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eco-LOCAL living, Local Living Guide & Railbird present
A celebration of Local Farming, Community and Commerce
September 26, 2009 Saratoga Springs, NY $15/person Part 1 • $20/person Part 2 • $30/person Parts 1 & 2 • $10/person Music Only - 8:00PM
PART 1: MOUZON HOUSE - HIGH ROCK AVENUE - Kids Age 12 and under get in FREE 12PM - 3PM GROW LOCAL - SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND HEALTHY ECONOMIES LOCAL LUNCH COOKING WITH THE SEASONS SHOPPING WITH YOUR VALUES FARMONY: KIDS KORNER WITH KATIE
Local chicken from Sap Bush Hollow with maque choux over risotto, vegetable beignets, Vietnamese fresh spring rolls, and Farmer's Market Garbage Bread. A lively cooking demonstration by chef-extraordinaire, David Pedinotti of Mouzon House. Unlock the amazing farm-fresh flavors of seasonal, local ingredients year-round. Celebrate the release of our 2010 Local Living Guide edition--50% more businesses, nearly 2X the savings. Receive 20% off at Harvest Fest! Support local, save big! A short film and live music by Railbird. The debut performance of songs about three local farms, a project funded by SPAF. Take home the Farmony songs for free! Make your own lunch with local ingredients: fresh apples, homemade jelly, local peanut butter and fresh baked bread, among other local yummies! Other fun activities for kids will be offered!
3PM-5M - LOCAL COMMUNITY Meet and greet your neighborhood business people: participating merchants will double-up on the coupon values in the 2010 Local Living Guide during these hours. Shop Local, Save Big!
PART 2: PARTING GLASS PUB - LAKE AND HENRY STREETS 6PM THE SLOWDOWN: STEWS, BREWS AND MUSIC SLOW MONEY SLOW FOOD DESSERT MUSIC FEATURE
How Local Currency Builds Local Value: guest speaker: Jasmine Stine of Berkshares, Great Barrington, MA, Sponsored by Sustainable Saratoga Autumn Stew Buffet – slow cooked, locally sourced beef and vegan versions & locally baked bread Sponsored by Mack Brook Farm, & Kilpatrick Family Farm. One Complimentary Beer or Apple Cider, Sponsored by Olde Saratoga Beverages & Saratoga Apple Apple Crisp, Sponsored by Saratoga Apple Slow-core electric blues with the Ashley Pond Band (voted Metroland’s Best New Solo Artist)
Tickets available online at www.ecolocalliving.com For information, email us at harvestfest2009@gmail.com Sponsored by:
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On the Cover
Harvest 2009
Mike Phinney is the founder and visionary of the Phinney Design Group in Saratoga Springs. He is what some might call a “green”builder – a term that is becoming rather trendy in construction circles these days. But a more appropriate term for Phinney and firm is eco-logic, since “eco” comes from the Greek “oikos” meaning house, and logic pertains to reason. They design rational buildings that are “right” for their place. A Phinney building fits into its surroundings, because it is integrated with them. A perfect example is their office building on Grand Street. The three story building mimics the style of the existing structures; most of the materials used in construction were sourced from within a 100 mile radius, utilizing native white pine and stone. The office space was laid out to maximize day lighting and natural ventilation, and a Structural Insulated Panel envelope keeps heating and Cooling Cost to a minimum. The interior is highlighted by roof beams built by locally owned Legacy Timber Frames. The timber frame structure maximizes open space, so that the work environment is collaborative and productive. Gladly, this is a cubicle free office! Perhaps the greatest element of the integration with the neighborhood is it’s multi function design – the first floor is home to The Local Pub and
Welcome to the new eco-local Living magazine, formerly the eco-Local Guide. We have changed the name to reflect the new lifestyle that we must live. With the old economy crashing all around us, it clearly obvious that the corporatist, globalist path that we have been led down is a dead end. If there is a glimmer of hope to be found in the troubling implications of overpopulation, industrial pollution, peak oil, ecological devastation and financial meltdown, it may be the growing awareness that the global culture and economy are failing to meet our needs. In order to turn things around, we need to create healthy local communities and economies that share the characteristics of healthy ecosystems: their sustainability depends not only on their efficiency, but also on their diversity and interconnections. We need to design monetary and social systems that support sustainability and community. People everywhere who believe in the power of local solutions to global problems are embracing this perspective. It’s being called localization or transition, and it’s happening because people are recognizing that the unsustainable global economic system is failing to protect humans, the environment, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
Teahouse; the second floor features an art gallery with a rotation of local artist’s work. The Local Pub truly lives up to its name – it is the neighborhood hangout – there’s even a rack above the bar where your personal mug is reserved. And yes, after a couple of visits, everybody knows your name! A building like this becomes a community treasure, and will be cherished by future generations. Like fine wine, a Phinney design will only improve with time. When it comes to creating buildings with meaning, Phinney Design gets it. They exemplifies eco-local, and we are proud to feature the Phinney Design Team as the eco-localizer for this 2009 Harvest Edition.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE GREEN TEEN…………………………………………Page 6 ADDING GREEN to Older Structures……………. .……Page 7 HARVEST ECO-LOCALIZER Green Building - Phinney Design Group……………Page 10 ARTISAN BREAD Old & New…………………………Page 16 THE GLUTEN FREE CRAZE……………………….…Page 18 CATCHING RAYS in a Passive Solar House…………Page 24
In this issue, you will meet some of the local people who are leading this transition. The Phinney Design Group of Saratoga Springs is our cover story, and they are building homes and work places that are truly living environments. More than ‘green buildings,” the Phinney Design Group’s projects have become coveted community assets that bring people together. Bruce Brownell of Adirondack Alternate Energy knows a few things about buildings as living environments. Mr. Brownell has been quietly designing passive solar homes for more than thirty years. His designs are the benchmark for energy efficiency and living comfort. Back in the old days, every town had a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. These entrepreneurs were the backbone of the local economy, and now are the backbone of the new economy as well. Perreca’s Bakery in Schenectady straddles the old and the new, by doing what it has always done – baking bread. In fact, they’ve baked bread in the same oven for over eighty years. Their steadfast commitment to excellence and consistency is now the centerpiece of the revitalizing Little Italy neighborhood in Schenectady. There’s a surge of renewal occurring here in the upper Hudson Valley region. Abandoned for the suburbanization of the last fifty years, the towns of Ballston Spa, Troy and Glens Falls are being reclaimed by a new breed of entrepreneurs, opening shops and creative enterprises that are breathing new life into the old streetscapes. These walkable downtowns are the new hot spots for festivals, farmers markets and fun. These towns are each embracing localism with a passion, as the pages within showcase. Speaking of festivals, we are having a Local Living Harvest Festival in Saratoga Springs on September 26th. See page 3 for details. It’s an opportunity for all of us in the transition movement to get together and celebrate localism. We need to support each other, and collaborate with each other to lead this transition to where we want it to go.
Clean, Local Energy for the Environmentally Conscious…………………………Page 31
Remember – we are the economy, we are the local. We are eco-LOCAL!
Creating Currency for a Resilient Local Economy……………………………Page 32
- David DeLozier
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Publisher
OUR MISSION To gather and share reliable resources and information which will assist this and future generations to make conscious choices that will lead to healthful, sustainable lifestyles. To provide benefit to all those who seek a vibrant, living local economy by promoting our neighborhood businesses that are committed to whole ecology thinking and practices, and the healthy food options available by supporting our local farming community Harvest 2009 • Vol. 2, Issue 5 PUBLISHER / SALES / MARKETING David Delozier 518-858-6866 advertise@ecolocalliving.com DESIGN / PRODUCTION Centerline Design 518-883-3872 COVER PHOTO Courtesy of Tom Stock of Stock Studios Photography CONTRIBUTORS Amy Stock, Tracy Frisch, Crystal Arnold, Vanessa Baird, Dave Verner, Mary Beth McCue, Joe Constantine ARTICLE / EVENT SUBMISSION advertise@ecolocalliving.com ADDRESSES 38 Tamarack Trail Saratoga Springs, NY 12286 ecolocalliving.com By reading and supporting Ecolocal you become part of our team - and help the greater community of the Upper Hudson Valley become a healthier place to live, work and play. Please tell our advertisers you saw them here. We use recycled-content paper and water-based ink.
