bring a holistic approach, understanding each project is unique in its’ opportunities and constraints. Some of our projects are absolutely driven by the client to be as environmentally friendly as possible. While others, we find ourselves educating our clients on what may be possible. Phinney Design Group sensibly incorporates sustainable principals into every project we design. We often provide cost-benefit analysis for different technologies to demonstrate that 80% of green building technologies available today have a relatively short payback period through savings in Operation and Maintenance costs. ELL: What have been your main sources of information on sustainable building practices? MP: I am constantly reading and trying to keep up to date with trends, technologies and knowing what is in the materials you choose to live with. Environmental Building News and Alex Wilson has been a reliable source since the late nineties. We try to attend the NESEA conference each year and occasionally the USGBC conference, along with all of their websites and email updates. AIA COTE (Committee on the Environment) is an excellent resource as
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well as USGBC.org and NESEA.org. At least once a month, the office will organize a lunch and learn, often with sustainable technology or building material vendors. ELL: It's one thing to build from the ground up using green technologies. But have you retro-fitted older buildings with green technologies? What are the challenges and is it worthwhile? MP: One of the most environmentally responsible things you can do is renovate or retrofit an existing building. The embodied energy impact of entirely new construction vs. reuse of an existing building is worth more “green” points than any rating system could possible calculate. We have completed a fair amount of retrofit, renovation and adaptive re-use projects. Again, we really enjoy the challenge of looking at each project as a unique opportunity to apply our knowledge and design skills. A lot has to do with your perspective on the project; it’s not as much a challenge as it is an opportunity to solve an old problem with current thinking. It is certainly worth it!
incorporated? (Land Use, Land Impact, Energy and Water, Solid Waste, Occupant Health and Well-Being) MP: We have worked on many environmentally-sensitive projects, with four LEED certified projects and many that followed LEED principles but chose not to undergo the certification process. Notably, I was involved in the very first certified green building in New York State in 2001, the first LEED certified building in the Adirondack Park in 2007 and more recently, two Saratoga Springs homes; one of which was certified LEED Platinum by the USGBC and “Emerald” rated by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The Platinum rated project was a single family residence. The site selected was an infill project in a historic neighborhood on Saratoga’s east side. It was an integrated team approach from day one; the builder, owner, engineer and architect were committed to making the house an example of sustainable principles while being sensitive to the overall project budget. It was a collaborative and open process from design to completion.
ELL: Think of the most environmentallysensitive project you've been involved in. In that project, to what extent were the following types of sustainable considerations and strategies
The site location for this home allows the owner to easily walk into downtown Saratoga Springs and is in close proximity to public transportation options. Alternative energy technologies included a solar hot
water system, photovoltaic system, and a masonry heater centrally located in an efficient open floor plan. Rain water catchment was utilized for irrigation; landscaping chosen was indigenous and drought tolerant with minimal lawn area. Finish materials for the house came largely from local resources. The heating system utilizes in-floor radiant heat with a highefficiency condensing boiler to supplement the masonry heater. The geometry of the house allows for natural ventilation and passive cooling with a centrally located venting cupola. Glazing placement and roof overhangs were designed to allow for passive heating in the winter months. The paints and stains were low or no VOC combined with a Heat Recovery Ventilation system, indoor air quality was considered a high priority by carefully selecting the materials and finishes that the owner was literally going to touch and breathe every day. The owners themselves were passionate about using reclaimed materials and found many of the light fixtures, plumbing fixtures and decorative elements from local salvage shops. The end result was an agrarian inspired form that respected the east side vernacular, incorporating modern technology with clean modern interiors, blended with select rustic and antique elements. ELL: What factors have hindered people in your profession from regularly
incorporating sustainable strategies into their work? MP: Getting stuck in their ways is the greatest obstacle. Many Architects get comfortable with what they know. Many firms end up specializing in one building type (i.e. municipal, health care, higher education, etc.) Although this creates efficiencies and a market niche, it can also lead to a lack of innovation or creativity. They get accustomed to standard details, specifications and materials they’ve used in the past. Secondly, the cost of sustainable technologies is also not accurately reported in many cases. Firms that are experienced and more importantly, willing to explore the cost-benefit analysis can tell you much of what is considered “green” costs the same or 5-10% more, often yielding a 5-7 year payback on the initial investment. As a society in general, we need to start thinking of our buildings needing to have a 50-100 year lifespan minimum, rather than the 1015 year minimum. I think in some ways, the U.S. has become a “throw-away” culture. We are such a melting pot of culture and design that we seem to constantly be seeking the new trend, fab or style that it has a negative result on the buildings we build. This has begun to change, but will need to continue to improve greatly if our way of living is to become truly sustainable. ELL: What ideas, people, or events were
most influential in developing your interest in sustainable building? MP: As mentioned previously, my educational experience and thesis at RPI was a key crossroads. Living in Rome, Italy studying Architectural History and traveling through much of Europe also opened my eyes to different cultures that took pride in their buildings and also inherently think more long term about the built environment in general. In the U.S., the Rocky Mountain Institute was publishing research on sustainable technologies in the early nineties; they were one of the early pioneers in the United States that I looked to for data and building science information. ELL: Which (if any) government policies or programs contributed to the decision to incorporate sustainable building strategies into your projects? MP: I was hired as the Project Architect and Project Designer for the new Headquarters for the Department of Environmental Conservation in 1997, WCGS Architects in Albany had been awarded the contract from a large local developer working with NYSOGS to design and build the new headquarters. The Pataki administration had mandated that it be a “green building.” I was at the right place at the right time being one of a few designers in the area passionate about those ideas at the time. The project became the first LEED certified ecolocalliving.com 21
building in New York State and it allowed me to work closely with some of the founding people at the USGBC, Steven Winter Associates and NYSERDA. Since starting Phinney Design Group in late 2002, I’ve watched a lot of changes in government policy. Now, in the State of New York, any state owned or funded project has to meet LEED certification requirements, typically beyond the minimum requirements to a “Silver” level. I’ve also watch building codes and energy codes consistently update to more stringent levels. Levels that would have been considered “energy- saving” a decade ago. I think it’s all becoming much more standard practice today. Our design niche at PDG is no longer just green buildings; it’s about how we integrate sustainable practices sensibly into a greatly diverse portfolio of projects. ELL: What sorts of new policies or programs would make it easier for you to become more involved in incorporating sustainable building strategies into your projects in the future? (building code or permitting requirements, economic incentives, educational programs, voluntary design
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guidelines and construction standards) MP: The greatest influence to being able to incorporate sustainable practices into more projects would be client knowledge and passion for achieving those goals. Most importantly, a transition from a short term perspective on our buildings to a long term investment into the context and communities they are located. More economic incentives would help promote this by creating a financial motivation to look at what is possible before one rules it out from a pure upfront cost concern. A greater awareness by the general population of the reduced operating and maintenance costs that sustainable technologies can provide will continue to expand the integration. Most importantly, as we spend almost 90% of our time indoors these days, a general understanding of how we make the built environment is one of the greatest factors in determining the overall health, happiness and productivity of our society as a whole. ELL: How do you feel about the future of construction industry? Will green building become the new standard? MP: I think in the future we will stop using
the term “green building”; it’s already becoming the norm and already over-used and washed down. There is so much innovation remaining to be realized by the Architects, Designers and Builders of today. We are still very much reliant on a highly manufactured built environment. I think you’ll continue to see building codes and energy codes update to require what many would have thought only to exist in “green buildings” a few years ago. It will be considered standard practice in the not too distant future. Looking to nature and biomimicry is one of my current passions; studying how we can look to the earth’s natural processes and recreate them in our buildings will be the next sustainable revolution. Some of this is already happening with phyto-filter technologies, living walls, skins, membranes and insulation that are grown. Ecovative, a local start up from two other RPI grads, is using mushroom spore technology to grow packaging, insulation and potentially the building panel of the future. It may be a very different world in the next 50-100 years. For more information or to reach Phinney Design Group, please visit www.phinneydesign.com or call 518-587-7120.
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the benefit of a nearby roof top to collect, we have been able to use existing driveway surfaces to collect water. In one case we reduced storm water runoff into the local storm system, collected, filtrated and reused the rainwater for both irrigation and aesthetic water feature. Create a Green Roof Although not for everyone, a green roof can been a source of joy and “beauty meets function”. On our property, we decided we needed more storage space, but wanted something more aesthetically pleasing, earth friendly and complementing our overall garden design. A traditional storage shed did not meet our needs. With only a vision in mind we did a good deal of research on the subject matter and created our garden rooftop shed. Using knowledge and experience in region specific plant material, estimating regional rainfall, applying researched construction methods and just sheer passion, we created a North Country friendly green roof shed. It has held up to several major storms and snowfall. Now that is roof top water management at its best. Garden top roofs are not just a southern hemisphere delight after all! Consider Combining your Practices Over a period of time, as you examine your home more closely you may find that varying combinations of these practices will provide you with your best outcomes. A great deal depends upon your site specifics. You really need to assess your site, your structures and of course, determine your ultimate goal for the practice you choose. Perhaps in the future we can also reap the benefits of these practices with tax incentives to local homeowners. Many of our national colleagues report incentives in their regions that include reduced sewer tax rates and tax rebate incentives for multi-level rainwater harvesting system installation. Homeowners looking for credits from the US Green Building Council, the RainXchange® system presented in this discussion represent 12 LEED credits. Following these earth friendly practices are also beneficial to the family. Encourage your children to complete the assessment with you and participate in your own installation, maintenance and learning the benefits of the systems you choose. A new University of California study reveals that children who have natural outdoor learning environments boast 27% higher science scores. Rainwater harvesting can be a win/win for our environment, our families and pocketbooks over time. For more earth friendly solutions visit: www.chipslandscaping.net www.rainxchange.com www.aqusacpeinc.com Sue Ann DuBois, Master Gardener, is one half of the local husband-wife team known as Chips Landscaping. Their business is a Be Green NY Organic Yards Provider. Their national Certifications include: Certified Aquascape® Contractor (CAC); Certified RainXchange® Professional (CRP); and Certified Interlocking Concrete Pavement Contactor (ICPI). In 2011 Chips Landscaping was awarded Aquascape’s Conservation/Sustainability Award as well as Aquascape’s Business of Character Award. You can follow them on Facebook for regional and national demonstration projects/practices on rainwater harvesting.
