Thursday, October 18, 2012
Long Comment Won't Fit!
Hbbil tried to enter this comment under the King/Queen of the Citadel post, but being long, it wouldn't go through. The only way I can get it published is to do it as a post.
Miss Violet
Miss Violet has brokered the question, given the aspect of tourism as a part of the Citadel, "what kind of image do we want to project and play upon"? She has even offered some suggestions based on proposed architecture of the center piece of the Citadel, the location and culture of the surrounding area up to and including "we could just put it all in the blender and come up with something uniquely American." It is this last one that I will address. It can certainly be done outside the walls to each individuals taste but I will throw it out there for use inside as well.
Before I offer a suggestion however, I want to make it abundantly clear that I am NOT a free to be you and me hug a tree eco Nazi. I do however believe we should be good stewards of this world and pick up after ourselves, we should use ALL resources available to us, petroleum products, coal natural gas as well as green. I personally abhor the Green movement and the politics they put into play that have caused a lot of the issues we have today with the growing loss of freedom. That however is the subject of another paper. As onerous as I feel they are, they do however from time to time come up with some good ideas.
Long before the III was even a glimpse in anyone's eye, I had considered a move to the Pacific Northwest or to that area now referred to as the American Redoubt. I researched a lot of stuff but before I could make the move, the Southeast Asian War Games got underway and my life changed. Now it looks as if I have come full circle and anticipate moving in that direction again. One of the main things that I took into consideration was the climate and the cost of heating and cooling. The best answer I came up with was earth sheltered homes. The ambient temperature of the soil remains fairly constant at points below the frost line and acts as an insulator against both heat and cold making it easy to maintain an even temperature in your house year round with little or no expenditure of energy (money or time and effort if you are going to heat with wood).
Need an example? In a winter survival situation when you are caught in a snowstorm one of the best ways to get shelter is to build a snow cave, your body heat alone is often enough to insure survival in one of these. That's just snow. The earth being a lot denser has better insulating properties. So...we should all dig holes and live in dark musty caves, right? Contrary to popular belief, modern earth sheltered homes are full of light and well ventilated. Since I first looked into this man years ago technology has made a lot more things possible now to the point where a concept called "earthships" has come about, where the home is completely self contained, heat, cooling, water from rain on the roof to a cistern and more. The earthship homes use a lot of recycled material, used tires filled with rammed earth for example for walls. I can't help but think that those would make excellent bullet stoppers and lord knows there are lots of used tires and earth available. Concrete and steel earth covered domes are another development. Using geothermal exchange pumps to heat and cool. Solar panels are way more efficient these days. We don't have to follow these concepts blindly, just take what works for us and use it. Think also that in the event of a siege, you can always grow your food on your roof or slopes.
Given the vertical nature of the terrain that seems to be prevalent in our area of interest, this might not be a bad idea. Cut a notch in a hill and build a house right up against it. Safe room and covered escape route out the back, not to be overlooked. Yeah, I know...my bunker mentality is showing through.
Rather than go into detail on my own, a sure way to lose a lot in the translation, I will provide a few links below. I will be meeting with BonnieGadsden and a fell III per from points north of us on 3 Nov for a III to III meet and greet. Since BF is in the construction industry and heading up III Construction, I will broach the subject and feasibility of it with him.
I had planned on doing that anyway and getting off a note to Mr Kerodin, but Miss Violet seems to have "forced my hand:. ;)
Want to make the Citadel a showplace? This is one possibility and could show a means to true independence by living off grid as much as possible. It might even drum up some business for III Construction and its employees once we have taken care of our own needs. Besides...in a SHTF situation you will want to economize resources as much as possible.
For what ever reason, the site will not let me post a hyperlink so here they are another way. GOOGLE these.
Formworks building
This next link show what is possible. Take the photo tour.
formworks building house-for-sale
More possibilities:
ourcoolhouse
Lots of interesting concepts;
earthship
hbbill, founder
Somewhere behind enemy lines,
Peoples Republik of Kalifornistan
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ReplyDeletehttp://iiicitadel.blogspot.com/2012/10/kingqueen-of-citadel.html
This is a very good article. I've been meaning to bring up something along these lines. Considering our purpose, being as self sufficient as possible is vital.
ReplyDeleteFood, water, energy, shelter and clothing are the obvious areas to look at and the first four can be very interrelated.
For energy, I'd like to add this link
http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp
Insulated Concrete Foam (ICF) construction is an energy efficient alternative for those who want more conventional looking structures.
This subject deserves serious discussion not, as mentioned because of Green philosophy, but because it is what we need to survive.
VJ
I was going to reply on the other thread, but as VJ responded here, I will as well, as this is particular to the heating discussion. Rocket mass heaters ROCK. As I had back on my blog from June, with the exact same link as VJ provided, I had planned on making one of these for this winter.