PLEASE RECYCLE! Ecolocal Living is published bi-monthly & distributed free of charge to over 300 locations within a 50 mile radius of Saratoga Springs, NY. Ecolocal Living does not guarantee nor warranty any products, services, of any advertisers nor will we be party to any legal or civil proceedings to do with any advertisers. We expect advertisers to honor any advertised claims or promises. Ecolocal Living will not knowingly accept any advertisement that is deemed misleading or fraudulent. We reserve the right to revise, edit and/or reject any and all advertising with or without issuing a reason or cause. We will not publish any article or advertisement that is contrary to the best interest of this publication. We reserve the right to edit articles if needed for content, clarity and relevance.
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GREEN TEEN Apple Picking One of my favorite things about fall it the fruit. Everything is ripe and ready to pick. Every year my family and I make it a habit to go apple picking. We head to Hicks Apple Orchard because of their organic apples. After getting directions to the right rows--usually twice!-- we start picking. There's always one or two “samples” that don't make it into the bag…ooops! We pick until the bags are so full it takes two people to carry them to the car. Then as part of this tasty tradition we head over to the extremely long lines for cider donuts. Not necessary but so good! The donuts are usually gone before we make it home. As for the apples, they are eaten, baked into pies, made into apple crisp, and squished into apple sauce. Yum, yum! What makes the apple picking greener? It is better to eat locally grown foods as well as organic foods. If you pick them yourself you know they are local-you know exactly where they came from and that they don't have pesticides! Why buy apples from another state when we have a great variety right here? You are also cutting down on the heavy trucking that is necessary to ship apples to warehouses for storage and then to the stores. Apple Picking is local, greener, and a lot of fun! If you have a green story or an idea for being greener and or a local company or store you love let me know! I want to hear from you! VANESSA BAIRD is a local teen living green. She thinks that's just great as long as having a green life doesn't mean giving up 'having a life.' She'd love to hear what other teens are doing to be green. You can email her at 1greenteen@gmail.com.
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Adding GREEN to Older Structures By Joe Constantine, Jr.
Photo Courtesy of Randall Perry Photography
ecently, I was asked by a group of building inspectors how they can assess whether a renovation project is green. With new construction, there is any number of programs out there that can guide, or force you, into green compliance. But so far there is little to do with remodeling.
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So to help them, and maybe a reader or two, I’ll take a project I completed 17 years ago to use as a model. The project is a renovation and reuse of a 100 year old firehouse. It is my own home, office and workshop. The reuse of such a building is in itself a green concept. So let’s get into specifics. Even in remodeling, to be green is to be energy responsible. Resource efficiency still counts. And to achieve a healthy environment for the inhabitants is a must. To start, the first thing I do after evaluating whether a building is worth saving is to stabilize the structure. Long term neglect usually means water damage. So I address the outside looking at the roof and foundation. On this project a new roof was in order. Following my own need to be green, I knew of a source of a quantity of very good roof shingles, unused, sitting in a warehouse for 10 years, waiting for a project that never came around. I looked at them with my roofer, they looked good, and
so up they went. This kept 4000 sq ft of shingles out of the landfill. I had a friend that installed metal roofs. He traded me a large porch roof job on part of the building, in standing seam steel for a jobsite trailer I no longer needed. All of the pieces used on my roof were cut-offs from long pieces on one of his commercial jobs, also destined for long term storage or recycling. Although it takes a lot of energy to make the steel, this roof will last a few lifetimes, and then it can be recycled again. The roof is dry, on to the basement. With a stone foundation, the best you can do is to manage the water. On the outside, I sealed all penetrations with the proper sealant, and re-graded the slope away from the building as much as possible. On the inside I added a sump pit and pump, and a dehumidifier during the warm months. Water is a building’s enemy due to the mold that inevitably comes with it. Mold will not only deteriorate a structure, it will make the building’s inhabitants sick. A thorough cleaning was in order. All debris must be cleaned and removed from the floor. No food, no water, no mold. Once the building is dry, we had to get it tight. Where water leaks are the exterior enemy, air leaks are the interior enemy. Old buildings have lots of leaks. I buy lots of caulk and canned spray foam insulation. I’ll
start with the windows…..For money’s sake at first, we added storm windows to the existing units. We removed the sash weights and insulated and air sealed the voids. As replacement window prices and qualities improved, we changed the units in the living space. I personally don’t like the hollow frame vinyl replacement units because they’re too difficult (or impossible) to properly air seal. A few are better than most, so look around before you buy. We used an aluminum clad wood replacement unit. For glazing I get low-e glass with argon gas between the double panes. The low-e keeps the suns’ ultraviolet rays reflected out to lessen the need for cooling. The argon gas is heavier than air so it resists heat loss in the winter. And with lots of minimal expanding spray foam around the unit and caulk on the trim inside and out, we’re ready for paint. We’re ready to move on to other big leaks. Next, we come to insulation. My house had none, zero, ‘nadda’. It was literally heated with taxpayer dollars. I recycled the radiators, metal piping and old boiler parts. We got rid of the oil tanks in the basement and switched to a natural gas boiler, as high efficient of a system as I could find at the time. I wanted the heat to stay in the building, so I had dense pack insulation blown in. It’s made from recycled - See Page 8 ecolocalliving.com 7
newspaper. We’ve been recycling all paper products as long as I remember, so I like to think that some of the insulation is from us. We put 12 inches in the attic floor, and filled the window weight voids, too. Our walls are 3 brick thick with plaster on the interior. The plaster was bad, so down it came. We added 2 layers of foam sheathing to the brick, and then rewired the place. All of the voids for the wires were filled with spray foam. Then we sheetrocked the shell before the new interior walls went up. We taped the sheetrock like normal, but also caulked it to the floor to stop any heat loss. We caulked around any penetrations, like outlets, plumbing pipes, etc. A small hole can allow a lot of human produced moisture into the wall cavities and create a home for mold. So caulk, caulk, and caulk some more. You can assume, because the state does, that any pre 1979 home has lead paint in it. Lead paint abatement is too big an issue for this article, but lead safe practices are a must in renovations. Go to www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/regulation.htm for more info. After you’ve addressed the lead paint issues, I like to use paints that are healthy alternatives. Low or zero VOC paints are finally readily available. As many of the older paints dry, including some still available today, they off-gas harmful chemicals to speed drying. They also contain anti-mildew agents, heavy metals for coloring, etc. So ask your supplier for the healthy alternative. Now, I hate recessed lights, but my wife doesn’t. So we have recessed lights (I’m a green builder, but not a eunuch). Find airtight units that really are air tight, then seal them well. Otherwise, they let so much expensive moist heated air into the attic and again, you have mold. (By the way, if you have an attic hatch or a pull down stairway, you really need to seal these. It’s tricky, but can be done.) Again, our goal is to keep as much heated air or air conditioned air inside the living space as possible. This saves you money, saves on the use of fossil fuels, and keeps the house mold free. Because we have 10 ft ceilings, we also added EnergyStar ceiling fans in every room except the bath, to circulate the air and reduce the need for air conditioning. To reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, we added two pellet stoves and one wood burning fireplace. The fireplace is a free standing Franklin type with an air tight glass door. With this unit I get some free BTU’s splitting the wood and carrying it upstairs. Firewood and pellets are both environmentally 8 ecolocalliving.com