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FINDING YOUR GREEN CONSCIENCE HOW HEALTHY IS YOUR HOME? STORY BY PROF. JOHANNA SOPHIA PHOTOS BY DAVID DELOZIER
A modest sign over the door at 33 Church St. in downtown Saratoga Springs reads GREEN CONSCIENCE - Home & Garden. Does Green Conscience equal clear conscience, I wonder? I've heard this showroom is a one stop shop for home accessorizing and decorating. Can we really have a clear conscience when it comes to the building materials and furnishings in our homes? The sad fact is that over 60 different mostly harmful, mostly carcinogenic chemical compounds in an array of synthetic foams, paints, and plastics are off-gassing in our houses, apartments, and offices. Many of these chemicals are so imbedded in the construction materials such as drywall, paint, or insulation, that we believe we just cannot avoid them. Hence we cannot vouch for the harmlessness of our interiors. Once we are conscious of this fact, how can we get to a healthy green conscience and thus, a clear conscience? Upon entering into the store I notice that it smells earthy. No fresh varnish or paint. Well, not the stinging smell I expect from regular paint or varnish. Are those carpet samples over there? But there’s no smell of new carpeting. Wow, this place is neat! I turn my head and my eyes fall on the book title: 24 ecolocalliving.com
WOW, THIS PLACE IS NEAT! “We’re Weird.” I look closer and see: the full title is “Sheila Says We’re Weird.” It’s a children's book offered for sale, which teaches that “being weird” may be a good thing when we’re saving energy and keeping ourselves healthy. I see that co-owner Sophie Castro is talking with a customer. “So this paint will not give me headaches?” I overhear the customer asking. “I don’t believe so. Many people come to us because they have had similar problems,” says Sophie. “They have good results with this paint. But keep in mind that paint may not be the only thing making you feel ill in your new house. Let me know how you’re doing with this paint.” The woman promises to come back and report on her results. THE DANCER TURNED GREEN DESIGNER “Oh, I turned vegetarian when I was seventeen!” Sophie says answering my question as to when she became conscious of
healthy, natural living. Sophie Castro was born in Paris, France, and has an interesting career: she's been a professional dancer, a yoga and meditation practitioner, an interior designer, has worked in India and then, transplanted to Saratoga Springs, where she met Karen Totino, and ultimately became her partner in the Green Conscience Home and Garden enterprise. “I’ve always tried to live healthy,” says Sophie. “I see too much of what happens when you don’t. My husband is an oncologist, and he is overworked!” There is sadness in her eyes. She herself looks a perfect example of health, elegance, fitness, girlish-sensual femininity, and business woman. Dance has taught her the importance of beauty and lightness of being. As an interior designer, she brings those qualities to her customers while meeting the customers’ needs. For some customers, their own allergic reaction to chemicals becomes the path to harmonizing their entire lifestyle along with a change of interior design. GOING GREEN FOR THE KIDS' SAKE Karen Totino grew up in an all American family. “There was no special awareness of
chemicals,” she says. “Then, when I had my own kids, I wanted the best for them. I started reading warnings and labels on foods. And I decided to make my own, organic babyfood and changed my gardening style to organic. But the idea to do something about the chemicals around us came one day when I was pushing my kids in their stroller past the little yellow warning flags on our neighbors’ lawns. The gardening service had just been here. I looked at the storm drains by the roadside and realized that all these chemicals would wash into the creek. And I realized that even if people were aware, they had no alternative to the conventional service. That same day I decided to offer an organic lawn and garden service.” As the business grew, she switched from exterior to interior organic design. Now, instead of flower beds, organic mattresses in queen size beds are their biggest hit. HOME SWEET HOME... IS KILLING US? Yes, we need the awareness of the hazards before we can consciously choose better solutions. Cancers are on the rise. We don’t eat healthy. We don’t sleep well. We don’t move enough. We have too much stress. It
seems we know this song. What we don’t really know yet is the fact that we are walking from one chemical gas cloud into the next as we move from one interior space to another. Most of us spend the vast majority of our lives indoors! And in all these indoor spaces, we get ‘in-toxicated’ with off-gassing fumes from the furniture, the carpets, the almost everything in our indoor environment. Most of them we don’t even smell. This devil’s brew of chemical gasses can include toluene, benzene, ethyl benzene, styrene, acetone… all carcinogens... and that’s just a small portion of the list. Maybe we don’t need to know all the details. We just need to realize that we are being bombarded with invisible, often ‘unsmellable’ harmful fumes. Sophie tells me story after story of customers and clients who, like today’s customer, had walked into their new homes, their renovated kitchens or bedrooms, who slept on their new bed, or slouched on their new couch and almost immediately got seriously ill. Some even walked away from their new or renovated homes in search of healthier environs. When they finally found Green Conscience Home and Garden, they felt they were saved!
MUD...ON MY WALLS? Two streets away from the store, I am to meet the founder of Green Conscience, Karen Totino. She is somewhere inside the Saratoga Springs Conference Center, where I find myself among a myriad of different home and garden products offered at the Rotary HOME SHOW. As I plow my way through the crowd, I am fascinated with a demonstration of a new wall surface: is it just mud? Or is it stucco? “It’s CLAY,” explains the lady with the mud-brown goop on the metal spatula in her hand. “It creates a wall covering that is a healthy alternative to wall paper or paint,” she says, as she smears the clay onto a piece of drywall. “WOW. It actually looks great!” I reply. My luck has brought me straight to the Green Conscience booth, and the lady with the mud is co-owner Karen Totino. Karen is demonstrating American Clay, one of the many Green Conscience solutions to indoor toxicity: Natural clay, colored with non-toxic mineral pigments, ‘plastered’ onto walls actually makes a healthy environment. The clay regulates humidity in the room, blocks any gasses the drywall behind it may emit, and provides a surface that is ‘alive’ with structure and seems to turn the wall into a
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surface that is fun to touch. I pull out my video camera and shoot a quick video. MUD ART – ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES “Can we create art with this material,” I want to know? And I am handed the metal spatula and three little piles of mud on a tray. The colors are dark brown, reddish brown and blue. I get to work and plaster me a tree! This is fun! While I’m working on my art experiment, lots of people stop and want more information. Kids want to put this on their wall. Karen explains that the creative possibilities are endless. Parents promise their kids that the next coat of paint will not be paint but colored clay. And the children will breathe easier. Karen explains that the entire room can become like a cozy, lightfilled cave with rounded corners, or a cubic statement where each wall has a different pastel tint. I listen and learn.
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IN THE CYCLE LIES THE SOLUTION We call a lot of energy-saving materials and appliances “green” these days, but "how green is it when you create a bunch of toxic landfill?" says one scientist on a forum for architects and builders. And he continues: “Healthy Green means mimicking the materials and methods of the natural world: converting sunlight into usable heat and energy, bio-compatible and bio-degradable materials, non-toxic, renewable, synergistic and stunningly efficient natural materials.” And that is exactly what Green Conscience does. If you are renovating your home, getting a nursery ready, or re-designing your kitchen, Green Conscience offers a healthy, naturally alternative to synthetic and chemically derived products. And the natural options are stylish, beautiful to the eye and touch, and pleasant to the nose. From organic latex mattresses, natural wool rugs, bamboo
flooring, window treatments to VOC-free paint, everything here truly has a green conscience. There's even beautiful wood-like countertops made from recycled, compressed paper – it’s almost like returning the product to its origin... the paper made from wood is re-manufactured to become a solid countertop material that one day will decompose and biodegrade to form healthy soil in which new trees can grow. The cycle completes itself, and the cycle allows for endless repeats. This is sustainability. This is green conscience leading to a clear conscience. And maybe one day soon we will add ‘OffGas-Free Zones’ to the ‘Smoke-Free-Zones’ and the ‘GMO-Free-Zones’ that are growing exponentially around the globe. Soon we will realize that a society in which being natural is being ‘weird’ is a pretty weird society, LOL! Let’s turn that around.
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The Sun
NEVER SENDS A BILL HEATING WITH PASSIVE SOLAR ENERGY FOR SAVINGS AND SECURITY BY BRUCE BROWNELL OF ADIRONDACK ALTERNATE ENERGY
The independent people who founded our country set themselves up in a myriad of small government units, towns and villages over 200 years ago. These political entities no longer fit our more populated and costly lives today. Changing this will be hard, but the obvious consolidation opportunities are hard to avoid. This joining offers considerable financial and environmental benefits.