ReplyDeleteHowever that would have required major modifications to my current living location way beyond what limited budget is available to me at the moment. That, and we somehow knew that our way forward was not to remain here at this location forever.
These rocket mass heaters are EXTREMELY fuel efficient, and honestly, should be (dare I say it...) required for every home, as they will be THE primo source of heating our homes in a SHTF scenario. No moving parts, nothing to wear out, just some ash to clean up from time to time, and extremely clean burning. They also make available fuel stretch incredibly far. Also, you can burn anything combustible. The RMH doesn't care. If its' burnable, it'll burn it. That means scraps of wood, twigs, darn near anything.
This would be my #1 choice for heating a house, especially constructing them all from scratch, like will be happening at the Citadel location.
This is something we VERY seriously want to research and consider. At the very least it would probably slash heating costs per home by half to 3/4, and that is nothing to sneeze at.
Also, something else to think about for the original employees of the III Arms and builders of the Citadel. From what I've read, we have about 3000 homes that will be built. All of that will produce small pieces of scrap wood. All of that scrap can be used as fuel for a rocket mass heater. That's a LOT of fuel. After that fuel is used up timber resources will go much further if almost everyone is using a rocket mass heater.
ReplyDeleteAnd also imagine the incredible positive publicity we would garner, if we could state that the majority of the town is heated by 'green' rocket mass heaters. Done on such a large scale, it could set the mold for other towns to do similar things, and get people off of their dependency of the grid.
(Which will in turn cause them to have other intelligent civil disobedience oriented thoughts for perhaps the first time in their lives, and maybe even lead them eventually to us!) :)
I'm on the same page as all of you guys with the rocket heater, earth wall construction and self-sufficient sustainable structures. If we are aiming for independence, we cannot be dependent on energy sources that we cannot provide and maintain ourselves.
ReplyDeleteBG
I'll admit I stole that link from your web site. I was so excited about it that I rushed to get it posted before going to work. Really should have credited the link to your web site.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that all of our residences should have one of these stoves.
There is another factor here besides energy efficiency and self sufficientcy. That is cost of living, which hasn't been discussed directly yet. It probably needs its own post but I will touch on it here.
Every dollar we save is one that doesn't have to be generated by outside revenue. Lower cost of living also makes more small businesses viable as a way to make a living in the Citadel. Every way we can conserve resources and save money improves our long term chances for success.
Thanks for joining us. When we landscape the Citadel, you'll have to advise us on what edible plants to use!
VJ
Vernon: No worries at all. :)
DeleteRe: Cost of living. I absolutely agree. I have much to add on this particular topic that I think others will benefit from. I've been living on nearly zero income for over four years now, with zero government assistance. In short, I've gotten pretty good at it and learned a few things. :D
As you said, every dollar that doesn't have to be paid as an expense is a dollar that doesn't have to be generated by outside revenue. It also massively lowers overhead costs. If we can run the average Citadel household on half to a quarter of the amount of fuel by using a rocket mass heater, then methinks that's something we need to consider. Imagine the savings for the entire Citadel!
And when we ARE in a SHTF scenario, whether it's sooner, or later, such fuel efficiency will ensure that we are warm and dry when the outside world is cold and wet and frozen.
I've got some ideas for making our food resources last several times longer as well, but that's fodder for another post as well.
Really looking forward to your posts as related to food and the Citadel.
ReplyDeleteI'm just utterly amazed at the talent and knowledge of those who have chosen this path. The Citadel seems almost destined to happen at this point. Of course it took someone with incredible guts and drive to put it out there and get it going (thanks K and HK - we all owe you more than we could ever repay).
Onward!
VJ
One thing I keep forgetting as I get caught up in all these great ideas is that the Citadel is unique in that the entire community will be a private business, sort of like a hunting lodge or a resort condo. All of the structures will be built, owned and leased by the Citadel. This does strike some people as odd and there are those who will live outside the wall because of it. However, it appears to be the only way to limit access to the Citadel to those who share our ideals and commitment.
ReplyDeleteThe upshot of this is any of these ideas will have to be thoroughly vetted by the Citadel and the construction company that does the building. That doesn't rule them out and for sure keep the ideas coming. Just realize that the Citadel and construction company will have to deal with codes and liability on a larger (and more visible) scale than an individual would.
And, as long as they check out, I still agree that these stoves are the way to go.
VJ
I will research the Idaho code for such things as rocket mass heaters, and get back to you as soon as I find anything out, with links, if possible.
ReplyDeleteOk, posted what I have initially found in the other Rocket Mass Heater thread, and I can post further info I find there in that thread as well. We kind of seem to have two separate threads going on the same topic, and it would probably be easy to miss some stuff. Still looking for info on Idaho codes. That may be a toughie without contacting them directly. Could be that we call them up and they say "Rocket Mass What?" :P
ReplyDelete