friendly. They’re renewable, abundant and relatively reasonably priced and green in many ways. For combustion burning appliances, we only use sealed combustion. No flue gases to be pulled back inside. A good bath vent fan will exhaust moisture and get us needed air exchanges. We also use an air cleaner to remove pollen in allergy season. Now we need to decorate and furnish the place. For green, that means reusing any existing products whenever possible. My kitchen cabinets and sink came out of a kitchen remodeling job I was doing. My wife painted the cabinets and then stenciled them. I reorganized them into a configuration that worked for us. Leftover units went into my work shop. I made the countertops with extra laminate from a large commercial project. For the bathroom, my wife found 2 antiques at garage sales that we converted into a vanity and a linen closet. All of the bathroom tiles were leftovers from various jobs. There is debate about how green marble and granite are because of the ‘embodied’ energy (energy it takes to produce the end product), but I love it because it’s natural, right from the earth. And the pieces we used fit resource efficiency because they were remnants from other jobs. If you’re creative, you can keep a lot of stuff out of the dump. It’s estimated that anywhere from 10-15 % of our countries landfills are made up of new items from new construction job sites, a problem poorer countries don’t have. If you have extra materials, Habitat for Humanity Restores are a good place to bring them. They will come and pick them up as well. If you need things, they may have it as well. I’ve given a few truckloads of stuff over the years. Speaking of recycling, every jobsite and every home should have a recycling center. A little extra thought will help keep a lot of
reusable/recyclable material out of landfills. Water filters are a great way to lessen the impact of our water bottle fad. (The EPA figures that less than 1/3 of these plastic water bottles end up recycled. That’s a waste of a lot of foreign oil used to make them.) Plumbing is next on the list. Both toilets in the house were changed to 1.6 gallon toilets, not the lowest flow available, but any less and multiple flushes are needed and that seems to defeat the purpose. To save energy, we switched to a tankless hot water heater. It only uses fuel when hot water is drawn. This saves a lot of money and also reduces use of fossil fuels We added a filter to our shower head to remove contaminates from the lead based city water supply lines, and cut down on exposure to chlorine. We painted our old wood floors in the living room and kitchen, and then added low VOC polyurethane to seal them. They still look nice after 17 years with minor ‘character’ imperfections and all. Our hallway and a small room size closet are the only areas we carpeted and we clean them with a HEPA filtered vacuum. We splurged in our bedroom and used glue-down engineered flooring with a veneer-top layer of reclaimed Chestnut planking, worth every penny. There are more areas we could address but can’t for sake of space in this article. I hope you can see how you can turn your renovation green. As you can see from the article & pictures, green can be attractive as well as energy efficient, resource efficient in our reuse, and healthy for the people living in these buildings. And that is what GREEN is all about. Joe Constantine is owner of Constantine Builders, a remodeling and new-home construction firm based in Amsterdam, NY (518-842-9820) This article appeared in the Summer ’08 edition of Capital Region Building Magazine, and is reprinted with permission.
© Randall Perry Photography
ADDING GREEN - from Page 7
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Harvest Eco-Localizer
Green Building - Phinney Design Group By Amy Stock • Photos Providied By David Delozier and The Phinney Group
“Green homes can put green in your pocket,” according to Mike Phinney, Architect and founder of the Phinney Design Group. Located in the Beekman Street Arts District in Saratoga Springs, Phinney Design Group is a leading Architecture, Interior Design and Green Building Consulting firm recognized for their expertise in green building and design. tarted in 2003 with a staff of two – Phinney Design Group has grown to a staff of eleven. Known as an expert in green building and design, Phinney’s growing list of commercial and residential “green” building projects include the Natural History Museum’s Bio Building in Tupper Lake, NY – the first U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified building in the Adirondack Park, and the Adirondack Lodging – Wingate Hotel by Wyndham in Lake George, NY.
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With so much experience in green design, they now incorporate certain green elements into their projects as a standard. Of those few customers who aren’t aware or interested initially in any green elements, says Phinney, “Ninety nine percent of those customers go for it after learning about the savings.”
According to Phinney the average homeowner spends $400 per month to heat a 2500 sq ft home. Making some straightforward investments in energy conservation and efficiency upgrades, such as upgrading insulation using spray foam in the walls and attic, upgrading to high performance windows, and converting hot water to solar hot water, one homeowner in Albany he worked with cut his energy costs by 80%. “Eighty percent of a green building is just common sense,” says Phinney. Customers can see a three to five year pay back by investing in some key elements such as: high efficiency heating and cooling, passive solar design, energy star appliances, and quality high performance insulation and windows Combined with the tax credits offered by state, customers can see significant reductions in heating costs. Phinney first became interested in green building while studying architecture at RPI, where he wrote his thesis on environmental awareness in architecture. From this experience he came to appreciate the use of natural products in design and construction. After graduation, Phinney completed several design projects including a greenhouse. In 1997 Phinney was hired by the Albany-based Architecture firm, Gregory J. Selaman, PC, as the Project Designer and Project Architect for the NYS Department of
Photo Courtesy of David DeLozier 10 ecolocalliving.com
Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) new headquarters building, which the state legislature mandated be constructed as a green building. Completed prior to the first LEED rating system, Phinney worked with many people from the USGBC who were “test driving” the early LEED rating system. The DEC building was one of the first official LEED certified buildings in the country. After completing this multi-year project, Phinney was ready for more diversity in his projects. In 2002 he and his wife Marci bought some land in the Saratoga area and designed and built their own green home. As he worked on building his own green home, doors were opening for Phinney to start his own business, focusing on green building, which he did in 2003. In 2007 Phinney Design Group moved into their new green building, located at the corner of Grand Avenue and Beekman Street. This multi-use building houses the offices of Phinney Design Group, with an Art Gallery on the second floor and a neighborhood pub and restaurant on the first floor. The building has incorporated many sustainable features such as the use of local building products, high-recycled content materials, low or no VOC finishes, high-performance glazing, spray foam insulation and more.” Structurally Insulated Panels, known as SIP’s, were used for roof panels. Runoff from the roof drains onto a green roof built out as a patio on the third floor. The green roof filters the run off, acting as a natural filtration system, meaning cleaner storm water runoff from the building. The green roof also acts as an insulator in the winter and helps keep the floor below cooler in the summer The building also uses plenty of day lighting. The office work areas are arranged in a U-shape with the desks located around the windows providing much daylight. The windows can be opened, allowing for good cross ventilation. Phinney Design Group works with customers seeking a broad range of “green” elements. From aiming to use all natural products with low or no VOC’s on the interior finishes, to installing solar hot water or solar photovoltaic
Phinney Building, 142 Grand Street - Photo Courtesy of The Phinney Group
electric systems, Phinney Design works on a variety of residential and commercial buildings. As a LEED Accredited Design Professional, Phinney and his staff work closely with those clients choosing to pursue LEED certification, taking them through the entire process, from design through construction. Since buildings account for more than 40% of our energy consumption in the U.S., focusing on building energy efficiency is a priority for Phinney Design. Some of their recently completed projects include the reconstruction of an apartment building on Grand Ave and a LEED Platinum level house on Cottage Street in Saratoga Springs. A new urban infill lot, this barn style inspired house has a compact footprint and uses passive solar heating. The Wingate Hotel is a shining example of first steps local businesses can take to build green and reduce energy costs. Hotels are typically huge energy consumers. However, with the installation of infrared motion detectors in each room, Phinney and his staff were able to implement a system so that when no one is in the room the lighting is automatically turned off and heating and cooling return to a set level. This relatively simple design change, combined with spray foam installation, high-grade windows and high efficiency lighting have resulted in significant energy savings. “They are using
35% less energy than what the chain predicted they would use.” Besides the DEC building in Albany, Phinney’s other “signature” green building is the Bio Building in Tupper Lake. Serving as the new maintenance building, office space and a lab, the large 50KW solar photovoltaic panel array installed on the roof exceeds the energy needs for the building. This high performing solar panel system was built with the panels perpendicular to the suns rays, directly on the azimuth angle – following the curvature of the earth. This means every ounce of sunlight hitting the panels is absorbed. According to Phinney, the 50 KW array is actually performing at 62 KW, with the extra power redirected to the adjacent museum building.