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ONE SOLUTION Consolidate several local activities (town garage, ambulance, fire houses) who need garage space. Presently most of these organizations vehicles are kept in older under insulated leaky buildings with high fossil fuel bills that make the tax payer winceexcept they are seldom known or publicized. Create a new multiple vehicle garage with the space needed per vehicle being roughly 12’x44’. Situate the building long wall south with the overhead doors 12’x12’ or larger having largely insulated glass for solar gain. A two row vehicle garage with 16 vehicle spaces and a central area for shop, restrooms and heated storage becomes roughly 130’x90’ or 12,000 sq. ft. Its upper attic space inside its insulation envelope easily provides an additional 5000 sq. ft. of dry, stair accessible valuable space. This structure would be done with proper passive solar design having a urethane insulation envelope wrapping the outside of the structure. The insulation goes totally under its concrete floor and up its roofline. Basic backup heating is achieved with wood. Picture one end of 60’ of the 90’dimension done as a typical truck loading dock with access 7’ below the floor. In this exposed wall is installed 4 large 6’ high x 10’ wide x 17’ deep fire brick fire boxes. Each fire box has several chimneys running the remaining 100+ feet under the vehicle concrete floor. The chimneys turn and go up the opposite end concrete wall. These fire boxes are filled during spring to fall with scrap wood, windfall and clearing brush which is always collected. This useful wood usually goes to the workers but belongs to the tax payers, therefore, free fuel. Firing one each of the 4 large fire boxes mid month December through March would supply ample energy to heat the space between 50- 60 which the stored equipment is fine with. The mid garage centrally located office, lunch room, bathrooms, shop/storage areas using about 20’x90’ could be heated with one of several modern units such as an air source heat pump, closed combustion gas fired hot water or also an air tight wood stove or two properly installed in its own concrete fire proof niche.
The heating cost for this space would go from $20,000 or more to $1000 or so. The savings each year would pay the loan plus reduce taxes and pollution. WHY DON’T WE DO MORE OF THIS? I have proposed this for several decades. Other new local government buildings, town halls, fire stations, libraries, etc. should only be built to correct passive solar standards as they will be serving their constituents for 60-100 years during which “the sun will never send them a bill”.
DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND ENERGY? WHERE IT COMES FROM - WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT? CURTAINS COVERING WINDOWS Many homeowners close their curtains every night during the heating season to save energy. Most people have the typical curtain installation with the curtain supported by a rod that supports the fabric out from the wall about 3” with the curtain falling to within 23” of the floor. This installation costs you energy as when you deploy the curtain you end up with the coldest air between the curtain and window which falls to be replaced with the warmest air you own off the ceiling. Don’t close to save. In contrast, many older homes had drapes (heavy cloth) which hung on the floor (think parlor) and had a closed box valence at the top. It was worthwhile and energy saving to have closed these- people understood the basics. METAL ROOFS This type of roofing seems to be gaining in popularity especially in north country snowy regions and perhaps by its multi color availability being desirable. Many people choose metal because snow slides off which solves the ice-damming problem prevalent in snow regions. Ice damming is a result of poor insulation levels. The energy problem is that the bare metal roof radiates to the sky (space) and performs at a temperature about 15oF colder than the air. Since average winter outside temperatures are 20oF it leaves the bare roof temperature at 5oF yielding an extra 15oF of heat loss. In contrast, the roof with at least 6” of snow on it has a roof surface temperature of 30oF. This is a gain of 25oF for the coldest part of winter, Jan- Feb, that is the only free insulation mother nature gives you - snow. A proper roof insulation installation - performance, not claim, R32 or more will allow snow to stay yielding a large energy benefit you can’t overlook.
THE SUN This abundant free energy is readily available to south facing glass. Most people today think of photovoltaic’s, PV, on the roof when you mention solar energy. In fact, the best collector is south facing glass which is always an energy gainer. East and West glass balance out IF the sun sees them. It should be noted that north glass is always a loser as it sees outer space. The obvious conclusion is to orient your building with the long wall facing south- it’s the basic element of passive solar. Almost all early farmhouses in the northeast, prior to 1860, faced south but we forgot that with the introduction of a technology that revolutionized home heating, the cast iron wood stove with a center of manufacture being Albany and Troy NY. WOOD It should be pointed out that firewood is solar energy collected across 70 years that we use in 70 minutes. It’s the carbon cycle- no pollution. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO HEAT YOUR HOUSE? Think of the retired guy who worked for the xyz corp. His entire life. He’s rare anymore as today's jobs change frequently. Prior to retiring, he fixed up his house. The standard things like adding new windows, more insulation, bought a new efficient oil furnace, etc. - a common tale. When queried in late spring a year or two after retiring as to how much it cost to heat his home, he happily replies ”Boy it used to cost me $2600 but”, he proudly recites about fixing up the old house,“it now only costs $1800.” This number often is compared to the new highly efficient, 20% more costly passive solar home with a yearly bill of $800. It doesn’t seem reasonable to go passive solar to save only $1000. The problem is this is not close to the real cost. Per Year Oil bill $1800 Yearly furnace maintenance $ 150 Furnace space cost- 30 sq. ft.@$3.00/ sq. ft. $ 90 Yearly cost furnace replacement- 5000/15 yr $ 330 Note: All Electric usage is largely heat that is made up of using light bulbs, stove, computers, etc. 80% Elec bill, average $100/month, Sept-15 May15 $ 800 Real yearly Cost $3170 Passive solar house costs - $ 800 Savings plus $2370 10 Ton CO2 not dumped downwind
Bruce Brownell is the owner of Adirondack Alternate Energy, a passive solar home designer. To contact Bruce call (518) 863-4338 or e-Mail aaeinc@frontiernet.net ecolocalliving.com 29
30 ecolocalliving.com
GLOVERSVILLE GREEN
LAURIE FREEMAN AND JIM STRICKLAND HELP TO RENEW THE GLOVE CITY STORY AND PHOTOS BY TRACY FRISCH
In 2008 the couple picked up the 1885 structure for a song in a Freddie Mac foreclosure sale. While retaining its historic character, the two have amply insulated the building's two flats, replaced the old furnace with super efficient heating units, put in solar hot water and on-demand water heating and added solar electricity. Jim and Laurie, who have been together for decades, are an unusual team that has embraced a niche as community builders and sustainability pioneers in their neck of the woods. And they do live in the woods, as homesteaders who built a phenomenal hand-made post-and-beam solar house a mere four miles from the small city which they give so much good energy to. In their spare time, they have fun playing music in a band. CHOOSING A BUILDING The 19th century Victorian is Jim and Laurie's sole rental property. When it came onto the market for only $44,000, they weren't feeling any urgency to buy real estate in the city. That was something they intended to do "someday." But this particular house had already caught their imagination so they signed the contract, which their real estate broker further sweetened with a $500 coupon off the modest price. Within two weeks - at the last possible moment before leaving for a long-anticipated three-week trip to France - they closed on the house and started planning the renovation.
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The once attractive 19th century house had been built for George Taylor, a textile mill owner unique among Gloversville industrialists that made leather products. In the late 1930s through the 1940s, the
house became a business academy that taught the secretarial arts. Later it was converted into a nursing home. Finally it had been broken up into two flats. Besides liking the actual building, its corner lot and "great solar potential," Jim and Laurie were excited about the location. It's just a couple blocks from Main Street and essential attractions such as the Mohawk Harvest food co-op, the Glove Theatre and the farmers market - three organizations that they played a big part in creating or reviving. Overall they pronounced the old house in "really good shape" and lacking in structural problems, but cosmetically it was quite a mess. They described the first floor as "a lethal combination of bad taste and bad manners." The tenants had bashed holes in every wall and door and graffiti covered many surfaces. Broken windows were cloaked in plywood. One of their neighbors characterized the former residents as "the loudest, foulest-mouth people." Under the back deck, Jim and Laurie pulled out dirty diapers. Jim and Laurie are no strangers to construction. Jim has primarily made his living doing construction of some sort since he got his first job swinging a hammer in 1972. He was in his third year of college when Hurricane Agnes had struck, badly flooding northeastern Pennsylvania. "Everyone became a carpenter," he said. But Jim's skills go far beyond the variety of trades he has mastered. "What I really have is experience in problem solving," which he defines as " looking at something and making it work." Laurie shares this strength. She says it's an orientation she developed in getting her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, even as she acknowledges that Jim has much more practical experience in building. It's this perspective that enables them to forge ahead into new territory. Laurie said, "For both of us, it's having an understanding of what you're trying to do. Then you just say, how am I going to make it happen." It's always a little experimental, she explained. "You have to be
What I really have is experience in problem solving
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Despite all the talk about energy conservation and renewable energy, how many landlords are going the extra mile to transform older rental properties into affordable energy-efficient housing with green energy? Without the benefit of statistics, I think I can safely say that the answer is all too few. But that's exactly what Jim Strickland and Laurie Freeman have been doing to rehab a blighted two-family Victorian house in Gloversville. For them it represents yet another way to be "part of the solution" in their community.
