Steeprock Builders

www.steeprockbuilders.com

My new part time job which will begin in January. I'm very excited to be working for this ecological Design/build firm, which has beautiful attention to detail, and a strong sense of stewardship for natural resources. Their workshop is run off solar power with a biodiesel backup generator. They do the entire process from permitting, to design, to digging the foundation with their biodiesel backhoe, to finishing touches. I will be helping out where help is needed, and hopefully will learn a lot about the entire process from the ground up.

Telluride, CO

My base for the winter. I'm coaching 7-8 year olds skiing, but more importantly have chosen Telluride, because San Miguel County has recently passed a Green Building Code for all residential construction and renovations. The town of Telluride has embraced these codes, but is also looking for ways to make them better, with a rating system like LEED so that there isn't merely a minimum standard to be reached, but an incentive for even better. I"m also looking into open space environmental groups like the Sheep Mountain Alliance, and architects around town who are embracing the "green" attitude, or have been at the forefront of this movement. The town of Telluride is an old mining town, so it's very compact, small houses, and great public buses and a gondola to transport people to Mt. Village (where all the second homes are, and large hotels. . .NOT sustainable lifestyles just over the mountain ridge) The two entities of Telluride and Mt. Village are interesting contrasts to each other. The first night I was here I went to a "green" ski movie, about the fate of backcountry skiing etc. There was a short intro "mockumentary" about the Lost People of Mt. Village. It described the day when the people who live (well at least vacation) up there just disappeared. There isn't even a grocery store or a gas station in town. And the houses with 19 bathrooms became uninhabitable because of the excess of space and lack of community.

It's a very small town, but it's been great getting to know people, and talking with them about my passions. There is a strong "green" community, but the trick is how to balance healthy development (affordable housing as an example) with keeping open space and pristine areas. Most people who live in Telluride did not grow up here, a vivid example of how development will not just stop, so how can we do it in a healthy manner. So very intersting conflicts and solutions are taking root in this small growing community. I have commited to 5 months, and we shall see what happens at the end of that time. In the meantime I'm excited to be gaining a community around me, meeting new people who I will see again the next week, and diving right into town activities. (a Green Building Material forum is taking place in an hour)

I will upload pictures when I can, but the computers available to me have not been cooperating.

Eugene, OR-

U of Oregon has a strong architecture program, and in the forefront is Professor Charlie Brown who does a lot of research on building materials and energy use. Since energy is the largest consumption of resources throughout the building's lifetime it is necessary to begin to reduce the impact and lifecycle costs associated with energy use.

Portland, OR

Portland State University- a very strong urban planning program in a new building with lots of natural light and public spaces.

Office of Sustainable Development www.sustainableportland.org
A government sponsored/run department that is in charge of facilitating recycling, composting, green building, and transportation throughout Portland. A very progressive and sucessful organization that continues to grow and enhance the Portland area.

Portland is interesting because they have an Urban Growth Boundary that inhibits the spread of suburbs out into the farm fields. Because the west coast is relatively young, it is able to put in place these boundaries and so far have been able to entice some developers to work within those guidelines and create beautiful, walkable, diverse neighborhoods. . .One example is Villebois, a planned development in Wilsonville that will become it's own town center, and is well under way taking housing reservations and working of the final site plans.

City Repair- www.cityrepair.org
A group of citizens that want to help transform the public spaces in Portland to promote community development, natural building, and place making. They have helped groups of people sucessfully build cob benches and kiosks in their public spaces. Each spring they also put on the Village Building Convergence, a week long event of workshops, speakers, and community building. A neat organization that is walking it's walk.




Our United Villages and the Rebuilding Center- work in partnership. . .the rebuilding center is a place for used building materials that can then be resold at lower prices, and the revenue goes to Our United Villages, a non-profit, working to foster community outreach within Portland.