Locally, Phinney Design Group has partnered with numerous area businesses on green construction projects, including Capital Construction, SAS Builders and Bonacio Construction. Phinney Design, in partnership with Turner Construction and Forum Industries, has a proposal into the City of Saratoga Springs for the High Rock Development RFP. Their RFP includes a proposal for a new public safety building, parking, two large multi-use buildings (retail, commercial office space and apartments), as well as a large movie theater. In their proposal, all of the new buildings would be constructed as LEED certified. Ultimately, in order to become entirely sustainable we must get to building net zero energy buildings. This means buildings designed to meet their energy needs without external inputs. This is typically accomplished through high quality high performance materials (like structurally insulated panels, super insulated windows), siting a building on the east-west axis so as to use passive solar design, on-site alternative energy generation systems like solar hot water and solar PV systems, and high efficiency appliances. Currently, the cost to build a net zero commercial building is not financially feasible for most builders due to site restrictions and cost of materials. Commented Phinney, “Currently the only way for us to get there (in a commercial building like apartments) is for society to be willing to pay the extra $100/month in rent.” For Phinney, he sees “the new economy is energy efficiency.” He added that we also have to start thinking smaller and simpler. Phinney is hopeful about the growing interest in green building, “I think you will see that trend and interest (in green building and net zero) will continue and people will begin to demand it.” If this vision holds true, we may see net zero energy buildings in Saratoga sooner than we think. For more information visit www.phinneydesign.com or call 518-587-7120. Bio Building - Photo Courtesy of The Phinney Group
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Third Annual Cheese Tour September 12-13 2009
Children visit the Argyle Cheese Farmer in Argyle, NY Photo by Annette Nielsen
THE THIRD ANNUAL CHEESE TOUR takes place this year over the weekend of September 12-13 (10 am until 4 pm each day) and highlights diverse offerings of farmstead and artisanal cheeses made by five area producers in the Battenkill Valley. This drive-yourself tour through lush, rolling hills and bucolic countryside is free and open to the public and features the largest cheese tour in the region. Visitors will be able to see each farm’s livestock, tour the farms’ facilities, and explore the region’s longstanding cheesemaking tradition going back to the nineteenth century. Milk from cows, goats, and sheep is used to make the great array of cheeses found at tour participant locations: 3-Corner Field Farm (Shushan, NY, note: tour here on Sunday only), Argyle Cheese Farmer (Argyle, NY), Consider Bardwell Farm (West Pawlet, VT), Longview Farm (Argyle, NY), and Sweet Spring Farm (Argyle, NY) – all about an hours’ drive north of Albany. The artisan cheesemakers have again expanded their repertoires and this annual event offers the opportunity to showcase some of the most highly sought-after and award-winning cheeses produced in the region – from fresh cheeses like chevre to ripened, Camembert-style cheeses, or aged Cheddar or Tomme-style cheeses. Visit washingtoncountycheese.com to obtain further tour and schedule information, as well as information and links for area food and lodging options. Leading the goats to a nearby pasture at Sweet Spring Farm in Argyle, NY Photo by Annette Nielsen 14 ecolocalliving.com
HARVESTFEST - September 12, 2009 at Salem Art Works. Come celebrate the end of the growing season with local food, music, art and activities for the entire family. Explore the all day HarvestFest Marketplace beginning at 10:00 am or join us for a “Farm to Fork” Dinner and Barn Dance which gets underway at 6:00 pm. Find out what makes Salem a wonderful community to live in and visit. All events take place at Salem Art Works on Cary Lane from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. A silent auction will help raise funds for the Chamber’s Crisis Fund, which helps families in the community experiencing a medical crisis. Last year’s auction raised $1,000 for the fund. HarvestFest is sponsored by the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce. The HarvestFest Marketplace is open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and there will be many opportunities to sample the summer’s bounty, with local produce and homemade goodies for sale. The natural beauty of southern Washington County has drawn a variety of creative people to the area, and HarvestFest will also showcase the talented residents who live here, with locally made arts and crafts for sale. Visitors can also walk through Salem Art Works’ sculpture park and galleries HarvestFest concludes with a “Farm to Fork” dinner made from locally grown food that begins at 6:00 pm and features the music of three local bands, BlueGrassic Park , Dirty Old Strings and Moe Harrington and the White Chapel Band. Eat and dance to great local music until 10:00 pm. Beer and wine available for purchase. For more information, visit salemnychamber.com/harvestfest
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ARTISAN BREAD
Old and New in the Capital Region By Tracy Frisch • Photos by David DeLozier
Today third-generation brother and sister Tony and Maria Perreca Papa share the bakery's ownership and its work, too. Their mother Lilia Perreca Papa, an octogenarian, born and raised above the bakery, still comes in to work at the counter. While keeping its essence intact and strong, Perreca's is expanding. The grand opening of a new bakery/cafĂŠ next door is planned for October 1st. If you're like me, you probably think of small artisan bread bakeries as a fairly new phenomenon, but one old world bakery in the heart of Schenectady has been producing the same handmade bread since 1913, when a hard-working Italian immigrant couple named Salvatore and Carmella Perreca, launched their bakeshop. Perreca's Bakery has carried on uninterrupted in the family ever since. Perreca's makes hard-crusted, Neapolitan style breads in a coal-burning brick oven that dates back 87 years, when the family moved to the present location on Jay Street. Maria Papa told me that the fire has been going continuously since 1920. In one concession to the modern age, Perreca's uses a commercial mixer to make their dough, albeit one acquired second-hand by her grandfather when he moved the bakery.
she doesn't believe that coal-fired bread ovens were typical locally in the early twentieth century. In their oven they use anthracite coal, which produces more energy proportionately to its weight and burns cleaner than other coals. Maria notes that it burns about 500 degrees F hotter than wood. The bakery consumes 1.5 tons of coal a week. While Tony Papa went to work baking bread at the bakery after high school in 1980, Maria pursued her studies through graduate school, moved to New York City, and became a publishing company executive. She returned home to join the business in 1996. She bakes the pastries - traditional Neapolitan-types such as almond biscotti and tarelle (a lesser known salt and pepper stick), and makes the soups. The bakery has stayed small, with less than a dozen employees. A year ago the "cupcake craze" finally arrived at Perreca's. Maria explained the delay: "Our bread is so good that we couldn't make a mediocre cupcake." With customers singing the praises of their cupcakes on Facebook, their cupcake business has exploded. The almost nine-decade-old business has been able to stay true to its roots while adapting to changing times.