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Jim also replaced the flat roof on the backside of the house with one that has enough pitch to shed snow and rain. This fix involved extending the roof over the cellar door so it won't get buried under snow and ice in the winter. They corrected a mud situation by putting in a paving-stone patio just beyond the roofline.
willing to put some of your own common sense into it. For a lot of this, no one showed me. You come up with a technique and try it." INSULATING AND WEATHERIZING Except for a tiny addition that Laurie believes was a garden shed, the house had never been insulated. On windy days, you could feel "a huge breeze coming through the walls." It's always a challenge figuring out how to retrofit interesting older buildings to conserve energy without destroying historic features. On the couple's trip to France after they purchased the property, they looked around at old buildings to see what had been done to conserve energy. "That's where we got the idea to build another wall," Laurie said. They used 2"x3"s ripped from 2"x6" lumber to frame out new interior walls, six inches from the old inside walls. This allowed them to preserve the original woodwork around the windows while achieving an R19 value in the walls. They also rewired the house at the same time. After framing, they needed to enclose the wall before blowing in the insulation. Laurie stapled fabric onto the new walls and glued it with diluted carpenters glue. Upstairs they used netting at 15¢ a square foot. Downstairs they tried spun polyester. At this point they were ready to insulate. With a rented blower ($50 a day) they filled the space with Greenfiber, a cellulose-based insulation product made of old newspapers in Hagaman. Next on top of the fabric barrier, they stapled RadiantGUARD, a shiny metallic 32 ecolocalliving.com
vapor barrier that reflects back heat, and costs $0.10 a square foot. Finally they hung sheetrock. They also replaced all the windows. In France they were taken by the beautiful doublepaned casement windows that opened in which they kept noticing in older buildings. But here such custom-made wooden windows were beyond their reach price-wise, at an estimated cost of $40,000. Instead they chose Ecoshield vinyl replacement windows manufactured nearby in Fonda for $150 each. FIXING DECADES OF NEGLECT Everyone who visits the building notices the light flooding into the rooms. "The upstairs apartment is stunning," said Jim. Their renovations accentuated this aesthetic quality. The change is most apparent on the first floor where poorly conceived walls made the space dark, and unnecessary hallways consumed as much space as a whole bedroom. "We wandered around a lot to figure out the original layout," Jim said. After demolishing most of the interior walls there, they reconfigured the rooms to make it a much nicer place to live. Outside they wondered why asphalt shingles kept blowing off the roof. They discovered that up to five layers of shingles had been nailed layer upon layer into the underlying cedar shakes -- without being attached to the wooden roof decking. They replaced all this with a 50-year asphalt shingle roof.
HEATING AIR AND WATER AND SOLAR POWER Furnaces manufactured as recently as the 1980s can still be terribly inefficient and wasteful. The existing furnace from that era lost 20 percent of its energy. It had a 375,000 BTU input and a 300,000 BTU output! With insulation, the whole building heats easily with two high efficiency furnaces that together use 135,000 BTU - "slightly less than twice what the old furnace was wasting," Jim said. Jim and Laurie hired a contractor to install the first furnace for a cost of $6,000, but given the mistakes made on the job -- which they had to fix, they decided to put in the other furnace themselves. Its total cost with the ductwork came in at less than a third of the cost of the first one. For the upstairs flat, an on-demand Rheem natural gas water heater provides unlimited hot water. This tankless water heater cost $830 with a direct vent kit. The tenants, who can set the thermostat as they wish, are very happy with the unit. Two solar hot water panels, salvaged years ago from the Ballston Spa high school roof, will serve the downstairs apartment. The rest of the system - a hot-water storage tank that doubles as an electric water heater with regulators and plumbing plus a drain-back tank - is available for $1,300 from Solarhotusa.com On the south side of the roof they had a 2.5kilowatt grid-tied photovoltaic system installed by Adirondack Solar at a cost of $16,116. But after then federal and state rebates ($2,989 and $2,490 respectively) and a rebate of $6,150 from NYSERDA, Jim and Laurie only paid $4,487 out-of-pocket. Since the photovoltaic system went online in July 2010, it has been producing an average of 205 kilowatt- hours a month. The average electric usage in the neighborhood is 450 KWh per month. But by providing Energy Star appliances - like a modest size refrigerator and washer/dryer set -- plus solar hot water, Jim and Laurie have made it easy for a tenant to reduce consumption considerably.
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS Laurie said their house in the city offers an attractive alternative if aging makes it difficult to keep living "up the hill" in their rustic homestead. "We could make it ADA compliant," she said. With the heart of the city so close, it works as "a great location for an 80-year-old lady." Teasing her partner, she said Jim just wanted another project. Both of them also saw it as a good investment. Laurie, who teaches biology at Fulton Montgomery Community College, had been putting money into a supplemental retirement account every month. She lost some of her savings when the stock market crashed. Now she can more safely invest in this property. The couple did a lot of scavenging for their own home and some community projects, but this renovation has been different. Jim calls it "a checkbook project." The main source of financing has been a home equity loan taken on their homestead - which they get to write off on their taxes. They are benefiting from rock-bottom interest rates and the recession has reduced some costs in other ways. For example, they picked up kitchen and laundry appliances from the local dealer under a nointerest four-year financing plan. They have been able to make major purchases using a no-interest credit card that they reserved for construction, and pay off a few months later. After a year of sporadic work, Jim and Laurie rented out the upstairs apartment. The flat on the first floor will be ready for occupancy by mid spring. Then they will turn their attention to fixing porches and exterior painting and Laurie wants to put in some edible landscaping using permaculture principles.
After falling in love with the Gloversville area in the mid 1980s, Jim Strickland and Laurie Freeman have found a number of ways to contribute sweat equity to revitalize the small city.Along the way, they also built the off grid house they moved into at the end of 2003. They crafted it without power tools, except for the portable sawmill with which they sawed their own lumber and chainsaw. Jim and Laurie played a pivotal role in bringing the historic Glove Theater back to life. They worked on everything from the heating system and floor to rebuilding the stage and orchestra pit and organizing volunteers to paint the whole ceiling. Laurie made the grand drape -with 28-foot-long seams - on a $10 yard sale sewing machine. They also worked on the volunteer crew that constructed the Gloversville farmers market pavilion, after the city received a grant for materials. Now it's the nicest farmers market in their area. As part of a small group of movers and shakers, they helped create the Mohawk Harvest food co-op. This new community-owned grocery tripled in size a year ago, when it moved into one of seven storefronts in Schine Memorial Hall, a three-story, almost 29,000-square-foot landmark building on Main Street that was in need of a caring owner. Here, too, the group of individuals behind the purchase included Jim and Laurie.The group formed a limited liability corporation and sold shares for $5,000. They purchased the 1881 building, which originally contained an opera house on the second floor, for $50,000, with an additional $42,000 going for immediate improvements .Jim Strickland (jstrickland@nycap.rr.com) and Laurie Freeman (radical.accordion@gmail.com) have given several presentations on their latest project and may be available to do another one. Jim's collection of 17 articles about their rural homestead published in the Northeast Organic Farming Association of NY newsletter are posted at www.OEIC.us Home Performance with ENERGY STAR速, Existing Home Renovations Most New Yorkers qualify for a free or reduced-cost comprehensive home energy assessment, also referred to as an energy audit, and low-cost financing through Home Performance with ENERGY STAR. Home Performance with ENERGY STAR loan options offer up to $13,000 per household and up to $25,000 if the project meets higher cost-effectiveness standards, with repayment periods of 5, 10, or 15 years. On-bill recovery loans provide homeowners the convenience of paying for energy improvements on their utility bill. The current interest rate is 2.99% NYSERDA Solar Photovoltaic Program Incentives Save 40-70% off the purchase cost and install a solar electric system by combining this program with other New York Energy $martSM programs. Tax incentives in 2011: NYS - 25% of cost Federal - 30% of cost Every single one of their community projects, from building their own unique and ambitious home to any of the impressive public initiatives they helped get off the ground, has strengthened community connections.
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LEGACY
TIMBERFRAMES WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAIN AN INTERVIEW WITH CO-OWNER ANN MARIE MITCHELL BY DAVID DELOZIER Šstockstudiosphotography.com
Legacy Timber Frames designs, manufactures, and raises custom timber frame structures for residential, agricultural and light commercial construction. The frames are hand crafted at their shop in the town of Saratoga and are delivered to the site ready for assembly by their crew. Legacy Timber Frames carries on the tradition of timber framing, a form of post and beam construction, that has been 34 ecolocalliving.com
practiced for centuries using hand-crafted mortise and tenon and dovetail joinery and connected with octagonal oak pegs. Owners Annmarie Mitchell and Dan Roseberger are dedicated to the art and craft of custom timber frame design and building. This traditional method of construction comes from a time when homes were built to be lived in for many generations.
Ecolocal Living: How long have you been in business as Legacy Timberframes? Ann Marie: Since 1988 - nearly twenty four years! ELL: What attracted you to the Timberframe method of construction? AM: My partner Dan Rosenberger and I were employees at a timberframe company. We love the openness of timberframe homes, it's natural wood, very pretty, and fun to work with. You actually see the structure inside the home. That company went out of business, so Dan and I started Legacy when we were let go. ELL: How does Timberframing differ from log homes? AM: They are completely different. Log homes are stacked horizontally. Timberframes are vertical posts with horizontal beams, and requires an external shell to enclose it. The shell elements, the roof, the sides and insulation are not structural or load bearing. The timber frame is like a skeleton, much like an old barn. It's the same kid of construction that is in barns that still standing and are hundreds of years old. Timberframes utilize the old world craft pegs and joinery, and no nails. It's all heavy timbers. The advantage is that there are no bearing walls. There's no bearing structure other than the frame itself, so it allows huge flexibility for space, and as well as being sustainable and green, also allows you to change the house, many times through many life changes and homeowner changes. Because there's no load bearing walls, you can just move the walls wherever you want. It is truly a house for a lifetime. ELL:You mentioned old barns. Timberframe construction must go back a long ways. AM: It's the oldest form! Jesus was a timber framer! There weren't nails back then. They had to use trees, mill them and tie them together with pins. Westminster Abbey is a timberframe, all through Europe, Asia, wherever you go in the old world countries, they're all timberframes. ELL: How do you feel about working in this same craft that generations of master carpenters have done before you? AM: Love it! It really is a house that will last for generations. When we put a frame up, we know that there will be many, many lives living in it. I am first generation American from Scotland. SO when I go back to Scotland, there's really not a whole lot of new construction there. They ran out of land. What is feasible is that they take an old building and renovate it to make it into your new home. That's the mindset that I grew up with. It's very much that style of building (timberframe) throughout Europe, and I just love it. There's a certain pride in every house we do. ELL: Timberframes then, transcend the trends. Again, being green, it's a construction method that never really goes out of style, right? AM: It's the true meaning of sustainability. Generational sustainability. And also more structurally sound than other types. When it comes to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, they are much better structurally in those situations. And typically we are using local lumber. We've built many homes from the homeowner's trees that we've aquired right there on the property before the house was built. ELL: It's like coming home to our roots. Homes in early America were built with the material available on the land or nearby. AM: Yes, there's something pretty cool about seeing the wood in the home and knowing it came from the property that the house sits upon.
ELL: How do the cost of a timberframes compare to a stick built house? AM: Compared to a custom house, it can be comparable or perhaps 15% more, depending on the design, the style and the complexity of it. There's a huge range. ELL: Are there better opportunities in a timber frame home to achieve energy efficiency? AM: We use structural insulated panels (SIPs) most often for the exterior. It comes pre-manufactured with sheathing; rigid insulation and an interior surface you can paint of apply wallpaper to. It's a complete envelope around the exterior of the frame. And because there's no two by's, there's no thermal conduction, so they're amazingly efficient. ELL: So the extra cost in the building of the timberframe home can be made up for in energy saving down the road, yes? AM: The mortgage on the house is fixed - you know how much it costs you every month. You have no clue where energy costs are going to go. So it's not even like you can project a break even point, because it's completely variable, but always going up. So I think it makes a whole lot of sense to spend a little more money up front, so as to minimize your vulnerability to expensive heating costs in the future. ELL: You've been recognized as Certified Green Professional from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). What did that involve and what does it allow you to do? AM: It's a three day course with a test at the end, based on the NAHB Green Building Standards. So because I am now certified, I can build a house following the procedures to have a certified green built house. The protocol for these standards has been adopted by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), so that it now administers the program. So if you are looking to have a “green” home built, it's good to work with someone who has been certified themselves, even if you aren't going to adopt all the practices, as they will have the knowledge of how it build “green” for this region. ecolocalliving.com 35
PRACTICAL ENERGY SAVINGS SOLUTIONS STORY BY K. GEORGE KELESHIAN OF ZEROENERGY BUILDINGS, INC.
What is Zeroenergy? Zero dependence on fossil fuel energy, with alternate energy, renewable energy systems, and fuel-less power systems! The name Zeroenergy, simply means, "a totally comprehensive approach to eliminate one's fossil fuel usage to Netzero.� In other words we look at the total picture of one's energy consumption. We structure a plan for the clients' overall BTU (heating), and kW (electricity) reduction and to make them carbon footprint neutral. This approach looks at every thing from energy production (photovoltaic), to energy supplementation (solar heat / hot water), 36 ecolocalliving.com
and beyond. We also look at conservation and adaptation, (zero energy coolers, low energy lighting, DC appliances, window shading and insulation). We even provide Sun room additions for passive solar advantages, Geothermal Heating and Cooling, Small Hydro, Small Wind when their site will provide this. We help residential and commercial building owners conserves energy through cost effective alternative/renewable energy and fuel-less power sources. We use the Zerothermic concepts to obtain the absolute minimum kW and BTU for buildings; these are super insulated panels that offer the highest resistance to cold or heat per
inch, enabling customers to secure long term savings on their energy expenses being reduced by 50-95%, with the option of creating a complete self sufficient building with Zero energy cost to the customer. We utilize the most prominent available resources at the site to integrate the appropriate product, some of which include Radiant Heat, Solar Photovoltaic systems, Small Hydro and Wind Systems, Solar Hot Water Systems (Passive, hybrid and active), geothermal heating and cooling systems (over 100 technologies to choose from). We analyze overall consumption, waste and existing energy management practices, and make recommendations in those key areas for improvement. Often times we find much needed improvements which require the least expense. Obviously we would love to sell everyone out there, one type of alternative energy system. However we are realists. We know that in these times of stiff competition, crazy energy costs and limited incentives, it is often the smallest recommendations, which lead to bigger commitments.
Local & Long Distance Credit Cards Accepted $44 Saratoga to or from Albany Airport when you mention Eco-Local
Alternate energy systems are becoming more cost competitive with traditional fossil fuel systems. There are now over 100 Alternate, Renewable, Non Fossil fuel energy systems! But before installing any alternate energy systems, however, aggressive conservation steps should be taken first. Reduce BTU and kW consumption by installing high efficiency appliances, additional insulation and LED lighting. The average 15 to 17kW home electric consumption can be reduced down to 7 to 8kW and a possible 60 to 70% BTU fuel reduction! Once these conservation levels are achieved, then you can go to Net Zero with alternate energy systems more cost effectively. Costs and system efficiency are better today then in years past. However, I often tell clients, alternative energy is not yet the total answer. All we can hope for is to chip away at the corners and put ourselves in the position to protect against future costs. We typically target an 8 to 11 year payback (break even) for Photovoltaic, and 4 to 5 year payback for Solar Hot water & Heating s systems. You could say that that is not very competitive. However, given that Solar systems can last 25 yrs, I would ask, "will your furnace be paying you back in years 12 to 25?� America is facing a major security crisis due to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Immediate action must be taken by all individuals, families, communities, institutions, businesses, and al local, state, federal governments to ensure our quality of life and the security of our planet at large is not compromised. We are a committed to bring forth these new, sustainable energies and environmentally sound technologies in order to reduce and replace within the next 10 to 20 years our dependency on all fossil fuels, enabling humankind to make a paradigm shift in the way we use our resources on earth. We have breached times that call on our ability as a nation to gather the resources and develop the technologies that inspire a transformation in how we deal with these important global issues. As John F. Kennedy once created a vision of man on the moon or the Manhattan project enabled efficient energy sources for all people, we are again being called into action. For more information, contact George at 518-788-3468 ecolocalliving.com 37
THE RESIDENCE AT
SHALLOW CREEK DESIGNING THE NEW AMERICAN LANDSCAPE STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY TRAVIS KLINE The Residence at Shallow Creek is an exercise in teaching young dogs old tricks. The fundamentals behind the design of the house are concepts that have been around since humans lived in caves. Partner these rudimentary guidelines with identifying the most economic and efficient modern technologies, understanding your clients, respecting the site and putting the right building team together, and the house seems to design itself.