As in the old country - and France or Italy to this day, regular customers stop by the bakery daily to pick up a fresh loaf. Many have always eaten Perreca family bread. A younger crowd, whose parents were loyal patrons, maintain tradition. They often come in on Doug Rountree's new bakery adamantly Fridays or Saturdays with their own children. respects tradition. Doug proudly crafts The bakery is also a favorite of students and Murray Hollow wood-fired sourdough bread faculty from nearby Union College. in an 18-hour process as it would have been The bakery uses the same dough to make all made 200 years ago. its breads, whatever their shape or size. The "Things can't get too old for me." Doug, who recipe calls for just four ingredients: enriched prefers scrap pine from sawmills, splits his white bread flour, salt, yeast, and water. This firewood by hand, though he mixes his dough dough also goes into Perreca's popular bakery in a mixer. pizza, a dish better described as traditional tomato pie as it's not the pizza that Murray Hollow Bakers was born in 2005 Americans are familiar with. Theirs, also when this long-time chef built a wood-fired topped with grated cheese, is served at room brick oven at his home in Salem near the temperature. Vermont border. Four years later Doug and Nancy make their living off of the new bread Maria knows of no other bakeries in the enterprise. region that heat their ovens with coal. And 16 ecolocalliving.com
The opportunity to build his bake house came after Doug's parents passed away in 2004. He expresses gratitude to them for the inheritance he received from the sale of their modest home. Doug's oven sits in a European-style stucco building ninety feet from the couple's early nineteenth-century home in the woods. A local mason dissuaded Doug from proceeding with his own sketches, so he purchased an Alan Scott blueprint. (Scott was the master bread oven builder who co-authored The Bread Builders.) The firebricks inside his oven are new but for the outside, he laid bricks salvaged from a furniture factory in Hudson. Doug began his own sourdough starter in his mother's old crock. "It took about 12 days to get my culture started," he said. Once established, sourdough can last from generation to generation, if fed and cared for. Doug almost lost his though. Doug contentedly stays home to bake while Nancy sells and promotes the bread. She takes Murray Hollow bread at three farmers markets (Salem NY, and Dorset and Manchester, VT) and it's regularly available near the cash register at the Village Store Coop in Cambridge and the Green Pea Market in Greenwich, and weekly at Yushak's and Gardenworks. Murray Hollow's signature breads are made of non-brominated unbleached white flour, salt, water, and sourdough starter. Its other breads include bran and organic sesame varieties, and an oat loaf made with organic oat seed over two days. Doug would love to find a local "home-produced" bread flour in the future.
After a 25-year run as a chef, he burnt out and became a pastry chef. But small establishments in rural southwestern Vermont only had part-time work, so he pieced together jobs. At one job, Doug had the task of setting the fire at the brick oven of Rock Hill Bake House founder Michael London in rural Greenwich. Doug came in on the days that the "fire bread" baker there, a Frenchman named Bernard, wasn't baking. The experience as London's "flunky," as Doug referred to the position, put him on his current path. The oven astounded him, and he had never seen anyone make bread without commercial yeast. "I was blown away," he says.
Before his one-year anniversary running the bakery (his first experience with selfemployment), Doug landed in intensive care. He ended up with a pacemaker, missing two months of baking. During his hospital stay he coached his wife on feeding the starter. His heart trouble made him reckon with the realization that, by baking six days a week, he had driven himself too hard. Doug cut back to the more reasonable schedule of baking four times a week. His oven allows up to seven or eight bakes with a single firing so he still can make a lot of bread! And he does, finding great pleasure in his calling -- providing his customers with authentic bread to savor.
Doug's interest in bread and love of good cooking date back to his childhood, when he helped his Irish granny, a Missouri farm wife whom he called "Omi." He fondly recalls the impressive lunches she made for the harvest laborers on the farm. In the navy for two years during the Vietnam War, Doug baked and cooked on an aircraft carrier, feeding a crew of 2,000. He later traveled in Europe and used his GI bill educational benefits to get a culinary degree in Oregon in 1972. As a chef he worked for a first class western hotel chain until he picked up and moved to Manchester, Vermont in the late 1980s. There he worked for small inns. ecolocalliving.com 17
GRAINS and the SUDDEN CRAZE for GLUTEN FREE By Mary Beth McCue, RD LDN CDN, Integrative Nutrition Consultant Mary Beth is an Integrative Dietitian, a Certified NYS & Licensed MA Nutritionist, and is certified in Functional Medicine. Since 1985, she has helped many people live healthy & happy lives by improving their health through foods and nutrients. Mary Beth sees clients at The Roosevelt Baths & Spa in Saratoga, NY, and also has a national phone client base. View more @ /www.sipn.info/mccue.htm. Contact: SaratogaNutrition@earthlink.net or 518.257.6530
Why the sudden craze for gluten free? Is it another food fad, or are there many people suffering from celiac disease? Aren't whole grains a healthy component to our diet?
(pronounced try-ti-KAY-lee), Millet, Teff (reported to be the world's smallest grain and to have a sweet, malt like flavor)Buckwheat, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), wild rice and amaranth are not WHOLE GRAINS botanically true grains but are Whole grains are a great typically associated with the healthy dietary component- if grain family due to their similar you can “tolerate” them. (more composition. on this below) They are gaining in popularity after being At the very basic level, a emphasized by the new USDA whole grain is the seed of guidelines, which recommend various types of plants like eating at least 3 servings of wheat, oats, barley, and rye. The whole grains every day. And I seeds nourish the growth of the emphasize WHOLE grains, seedling into a plant, or meaning no processing and thus supplement nourishment to no flour. Examples of whole those that consume them. The grains are: Whole wheat berries, seeds have 3 main parts: ) bran, whole wheat bulgur, whole - outer shell that protects the wheat couscous and other seed, provides fiber, strains of wheat such as kamut phytonutrients, b-vits, trace and spelt, Brown rice, Corn, minerals like iron, copper, zinc, whole cornmeal, popcorn, Oat magnesium 2) endospermgroats, steel-cut oats, Whole rye, provides carbohydrates for Hulled barley (pot, scotch and growth, small amount of protein pearled barley often have much & b vits, and 3) the germ-the of their bran removed), Triticale smallest part, “nutrient 18 ecolocalliving.com
storehouse” source of healthy levels, for many different fats, trace minerals, vit E & B, reasons. Some have a severe antioxidant and phytonutrients allergy, others an intolerance which in many cases can be If you eat whole-grain foods associated with another chronic on a regular basis, you can help health problem they are protect yourself from heart experiencing. disease and lower your cholesterol level; avoid many Celiac disease (also known as cancers, reduce your risk of gluten-sensitive enteropathy or diabetes, promote digestive celiac sprue) is a common health and even decrease body autoimmune disorder, induced weight and/ maintain a healthy by eating gluten. “Gluten” is the body composition of lean: fat general name for storage ration and much more. proteins called prolamins in wheat, rye and barley. Some ARTISAN sources will also indicate to There is also a bread referred eliminate spelt and oats. More to as “old world artisan” bread specifically, these prolamins are: bakers. This bread is very Gliadin in wheat, Secalin in rye, healthy (as long as you can Hardein in barley and Avenin in handle gluten) and oats (This is controversial, as unadulterated. If it is made with sources indicate pure oats do gluten free grains, then those not contain gluten. Oats are, that have intolerance to gluten however, commonly crosscan tolerate the bread. contaminated with wheat.) and An artisan is a skilled worker some people with issues with who crafts things carefully in wheat, rye barley can not small lots so as to give each item tolerate oats or spelt. the care it deserves, the opposite Celiac is a variable systemic of large-lot foods that are simply disease, rather then a digestive and cheaply mass-produced. For alteration only. Celiac is example: a French or Italian-style characterized by histopathologic baguette loaf vs. white Wonder (microscopic pathology of bread. "Artesian" refers to diseased tissue) abnormalities of water naturally stored under the small intestine. Other pressure in a deep area of the conditions may be ironwater table. Artisan bread deficiency anemia, osteoporosis, makers use a lot of arthritis, dermatitis sourdough/ferment starters and herpetiforme, and neurologic usually steer clear from disorders, peripheral neuropathy preservatives. Recipes tend to and ataxia. use more whole grain and organic ingredients and these Antigen blood tests are used as recipes have very European a screening tool, but there is roots. a potential for false negative. Celiac is diagnosed by jejunal An example of this is biopsy and confirmed by the finding a local bakery that elimination of signs and symptoms bakes this bread. A more with the elimination of dietary commercial type is “Manna Bread” gluten. A negative biopsy does www.mannaorganicbakery.com. not completely rule out gluten They offer several types of bread. allergy, as false negatives do The Carrot raisin is great and the occur. Those with celiac disease ingredients are simply: Sprouted tend to have other autoimmune organic whole wheat kernels, diseases. Some examples are: filtered water, organic carrots, Thyroid disease, Lupus, Type 1 and organic raisins. Best to keep diabetes mellitus, Liver disease, fresh in the freezer as they do Vascular disease, Rheumatoid not contain preservatives. arthritis, Sjogren's Cancer The treatment for celiac disease GLUTEN FREE Many people are following a is removal of all gluten gluten-free diet, at various - See GRAINS Page 34
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You can never change things by fighting the existing reality, to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. - Buckminster Fuller
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Catching Rays - in a Passive Solar House By David Delozier and Adirondack Alternate Energy
If you ask ten people what solar energy progressively wider arc, rising higher above means, at least eight will describe the the horizon until June 21, our longest day, rectangular solar collectors they've seen on a when the sun is at its zenith. roof - what's known as an active solar system. Because of the mechanics of active systems, In order to use the however, large-scale home heating project that use them have been unsuccessful, sun's energy wisely, especially in the Northeast, where the least amount of sun is available at a time when the one must understand most amount of heat is needed. Recently, there has been a growing interest in passive solar for home heating. Passive solar is actually a design tool, not an appliance like a solar collector. It depends on orienting the structure to the sun and allowing the sun to heat the interior space, and it encompasses environmental concepts that range from using vegetation for summer shade to berming the north side of a structure with earth to reduce air infiltration. In order to use the sun's energy wisely, one must understand its geometry and some fairly simple laws of nature. During the winter months the sun rises late and sets early, and is low on the horizon. At its lowest point, on December 21, the sun can shine farthest into a structure-even though the length of time it shines is the shortest of the year After that, it travels in a 24 ecolocalliving.com
its geometry and some fairly simple laws of nature.