ASSEMBLING THE TEAM TO ACHIEVE THE DREAM In this case, the right team begins with the clients, a husband and wife dedicated to building a comfortable, safe, environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient home for their retirement years. The design is by Kata Phusin Designs, a design firm who specializes in sustainable design and alternative energies combined with old world craftsmanship utilizing natural materials. With expertise in timberframing, stone masonry, concrete, carpentry, landscaping and much more, 7 Lamps Construction, who shares John Ruskin’s philosophy of “beauty must be derived from nature and crafted by man” constructed the home. DESIGNING A STRUCTURE IN HARMONY WITH ITS SITE Hearthstone Homes Inc. has been an invaluable resource for the design and expectations of this home. In their company’s manifesto, Hearthstone promises a “truly extraordinary home and living environment”. With the involvement of the Dandridge, Tennessee company through the earliest concepts of the project and into the construction phase, there is no doubt that “extraordinary” is a most appropriate adjective. Sharing the clients’ and designer’s passions for 38 ecolocalliving.com
building energy efficient homes that last for generations, Hearthstone’s engineers helped translate the unique design of the Residence at Shallow Creek into a calculated, admirable, one of a kind timberframe home. Hearthstone’s signature dramatic interior spaces and traditional crafted joinery wrapped in energy efficient structurally insulated panels (SIPs) by Murus have helped create the foundation on which the clients can truly build their dreams. INTELLIGENTLY COMPLIMENTING MOTHER NATURE’S TIMELESS LAWS At 5,000 square feet divided among three floors, the house is about twice the size of most residences demonstrated to be energy efficient. The home’s air volume makes it difficult to create an economical solution using mechanical systems and alternative energy sources. To resolve this, the Shallow Creek design incorporates a mix of passive and active technologies. Starting with a passive solar model, the house is oriented 11 degrees west of south to maximize solar exposure. Properly sized roof overhangs act as sun shields to reduce overheating in the warmer months. The greenhouse and solarium are sited on the
south side of the home to perform multiple tasks. In addition to offering a dedicated space for starter plants for the gardens, the rooms buffer the large density of glazing in the living room and kitchen from direct contact with the exterior, offering an extra layer of insulation. But most importantly, they function as the non-mechanical furnaces for the house. Using windows with a high solar gain coefficient, the small spaces heat quickly using the lower angle of the sun during the colder months. The heat is then stored for future use in the sand bank or accessed immediately simply by opening the doors. The central mechanical constituent in the house is complete vertical ground loop geothermal heating and cooling system that distributes conditioned air using both air distribution and radiant floor heating. John Ciavocco and Geoff Hoffer of Aztech Geothermal worked with us to purposefully design an undersized for a typical home of this size. To reduce the draw of electricity and minimize the mechanical infrastructure, the geothermal system takes into consideration other passive and active heating elements such as the passive solar design, the greenhouse and solarium furnaces, the sandbank and the woodburning fireplace. To make the geothermal even more efficient, we worked with Terry Mogue and Ken Desbois of The Radiant Store to design an integrated solar thermal system to provide high temperature water to reheat the ground loop during the heating season. The “capturing” of heat is very important in a passive solar house, in which certain absorptive and reflective properties can help or reduce the effectiveness of the design. In the family room, where the beautiful timberframe scissor trusses rise to over 20 feet at the ridge, and in the master bedroom with its exposed ridge and rafter cathedral ceiling, the floors are made of dark-stained concrete with radiant tubing. This slab provides the structure, finish floor and heat sink, optimizing the effects of the large south facing windows and doors and demonstrating the efficiency of the geothermal design. Marvin Windows, known as an industry leader in performance, design, and efficiency are supplied by Harbrook Fine Windows, Doors and Hardware, located in Albany, NY. With the assistance of the owner, Tom Brooks, and their representative Rob Feero, a veritable trade artist, Marvin’s Ultimate Casement and Awning windows were selected for their durable, attractive clad exterior finish and fir wood interior which
complements the timberframe and interior doors. The window glass is specifically chosen for each location in the house. South (and some West) facing windows (with the exception of the interior double wall of the living room and kitchen) have a higher coefficient of solar gain, while the limited glazing of the North and East sides have more insulatory properties. AESTHETICS THAT WORK WITH THE ENVIRONMENT Every room in the house (except for the mechanical rooms) has ample natural light, including interior hallways, and is geographically positioned to minimize the necessity of additional lighting during the day. For example, the kitchen will be first to get light on the southeast corner in the morning. The living room receives plenty of direct light all day long. The office, study, and master bedroom, rooms where the homeowners will retire to later in the day are located to collect the sun’s final rays from the southwest. The staircases are strategically placed to encourage air circulation, acting as heating and cooling towers. With reciprocating fans and operable windows in the highest points of the cupola and tower, warm air can be pushed downward on cold days or “flushed” on particularly hot, stagnant days. The denser cold air from the ground floor then gets sucked up through the house and pushes the lighter warm air out. The home was sited to make use of the natural east to west slope, granting passive solar gain to the ground level as the land drops. This shift away from the commonly used flat area of the site opens up more usable space for gardens and an orchard (interests that the owners are very excited to pursue). The swift grade change also helps with earth’s natural insulation as the foundation is buried on the east and north sides, which are least able to benefit from passive solar. Generous deck space and porches invite plenty of dialogue between inside and outside. Large, south facing doors in the living room open to extend the room out onto the deck. A screened-in porch and upstairs sleeping porch offer three season outdoor living, dining, and ventilated sleeping free of nature’s pests. Access to the outside from multiple locations in the home encourages a short walk to pick the ripe fruits and vegetables or to venture out on a nature hike along the 20mile trail system that can be accessed 200 feet from the side door.
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THE JOURNEY CONTINUES As the Residence at Shallow Creek nears completion, the gardens, orchards, and tree farm will be planted, gutters and cisterns will be installed to capture and contain rainwater for agricultural use, and outbuildings with living roofs and other experimental opportunities will spring up. It took the owners 11 years to find the perfect piece of land, another year and a half to design the house, and now their dream is almost complete. Finding the perfect place to live out the rest of your years is an interesting predicament. Some may think designing and building the home that sits on that land is a completely exclusive challenge. Fortunately, if you listen to the site, the sun and the winds, the trees and the earth, the materials and the clients, the land, the occupants and the home become one.
THOUGHTFUL MATERIALS CHOSEN FOR BEAUTY, PERFORMANCE & SUSTAINABILITY Material selection is as important to an environmentally-friendly home as any other factor. All-natural paints and pigments are used in the home. Adhesives and chemicals are kept to an absolute minimum. All wood is treated with water-based stains or tongue oil to showcase its natural beauty. Sustainably harvested, wood is a smart building material. Locally harvested wood minimizes the pollution of transportation. The same is true with other indigenous building materials. Not only are these materials already acclimated to local conditions, but a sense of place and vernacular can be created by allowing these materials to be visible in the building’s aesthetic. A perfect example of this is nature’s most durable building material, stone. If the Hearthstone timberframe is a combination of the bones and soul of the house, the stonework is the heart. Locally quarried boulders from Champlain Stone, Ltd. are hand selected to create a true masterwork through an understanding of the material. The centerpiece of the one and a half story living and dining room is the highefficiency wood-burning fireplace sculpturally enclosed in hand-cut Crown Point Granite stones each weighing up to 6500 pounds. The stonework is designed and built by the Seven Lamps Construction Crew made up of young stone masons that believe in the hand craftsmanship of load-bearing stone masonry. In addition to the fireplace, which is fueled by wood found onsite, a wood-fired bakeoven continues to showcase the stonework acting as a divider between the kitchen and dining area, and allows the avid chefs in the family to create pizza, bread, biscotti and many other delicious treats the old-fashioned way. Other specialized masonry work in the home includes the beautiful concrete work. Stained concrete flooring, oversized kitchen and bathroom countertops and marble-imitating shower wall panels demonstrate the diversity and durability of the material and the artistry of the Seven Lamps Crew. “Found object design” accounts for much of the story behind Shallow Creek. Two massive red oak trees that had to be removed were felled less than 2 miles away by the homeowner and made into the hardwood flooring in the bedrooms and tower office. Granite off-cuts from a fabrication shop in Vermont were used as wainscoting and a tub surround in the master bath. Mahogany paneling from a 1902 bank in Albany, NY has also found a new home at Shallow Creek. The material was removed to make room for the commercial kitchen of a new fine dining establishment that is repurposing the original State Street bank building. Jason Forest of Progressive Finish has done a remarkable job adapting the 110 year old material to flawlessly fit the interiors of the tower office and west stairwell. In the same fashion as the turn of the century craftsmen who worked on the bank, Jason was able to piece together the face frames, paneling, and trim to give new life to gorgeous material destined for the landfill. 40 ecolocalliving.com
The Residence at Shallow Creek is an opportunity to utilize the latest technologies, watch expert craftsmen carry out their trade, respect time-honored traditions, work with exceptional individuals and companies, and build a family’s dream that can be enjoyed for generations to come. The Residence at Shallow Creek will be having an Open House on Earth Day, Sunday April 22 from 1pm-5pm. The Residence is located at 11 Shallow Creek Road, in Queensbury. Take exit 19of the Northway, left onto Aviation Rd. right onto Mountain View Ln., right at 4-way onto Bonner Dr., right onto Shallow Creek, to gate at end. Come learn about the sustainable design techniques from the design team members themselves. For more information, send an email to info@ecolocalliving.com
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RADIATING WARMTH USING STORED SOLAR ENERGY EXTRACTION MACHINES STORY BY RICH ENTWISTLE
Solar power from the sun, wind power and wood energy are renewable resources, meaning they can be used forever without depleting the earth. Using renewable energy is like living off the interest earned by the earth's assets and never touching its savings. Using energy from the sun, nature's carbon cycle goes around, from the atmosphere to the forest and back. Here is how it works: trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. In fact, about half their dry weight is this absorbed carbon. As old trees die and decay, or are consumed in a forest fire, their carbon is again released to the air as carbon dioxide. This is nature's carbon cycle. When firewood is used as an energy source, part of the natural carbon cycle is brought into our homes to heat them. A fire in a wood stove or fireplace releases the solar energy stored by the tree as it grew. If the entire fuel cycle is considered, a clean burning fireplace will heat your home more efficiently and with lower environmental impact than any other fuel option. The other fuel options, oil, gas 44 ecolocalliving.com
and coal are fossil fuels, and when they are burned, old carbon that was buried deep within the earth is released to the atmosphere. The rising concentration of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use has been linked to global warming, climate change and the unusual weather we've seen in recent years. Burning wood does not contribute to global warming because no more carbon dioxide is released than the natural forest would release if left untouched. Using wood for heat means less fossil fuels burned, less greenhouse gas emissions, and a healthier environment. THE VALUE OF WOOD AS A FUEL ENVIRONMENTAL - It lowers the carbon foot print from your home oil, gas, or corn heating system. The smart fuel in our book are wood products, that being firewood or pellets. Pellets are simply processed wood byproducts; a conveniently shaped form of biomass for easy handling into an automated
self feeding appliance. All wood products give off the same amount of carbon whether they decay in the forest or they are burned in a stove or fireplace. However, the fossil fuels such as oil, coal or natural gas all add to the carbon footprint when burned. POLITICAL - Or shall we say political correctness. Even though our goal from the beginning was to provide alternative fuel appliances primarily for saving people money on their heating costs, we were inadvertently helping the world by reducing our carbon footprint. PATRIOTICAL - Burning wood or pellets is a direct way for you to support a locally produced product. Here in the northeast, firewood is plentiful and harvested either by your own hand or by local entrepreneurs. Your money spent on firewood stays in the local economy. When you heat with wood, you are doing your part to help reduce our dependency on foreign imported oil. SECURITY AND INDEPENDENCE - For many folks the feeling of being independent from
the oil man is very rewarding. Being warm and secure in your home when there is a power outage is so comforting. ECONOMICAL - Whether you produce your own firewood or you purchase it, burning wood will save you money. The amount you save will vary based on how much sweat equity you provide. LOCAL WOOD FOR FUEL REDUCES OUR NEED FOR IMPORTED OIL All the sources I have suggest that the B.T.U. value of a cord of seasoned hardwood equals approximately 200 gallons of oil. You can easily multiply the number of gallons of oil you burned by the price per gallon to come up with the cost of heating with oil. Then divide the number of gallons, by 200 to get the approximate number of cords of firewood you will need to replace the oil. Now just multiply the number of cords you need by the price per cord if you're buying it. Pretty simple that way, but if you're producing the volume of firewood you need to heat your home what price do you put on your labor? Presently, a cord of wood retails for around $250, and presently a gallon of oil retails close to $3.50. So the variables per year are the cost of each fuel. Let's say you use on the average 1,200 gallons of oil, which is comparable to about 6 cords. Do the math: 6 cords at $250 equals $1,500. With oil at $3.50 per gallon times 1,200, that equates to $4,200. This shows a $2,700 savings. Most wood-burning systems are an investment of between $2,000$5,000. One needs a class ”A” chimney, a hearth board, the stove and interior pipe, plus installation cost if not a DIY project. The return on this investment using the numbers above can be as little as 2 years - a 50% ROI! Where else can you expect a reward that high? Imported oil is now running between $90-$100 a barrel. With world demands ever increasing, oil pricing has to rise. Without looking at costs or savings let me put this example of oil conservation in front of you. My wife and I married in 1972, and we started The Stovery in 1977. The first 5 years of housekeeping we burned wood for our primary source of heat for 2 of those years. So for 35 years we have used wood for our primary fuel, averaging 5 cords per year, equaling somewhere around 175 cords of wood. The Stovery has consumed about 6 cords annually for 33 years and that rounds out to somewhere around 198 cords. We all know this is not an exact science with precise numbers, but an educated guess with rounded off numbers. That being said I believe that. I have substituted about 375 plus or minus cords of wood over the years, for the equivalent amount of oil. Let's continue with the math. Multiply the cords (375) times the estimated oil equivalent (200) and you end up at 75,000 gallons of oil. To put that into perspective that would equal filling up 273 home oil tanks with a capacity of 275 gallons. Personally I think that this is a sizeable contribution to reducing our dependency on foreign oil and surely it must have an impact on the reduction of carbon in our atmosphere. Plus, the dollar savings of burning wood over oil has allowed us to keep more of our money to use in the local economy! Wow, all these savings, and a true sense of security that price increases with oil during the winter months were of no effect. Most importantly, I had a source of heat; it was sitting out there in my woodshed, impervious to the world oil price fluctuations… what a security blanket! Additionally, I have had a continued exercise plan in place for over 35 years, and I have felt a strong sense of patriotism knowing that I have contributed in a positive way to society. So burning wood has been all positives for me!
Look at what has taken place because one person at a time made a commitment to burn wood for their heating needs instead of buying imported oil. This story should help many people understand the advantages of burning wood. Side effects of burning wood are many, but the one I hear most from my customers is the statement that there is no other heat as soothing as wood heat. It's the best way to “green up” and “go local” at the same time! Rich Entwistle is the owner of The Stovery, located in South Argyle at 4245 State Route 40. go to www.thestovery.com for more info. ecolocalliving.com 45
Fresh, Local Greens All Spring! WINTER MARKET Every Saturday 9am-1pm till the end of April Division Street Elementary School
SUMMER MARKET Begins Saturday May 5th High Rock Pavilion Go LOCAL! Local Farmers • Local Goods • Local Produce
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LOCAL SOUND
THE GARCIA PROJECT THE MUSIC AND LEGEND LIVES ON! STORY BY DAVID DELOZIER PHOTOS PROVIDED
For those of you who love the music of Jerry Garcia and his solo project, The Jerry Garcia Band, you’ll be happy to know that there’s a local band that’s “Dead-icated” to recreating that unique sound and live experience. Their growing fan base already knows, these guys are a show not to miss. Guitarist Mik Bondy has built his own replica of Jerry’s custom Tiger guitar, and he’s got Jerry’s finger picking style down. Add in Tom Lee’s classic Hammond organ, and female harmonies of Kat Walkerson, with a solid rhythm section of Sean Sullivan on bass and Lance Comer on drums, and if you close your eyes, you’ll swear your at a JGB show. The Garcia Project is keeping the vibe alive, and we are lucky to have them right here in the Capital Region. Eco-LOCAL caught Mik Bondy on the phone recently to tell us about the project:
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Eco-LOCAL Living: Is the goal of the Garcia Project to recreate the Jerry Garcia Band sound? Mik: The music of the Jerry Garcia Band has always had a special place in our hearts,. There was some really great music that came out of the Jerry Garcia band, and we just thought it would be a great thing to do to recreate that experience. Tom Lee, the Keyboardist plays the Hammond organ with the classic Leslie speakers that rotate he’s got the full Hammond rig, I’ve constructed over the past several years a replica of Jerry Garcia’s guitar and his whole stage rig, and so having the authentic sounds there really help with the whole experience of it. I’ve had kids come up to me after a show and say “wow, it is like Jerry was right there playing.” So it really has the feeling that you are there at one of the shows.
ELL: It’s one thing to assemble the hardware that Jerry Garcia used in his shows, but it’s another thing altogether to actually sound like the master himself. But if you can get close, that’s pretty darn good. Mik: Yes, but I do have my own style, although Jerry Garcia has been my number one influence. I was in a Grateful Dead tribute band called Tapestry for about 20-25 years, and did the whole circuit up and down the Northway. ELL: How did the Garcia Project come together? Mik: I met Tom Lee at a church, where he played the organ for the church band, and I ended up becoming one of the guitarists. I asked him about playing this kind of music (Jerry Garcia) and he said , yeah, let’s do it!”
That was about as year ago, and our first gig was a benefit for Glens Falls Hospital, and we pulled bass player and a drummer a few weeks before the thing and just put ‘em through the paces and got the songs down and we’ve been growing it ever since. One of the best additions we got was a female singer, Kat Walkerson, she had shared the stage with the actual Garcia Band, and with other collaborations around the post Dead scene, so a lot of people recognize her from that. ELL: Do you have some archives of the old Garcia Band Shows that you can use to recreate the vibe? Mik: We have collected a lot of the music, between Kat and I, from tapes, CD’s and DVD, there’s a lot of stuff out there, with people trading shows online. So you have that, and there’s a few sites that have the actual sets recorded. And that’s one of the things you’ll probably see form us in the next couple of months, is us pulling out a couple of actual Garcia Band show and us doing it again in its entirety. ELL: The Garcia Band did a lot of covers in their shows, and even made them their own with the signature Jerry interpretation. So in a way, by your covering the Garcia Band music, you are in effect a cover band of a cover band! Mik: Exactly! And that where creating the Garcia Band experience really comes in. We have our own flavor, we’re not a robotic recreation, but what do have is the feeling and that’s what people have been latching on to, it’s not just the music. It’s the experience, with the anticipation of what songs are going to be played. People that have been the Garcia Band shows love those cover songs so much. We’ll play the Dylan tunes like Tangled Up In Blue, and then the great Jerry tunes like
Mission in the Rain. They all have an awesome framework for jamming and exploring, with a bit more of a jazzier element to them than the originals. ELL: It’s a hell of a responsibility to be playing these tunes, seeing that the man is no longer with us and made such a mark on the music scene. Mik: Yes, we are very cognizant of that. We play the music out of respect and love. In no way are we saying we are the Jerry Garcia Band, but we all enjoy the music and appreciate it, and I think that’s what shows when people come out to see us. So many people are thankful that someone is playing this music and they can experience it in a live environment. Nobody’s in it for the money (laughs), because there’s not much there, but it is about the music.
IT’S THE EXPERIENCE, WITH THE ANTICIPATION OF WHAT SONGS ARE GOING TO BE PLAYED.
right now, and we are trying to fit it into everyone’s schedule. For everyone in the band, this is not a full time gig. We all have work and families, so we don’t play out as much as we’d like to. But we are setting dates for the summer. We played a great show last year in New Hampshire last year called ”Jerry Jam” and we headlined at the at one. And we’ll do that again this year. We’ll be playing the Capital Region, and also in New England and up North, too. ELL: So are all you guys from the local area? Mik: Yes, our bass player is Sean Sullivan, and he’s from Clifton Park. He used to play with Raisnhead, and the Deadbeats on and off; we’ve got a drummer that we’ve recently brought on, Lance Comer, and he just moved the area via New York City; I’m from Saratoga Springs and Tom Lee on keyboards is from Lake George. ELL: It’s really an honor and a treasure to have you guys rekindle this right here in our own backyard. Mik: We’re happy to be here to, we all love it here, and we’re looking forward to putting on some great shows for everybody in this region. We are all local, and we just love sharing the music. The fan base is just fantastic. No egos, just a lot of love! For more information facebook.com/thegarciaproject or email TheGarciaProject@me.com
There’s a lot younger kids that come out now that have never seen the Jerry band or the Dead, and they want to experience the whole atmosphere of it all, and what was it like to hear it live. ELL: So can we look forward to tour this Spring, of the Garcia Project? Mik: We have so many things up in the air
SPRING GIGS: 4/21/12 • Albany VFW • Family Jam Party THE GARCIA PROJECT Special Guests The Stone Revival Band! 5/5/12 • The Putnam Den • Saratoga Springs THE GARCIA PROJECT Special Guests The Stone Revival Band! 5/25/12 • The Parting Glass • Saratoga Springs THE GARCIA PROJECT goes back to the Clubhouse!