If a house is oriented to solar (true) south, the glass on the south side will admit a maximum amount of sunshine in winter, and less during the summer when the sun's path is principally over the roof. At a latitude of 4O to 44, as it is in the northern United States, two to three times more energy will enter a passive solar house in January than in June. Nature also increases solar gain in winter by placing a blanket of white snow on the ground, which reflects even more energy into the building. In summer, energy absorbers like grass and weeds help to reduce energy entering the building.
The windows in a solar house are placed primarily on the south side, and secondarily on the east and west. North-facing glass is kept to a minimum because the north side of a building receives no direct sun, and therefore is the coldest side. All windows on the south, east, and west sides of the house are double glazed to allow the sun's light to enter easily, yet to retard the loss of heat. Bruce Brownell, owner of Adirondack Alternate Energy (AAE) has been designing passive solar homes for over 30 years. He has perfected a system that captures the suns warmth and saves it for use in heating the house. AAE designs are called Low Energy Requirement homes (LER), because, other than sunshine, they operate on very little auxiliary heat input. Brownell's homes are atypical of what you might perceive to be a solar home - they do not look “solar� typically with large amounts of south facing and large overhangs. In fact, a AAE designed home could appear as a basic shape of a house-a saltbox, for example-the interiors can range from rustic to elegant, from Colonial to contemporary. An AAE house is simple in its approach to energy conservation: it conserves the energy already available, and takes advantage of the free energy of the sun.
Everyone now understands the value of insulation, but the builder of a passive solar house must be obsessed by it. The insulation enclosing an Adirondack Alternate Energy LER house totally surrounds the exterior of the building and its foundation. In fact, because the foam boards are applied to the outside of the frame, they are the exterior. The insulation, foil-faced on both sides to reflect heat and to stop air and moisture movement, is fixed in two 2-inch layers, with the seams in each layer staggered and sealed tightly with reflective foil tape. All holes (made by nails, doors, vents, windows, etc.) in this envelope are sealed with high quality caulks and tapes on the outside: inside, foam caulking is used around window and door frames. The result is an envelope that performs with an average R value (resistance
to heat moving in either direction) of 36 on all brick, concrete, sand, or water. Low Energy six sides of the house. Requirement houses use an efficient thermal storage system that combines several This insulation envelope also conserves the properties. Because the houses are superheat generated by the activities of the insulated and have areas of south-facing occupants-which can contribute as much as glass equal to about one-third the area of the one-third of the house's needs for heat. south walls, they need heat storage systems Combined with the sun's contribution, this capable of absorbing nearly two-thirds of the leaves less than one-tenth of the year's solar input they receive on sunny winter warmth to be supplied by other means. days-or the houses will overheat. A typical The insulation also creates a weather seal for 2,400 square foot house built by Adirondack the entire house. The interior is a capsule of Alternate Energy will receive about 350,000 warm weather, a microclimate that maintains Btus of solar energy on a sunny winter day. a relative humidity of 45 to 50 percent all but during the sunny hours it only needs winter long. Plants thrive. There is little or no approximately 30,000 Btus to maintain a static electricity Sore throats, runny noses, comfortable temperature. The heat storage and dry cracked skin are rare, because the system, which weighs roughly 150 to 200 moisture level in the air is nearly ideal for the tons, can store 10,000 Btus of thermal energy human body. Homeowners consistently report (heat) for each Fahrenheit degree change that these comfort benefits are the best (100,000 Btus of heat dumped into the rewards of their homes. Sweeta and Richard storage mass, in other words, will raise its Aulicino, whose house is in Lake George, temperature by one degree Fahrenheit) commented about the constant humidity Because the insulated mass can hold energy level of their 2,400 square-foot house: “It is a for long periods, the need for additional heat plus for our overall health. We don't get during stretches of cloudy days is reduced. coughs and colds here, and our skin never Adirondack Alternate Energy has named its dries out, that is unless we travel. We can't thermal storage system a Heat Energy wait to get back to our home,� says Sweeta. Battery because it stores heat in much the When the sun is shining on a winter's day, the way an automobile battery stores electricity, heat coming in through the windows of a whether that heat originally comes from the passive solar house can be equivalent to sun, a person's body, appliances in the house, having three furnaces running full blast- or a woodstove. without a way to turn them off. Thermal The main component of the thermal storage storage is the means by which this excess free is located under the entire first floor of the energy is controlled and regulated. Because house, which can be either the basement or thermal storage is a means of holding heat the ground floor level. Adirondack Alternate that already exists (and not, like a furnace, a Energy commonly uses sand 4 feet deep as way to produce more heat when you need it), the storage medium, but stone dust, mine it must consist of material that can absorb a tailings or concrete also have been lot of heat, hold it, and release it gradually. deployed with equal success. The materials that do this best are simple
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A second component of the thermal storage system is its vertical mass. Located near the center of the house, this masonry or concrete chimney reaches from the foundation to the roof. Within it are the air circulation shafts, which pick up hot air near the peak of the house and transport it through the vertical mass to the sand bed below. If a woodburning stove is used to supplement the heat, the stove flue is also installed within the vertical mass. Between the horizontal and vertical masses is a large space where a squirrel cage fan pushes heated air collected at the top of the house through a grid of metal piping embedded in the sand mass. When the temperature in the house is warmer than the temperature in the sand mass, as it would be on a sunny day, the air passing through the pipes in the storage bed warms the walls of those pipes, which in turn, warms the sand. The air, now cooler, goes back into the house through registers along the perimeter walls creating a loop of air through the house. The same loop of air warms the house when its temperature is lower than that of the sand mass. The house air circulated by the fans absorbs the stored heat from the sand storage and releases it to the house through the registers.
building's need for auxiliary energy. More important, it will regulate temperature swings and keep temperatures even throughout the house. It can be engineered for any style of house, and virtually eliminates the need for expensive devices such as automatic venting or insulated shades or shutters.