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TAKING THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED TO...
Virgil's House STORY AND PHOTOS BY PATRICIA OLDER
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Evoking the warm cozy feelings of a Norman Rockwell painting, blended with Earthfriendly practices and excellent food, is a unique dining experience just two blocks off of Broadway in Saratoga Springs. It is a place where you stay as long as you want, where you can read a book, put together a puzzle, play a board game, or surf the internet on your laptop. It is a place where you can be by yourself, enjoy the company of others, or enjoy a cup of coffee while the kids play. “It is not a coffee house; it is not a restaurant,” explains owner Kathleen Quartararo when asked to describe her shop - Virgil's House. “People say, 'Then it is a Bistro or a café,' but it is none of those things.” What it is though, is a unique dining experience. Five years ago, when Kathleen first opened Virgil's House, she envisioned a place where people would feel at home and comfortable. A place where they could gather and chat, a place where they could find great food, have a cup of coffee, and be among friends. A place she could be proud to be a part of. And she has accomplished that. “We didn't even know what we were going to call it when we first opened,” said Kathleen, explaining that while how they came about the name Virgil's House is “actually very boring,” and a “trade secret,” she and her partner, James Hahn, initially tossed around the idea of letting the customers name it. “We were going to hold a contest for the name and give the winner free coffee for life, but then one day it just came to me,” said
WHAT IT IS THOUGH, IS A UNIQUE DINING EXPERIENCE. Kathleen, who furnished the restaurant with an eclectic mix of tables, chairs, couches and coffee tables. It is, people admit, the uniqueness of Virgil's House that makes it so charming. “We really enjoy ourselves here, it is so comfortable” said customer Mary Kuykendall as she played a game of cards on a 1950s dinner table. Her card opponent agreed, noting that the foursome meets every week for lunch and then a friendly game of Bridge. “We meet here every Friday,” said Larry Woolbright. “This is such a nice place to hang out.” Growing up in a family that always had a business in hospitality in one form or another, Kathleen said opening Virgil's was an easy decision for her. With an established bed and breakfast in Ballston Spa, she wanted a restaurant that reminded her of the former coffee house, Madelines, but that did not cater to a specific crowd, offered a menu of great food, and was health-minded and Earth-friendly. She pictured a comfortable place to hang out and good times to be had. “At first, I wanted it more of a game room,” continued Kathleen. “A place that was comfortable for all ages; a place where you could come by yourself, or with your friends, or where you could bring your kids. A very easy place.”
And what has evolved is just that. Stacked on shelves in the front room and couch room are dozens of various board games, children's toys, and puzzles. There are books and magazines and newspapers. On any given day, groups of various kinds meet on a regular basis at Virgil's from the weekly Bridge group to the Saturday puzzle ladies to several Mom groups. “Monday night is Scrabble night,” said Kathleen. “And on Saturdays we have a group of ladies come in and work on the puzzle at the puzzle table.” One of the keys to the success of Virgil's, said Kathleen, is the way they reuse or recycle everything they can, from the furnishings, to the dishes, even down to the pencils and equipment. “We even reuse the pencils. When they get too small, we glue them to a small piece of wood and use them to hold the receipts,” she said. Continuing, Kathleen noted that they constantly “search for ways to reuse” items, pointing out a glass display shelf held up by tins which were filled with stones to keep them sturdy. “Our mission is to not buy new, but recycle,” said Kathleen, admitting that she has always had it in her to recycle and reuse. “My grandmother lived during the Depression and she always reused everything,” Kathleen said. “I guess I have always been this way.” Noting that the most difficult part of being Earth-friendly in the restaurant business was educating new employees, Kathleen said they do not use garbage cans, but instead utilize bins for recycling almost everything, even ecolocalliving.com 51
down to the coffee grounds. “We separate everything,” said Kathleen. “We even compost the coffee grounds, so educating the new employees who are not used to recycling can be a challenge.” Other ways Virgil's strives to be Earth-friendly, continued Kathleen, are with energy-saving light bulbs, motion detector lights in the restrooms, and utilizing an energy audit from National Grid. “No appliance stays on if it is not being used,” said Kathleen. “We use recycled paper goods for the to-go stuff and bake in-house.” Even the toilets, she said, are special ones from Australia, designed to limit water usage. In addition to the Earth-friendly techniques employed at Virgil's House is a dedication to keeping the menu not only healthy, but appealing. “Our menu has really evolved,” said Kathleen, admitting that at first, she brought in all her bakery products. “We have really trimmed down the menu to a great balance.” That balance, she explained, included glutenfree items, along with tasty baked goods, a full breakfast menu, great lunch choices, and light dinners.
“We offer peanut butter and fluff and people look at the fluff and say 'How can that be healthy?' but all it is pretty much corn syrup. And peanut butter has all kinds of proteins,” she said, adding that they also offer organic oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, and whole grain breads and wraps. “We still crack our own eggs,” she continued, noting that the majority of food items are purchased locally. “We try to buy local as much as possible.” But the best part, admits Kathleen, is the joy her restaurant brings to her customers, adding that one regular had married someone he had met there, others developed lasting friendships, and still others are such given regulars, that if she does not see them for a few days, she checks in with them. “The biggest compliment is the returning customers and how they say how much they like it here, how much they like the other customers, how much they appreciate our employees,” she said. “We have a lot of regulars - people who have been with us since we opened - they are the biggest compliment.” Virgil's House is located at 86 Henry Street, Saratoga Springs, NY. Hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Catering and special events are available. For more information, call 518-758-6392 or visit virgilshouse.com 52 ecolocalliving.com
OH HENRY! Eclectic • Fun • Original Pictured below from left to right are Michelle Morris, Scallions Restaurant, Kathleen Quartararo, Virgil’s House and Linda Schrade, Saratoga Beads. Photo courtesy of Patricia Older
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Eco-LOCAL People
Dave Levesque & Dawn Dawson, of Dancin’ Time Serving up Dance Lessons and a DJ Service everywhere in the Capital Region! What time is it? If you are in the company of Dave Levesque and Dawn Dawson, it’s Dancin’ Time! Dave and Dawn are the dynamic duo of Dancin’ Time, serving up dance lessons and a DJ service everywhere in the Capital Region. Want to have a killer party? Dancin’ Dave and Dancin’ Dawn are the people to call. Their song repertoire is huge, and no matter the style, they’ll get your party started. And no sitting still allowed! Dave will get everybody up and dancing and having great time. Dave and Dawn also have a passion for local business and sustainable living, and through their leadership with the Sustainable Saratoga group, they are helping to make our little corner of the world a little more eco-LOCAL! Eco-LOCAL Living: How long have you been in business and what inspired you to get started? DD: 15 years. We are ballroom, Latin, Swing and Country dancers, performers and instructors. Through running events and entertaining people, we started getting asked to DJ our friend’s weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and parties. We were so great at getting everyone excited and dancing that we become saught after by many people who heard about us. Thus our very successful DJ entertainment company was born. ELL: What's the best part about your job? DD: Being the catalyst that makes each and every customers event the most memorable and fun possible. ELL: Why do you choose to operate your business in Saratoga Springs as opposed to somewhere else? DD: It’s a wonderful community to be a part of and The Saratoga Region has endless possilbities for celebration for every kind of event. We travel to Lake Placid, Vermont, The Berkshires and the lower Hudson Valley. ELL: Why do you think it’s important to keep it local? DD: To keep our money local and build deeper relationships with people that live closest to us. This keeps the area the way we like it. If we spent more money non-locally that would take our friends and relationships with it. 54 ecolocalliving.com
ELL: What locally owned business (other than your own) could you not live without? DD: Saratoga Guitar, the Farmers’ Market, Locally-owned Restaurants ELL: What are some of the things you do to help make the world a little bit better? DD: Walk, ride our bikes, get involved in community ativities and organizations. Smile, teach ballroom dance lessons a Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga. We use the smallest most fuel efficient cars that we can for DJing which usually requires a large van. We help people find the joy within themselves through connection and expression of their inner creativity as well as connection with other people on creative, physical and spiritual levels through social partner dancing. ELL: What do you like to do in your free time? DD: Spend time with friends and family, dance, hike, swim, go to the YMCA. ELL: What's the best advice you've ever received? DD: Be true to your inner guidance. ELL: Our Facebook fans want to know: What is it that sets you apart and promotes loyal, repeat business? DD: We are fun interactive entertainers that know how to get a crowd dancing and enjoying each other. Our appropriate level of talking on the microphone and choosing the right song at the right time makes memories that will last a lifetime. We dance with all the guests. Because we are dancers ourselves it is easy for us to lead a group of people in popular line dances like the Cha Cha slide and Cupid Shuffle as well as the Swing, Waltz or any other partner dance with your Mom or Grandfather. We teach Brides and Grooms their wedding dance. We also play interactive games and support sing alongs, celebrations come alive when we are there. ELL: Our Twitter followers want to know: What drives you to keep doing what you do? DD: It’s too much FUN! To book Dancin’ Time call 518-542-4272 or visit danciintime.com