On a sub-zero blustery winter night, stored energy and heat from the activities of the family inside will keep a Low Energy Requirement House at about 60 F But 70T is more comfortable for most people, so you may need a way to add 10 degrees or so to the air temperature of the house. Most homeowners choose airtight woodstoves as their supplementary heat. During a cold, icy winter in the northeast, an airtight woodstove may burn one to one and a half cords of seasoned hardwood to keep a 2,400 square foot house warm for the entire season. The Aulicino's have installed a heat exchanger into the air column that taps into the hot water tank, which operates on propane. Because lowpowered fans move the house air constantly, it can be warmed as it passes over the coils. If it has been sunny all day, there may be no need for supplemental heat. The system is so efficient that they only use 400 gallons of propane to heat The system operates on a twenty four hour their 4,000 sf home for the year! cycle, accepting heat from all sources during the day, and releasing that heat at The appliances in most of Adirondack Alternate Energy's houses are electric, night. because the combustion byproducts given Indoor temperatures, which in most houses off by gas stoves and hot water heaters are range from 66° to 74°F throughout the undesirable in spaces where air movement winter months, are regulated by the is so tightly controlled. Because the interaction of the heat storage and air appliances are also secondary sources of handling systems, and the sources of heat heat, owners of these houses quickly learn in the house. The radiation of heat through to balance laundry washing and drying or the structural concrete slab and flooring bread baking against cloudy days. that covers the storage mass keeps the It's these type of behavioral changes that floors warm and comfortable. are, perhaps, the greatest benefit to living The temperature balance engineered into in a solar home. Because they are each house is a departure from dependent on the sun for their warmth, the “traditional' passive solar design. For occupants learn to respect the value of instance, the amount of south-facing glass energy in all its forms. While it requires is less, to reduce excessive heat loss more thought during the designing of the through the windows. The storage volume, house, ultimately a solar house offers much larger than it would be in that benefits beyond the simple satisfaction of “traditional” passive solar house, is home ownership. What is the value of designed to moderate temperatures, in cheerful rooms filled with light? Of ending cooperation with the superior insulation the personal fear we have all felt whenever envelope and the air circulation system, as our nation's energy supplies are well as to store heat for use during average threatened? Can any homeowner truly periods of sunless skies. evaluate lifetime savings in fuel costs or the rewards of peace of mind? And the The Heat Energy Battery is therefore the biggest question of all…why aren't we temperature equalizer for an Adirondack doing more of this? Alternate Energy house. It will decrease the 26 ecolocalliving.com
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"The NYS Exclusive Wine Seller" and "The Bake Shop" Cooking Classes • Educational Seminars Weekly Field Trips • Friday Evening Wine Tastings and much more...
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Clean, Local Energy for the Environmentally Conscious... and Fiscally Smart
By David Verner
For those of you who may have missed reading my article in the last issue of the Ecolocal Guide, I talked about Bill and Jennifer from Malta. Bill and Jennifer live in a 2,100 square foot home and have 2 young children. As with many families today, they are environmentally conscious and also fiscally smart. Bill and Jennifer have an interest in installing solar at their home but have no idea where to start.
Being fiscally smart, Bill and Jennifer want to maximize their investment, which is why they want to install photovoltaics (PV) first and then down the road contemplate installing solar thermal. The current State incentive program is only for PV to make electricity and not solar thermal for heating hot water. The household uses on average 450 kWh per month. Kilowatt-hours (kWh) is how the utility company measures electricity usage.
The first thing we need to discuss with Bill and Jennifer is their energy consumption. Have they replaced all their incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient CFLs? Do they have any old appliances that can be replaced with an Energy Star model? Are their home windows energy efficient and does the house have enough insulation? Once we establish the basics of efficiencies then we can start to evaluate how their home is oriented in regards to the azimuth. The azimuth is just a fancy word for seeing if the long portion of the roof faces south. The closer to true south the house faces the more solar gain it will have. Most homes do not face directly south but that is still Ok because the technology can still produce energy. The further away from true south though, the less energy produced.
Now that we know how much electricity the household uses, we will compare it to how much square footage of PV modules the roof can support. Bill and Jennifer's roof can support a 4 Kilowatt (kW) system, which should offer them 100% of their electricity usage. NYSERDA, which is the state authority that manages the incentive program, will offer a very generous incentive on this system. The total cost of this system comes out to $29,000. But because of the incentive program and State and Federal tax credits, Bill and Jennifer will ultimately only end of paying $7,650 out of pocket. For $7,650 Bill and Jennifer have secured their electricity power, with a life expectancy of their system to be over 30 years.
Bill and Jennifer's home faces “almost south� so they have a good orientation. Unfortunately, they have a dormer on the most easterly side of the house. This dormer casts a shadow on a portion of the roof so we will need to stay away from installing our panels in this area. If their home was oriented too far off south
or if their dormer cast a shadow across the entire roof then we would evaluate putting the panels somewhere in their yard using a pole or ground-mounted system. Installing solar on the ground has its advantages and disadvantages, which we will discuss in a later article, but for now it looks like Bill and Jennifer can install a roof-mounted solar system. Their roof is asphalt shingled and only 4 years old. If it was over 10 years old I would want them to replace the shingles before we install the solar. My next task is to measure any shading that may fall upon the roof from trees or things like a telephone pole. Since the sun moves across the sky differently depending on the seasons, I will use a shading analysis tool. This tool will give me a shading reading for the entire year. I can then calculate what that does to solar gain. Bill and Jennifer have a white pine off to the side of their yard that would throw a small shadow on the roof during the winter months. With a little trimming though, the tree will no longer throw a shadow and we will have full sun all year long.
In our next issue we will discuss how a pole or ground-mounted system would have worked for Bill and Jennifer if their home's roof was not situated correctly or had too many obstacles casting shadows. David Verner is CEO of Adirondack Solar (ADKsolar.com), a solar installation company specializing in all aspects of solar technology including grid-tied battery backup systems and off-grid applications. He can be reached at 1.877.407.3356, dkvener@ADKsolar.com.
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Creating Currency for a Resilient
Local Economy By Crystal Arnold
Imagine a world of sufficiency where needs are met through a web of local relationships, where meaningful exchanges circulate goods and services independent of the availability of national dollars. One of society's most common misunderstandings about money is that it is an object, when it is actually an agreement of trust. According to Lewis Lapham, author of Money and Class in America, “Money ranks as one of the primary materials with which mankind builds the architecture of civilization.” Economic textbooks describe money according to its functions-a store of value, a medium of exchange, and a standard of valuation. Money itself is actually a symbol of exchange that carries value through agreement only. What would the numbers in our bank account be worth if no one would agree to accept them in exchange for goods or services? In my view money is a social interface of provision, a tool for engaging with others to satisfy needs. As many people uncover their own behaviors and attitudes about money, they realize the way they relate with money is often the way they relate with most everything in life. Lyn Twist, in her book Soul of Money, writes, “Money is a current, a carrier, a conduit for our intentions.” In dozens of communities across the United States, complementary currencies (CCs) have become powerful tools that generate resilience in local economies. CCs are created in a variety of forms including time hours, mutual credit systems, precious metals, and even seed or energy-backed coupons. Like national currency these new CCs are not mere coinage, they are a whole system of value transaction, exchange of credit, and agreement of mutual trust. Complementary currencies exist parallel to the national currency, and, by design, fulfill a different role. CCs enable relationships and behavior to develop to match unmet needs with under-utilized resources, providing a way for people to engage in the local economy that is not limited by their access to dollars. Because 32 ecolocalliving.com
diversity is a key element in resilient systems, which are able to adapt to change and reorganize wisely, these new exchange mechanisms reflect an evolving economic strategy of regions to encourage trade of local goods and services. New avenues of transaction open as latent human energy is accessed. By design, complementary currencies are at the heart of a localization movement.
actual capital (think “currency”) on deposit at the banks. The banks' multiplication of capital is considered to be bank “credit”this “money” has never been issued as currency, and thus there will never be enough credit in the system to repay all of the debt. The system only thrives if the credit is re-churned through more loans and increasing debt and will collapse if too many banks demand repayment of debt. Not enough currency to repay all debts in the THE CURRENT SYSTEM modern fractional reserve banking system Currency expert Margrit Kennedy writes, requires perpetual growth and inevitable “Money can be made to serve rather than to bankruptcies, concentrating wealth. rule, to be use- rather than profit-orientedand to create abundance, stability, and The fractional-reserve banking system sustainability … [Although] money is one of goes one step further in creating imaginary the most ingenious inventions of mankind currency-interest is charged on the loans. …[it has] the potential to be the most According to currency expert Bernard Lietaer destructive or most creative.” (www.lietaer.com), there are three consequences to the charging of interest on The creation of money has more cause money created through lending: than justification, as demonstrated by the 1) Systemic competition is encouraged $700 billion bailout of the banking system among participants; by the US government in October 2008. 2) Endless economic growth is required Where does this money come from? Actually, for perpetuation of the system, despite money is created by the banking system falling standards of living; itself. Every dime of national currency in 3) Wealth is accumulated in the hands of circulation today is printed as a loan to the a few. federal government. This federal debt is Most of the assets that are called money are backed by the government's capacity to tax not actually physical bills, but bank accounts citizens. Each social security number, and created through lending, with interest owed. attached human's future taxability, is Most national currencies are fiat, which collateral for the private bankers who create comes from the Latin term “let it be done” currency. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith and means “by decree.” The dollar's wrote, “The process by which money is usefulness results not from any intrinsic created is so simple that the mind is value or guarantee that it can be converted repelled.” But these physical dollar bills are into gold or another currency, but comes only a fraction of the picture. This national from a government's order (fiat) that it must currency is then multiplied many times as be accepted as a means of payment. The US loans deposited as numbers in electronic government relinquished its authority of bank accounts. This second type of money is currency creation in 1913 when the Federal created through the magic of fractionalReserve Act was passed. The issuance of reserve banking, the system used to issue currency was transferred to the Federal money through loans to individuals and Reserve Bank, a quasi-private entity owned businesses. Federal regulations allow banks by commercial banks. to lend out approximately nine times the
As taxpayers we are responsible to repay the principal and interest that the US government owes on its massive debttaxable labor and productive assets are collateral for these treasury bonds now held by governments, businesses and individuals. The top four holders are currently China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and oil exporting countries as a group (www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt). Many economists say the American government's outstanding debt is reaching a point where a gigantic national default is likely. Systemic banking defaults have caused massive social and economic disruption in Mexico, Argentina, Russia, and South Asia in the last several decades. Implementing diverse trading systems can alleviate this shock. National currencies and monetary systems sustain competition and perpetuate the diplomatic culture of international domination and economic oppression. Lietaer said, “Greed and fear of scarcity are, in fact, being continuously created and amplified as a direct result of the kind of money we are using.” Divide and conquer is the strategy of the ruling class. For the banksters to continue their game there must be competition to distract the masses. Fear, racism, and separation have driven much of humanity to search for happiness and meaning in a dollar. Through this misery of scarcity there shines a deep desire to unite and connect with each other in a meaningful way, and to harmonize human actions with the earth. Monetary systems shape social behavior. The transformation being implemented in CCs is not about taking away from the haves to give to the have-nots, but rather giving everyone an equal opportunity to generate new wealth in a new monetary system. COOPERATION AND RELATIONSHIPS Natural ecosystems thrive because of diverse elements interacting cooperatively in a balanced, healthy competition. This harmony of forces generates integrity for the whole and supports the component integrity of individuals. When basic needs are met, there is cohesion and rest, and humans dance together in a nourishing rhythm of life, trading with each other and with the earth. Born from this beat is creative generosity. Real value is not in currency itself, but in the relationship formed through exchange of currency. The word “community” comes from the Latin cum (which means “together, among each other”) and munus (which
means “gift”). That dollar bill in your pocket economic equity and participatory democracy.” is only worth what others are willing to The sacred responsibility of stewarding trade-it is a score-keeping representation of the earth through human relationships has exchangeable worth. been discouraged by the nature of modern Money as debt has been used as a tool by currency design. Feelings of betrayal, anger, banks to extract resources and energy, both and grieving are a result of the current from land and people. Catherine Austin Fitts financial manipulation. Transparency (www.solari.com) describes this as a cultivates trust, and in many online CC “tapeworm economy.” This evocative systems reputation is built through reviews metaphor illustrates the parasitic and recommendations (like eBay.) Each relationships created by the dominant “bank” account is on display, but instead of financial system in which desire to consume being respected for having large amounts of more is infused in Americans through credits stored, merit is based on the number advertising, much like a tapeworm which of transactions each business or individual injects its host with a chemical to make the makes and the quality of goods and services person crave sugars that it then feeds on. that are supplied. This incorporates Modern society is saturated with marketing qualitative measurement into transactional images that create an insatiable hunger for decisions, instead of relying upon the stark consumption. Humanity is awakening from quantitative analysis of conventional the spell of a centralized currency system currency based upon the false assumption that perpetuates scarcity, competition and that more is better. hyper-consumption. In essence, a free-market economy will INTELLIGENT DESIGN AND TRUST facilitate exchange at a fair price based on Financial permaculture is an exciting the opposing forces of supply and demand. and evolving field of interest The indigenous market culture develops (finalcialpermaculture.org). An economic relationships through negotiation of prices. system reflects patterns observed in a This wisdom heals the sterile consumption natural ecosystem, where communities of loop of price tags and self-check outs as the contributors take what they need and fabric of community is rebuilt through generate value for the entire network. meaningful exchange using CCs. Financial permaculture-a model that takes a Currency creation is shrouded by whole ecosystem approach to economics-is mystique and power. Using CCs, many guided by principles that can give a positive pockets of humanity are discovering a river net return to investments, not only to of treasure that flows when exchange is individuals but also the entire system. independent of national currency. Mutually The velocity of money, or speed at which beneficial relationships are cultivated it is exchanged in a given period of time, is through trade of local goods and services, the primary indicator of the health of the while equitable designs of the governance, local currency system. By watching this flow funding and structure of currency system are and ensuring that there is a diversity of emerging. goods and services exchanged, the In this time of global financial managers can keep the system stable and transformation, the concept of money is vital. Lietaer writes, “Local currency creates evolving. This illusive shadow of social work, and I make a distinction between interface is being exposed, and the old work and jobs. A job is what you do for a agreements and structures that do not serve living; work is what you do because you like the collective are changing. Simultaneously, to do it. I expect jobs to increasingly become obsolete, but there is still an almost infinite complementary currency projects are emerging as a powerful tool to develop amount of fascinating work to be done.” community resilience. Mapping the species and their behaviors in an economic ecosystem is an important Crystal Arnold earned a BS in part of the design process. By encouraging International Economics from Southern Oregon local sourcing of business needs, local supply University in 2007, has completed the Conscious and distribution channels that reduce Bookkeeping course, and is creator of the Money Metamorphosis workshop series. She is dedicated dependence on imports into a region can be to creating a resilient local economy, both through secured, and the exchange system becomes business consulting and the development of a a self-reflective mechanism for values. complementary currency. Contact her at Author and currency designer Tom Greco crystalconsults@gmail.com, or (541) 227-3577, explains “When properly designed and or read more at http://moneymetamorphosis.us/ managed, [complementary currencies] can provide a strong component in building ecolocalliving.com 33
-GRAINS from Page 18 containing ingredients from the diet. In addition, specialized labs can aide in the recovery. For example, a stool analysis can reveal potential microscopic imbalance. As a result of this information, a specific nutrient supplementation protocol can be initiated to help the body heal and resolve symptoms.
are not organic and contain chemicals, the more one ingests “toxins”. 4 - More people have compromised immune systems from more stress, poor nutrition, and other poor life style habits. Most of the immune system is in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, so this can cause an imbalance in the GI, causing digestion problems.
ALLERGY VS. INTOLERANCE A food allergy involves an immune-mediated response to some component of food. Foods commonly involved in hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions are: eggs, wheat, citrus, peanuts, shellfish, milk and dairy, other glutencontaining grains (rye, barley), soy, tree nuts, fish. A food intolerance does not involve an immune response. It is an adverse reaction to foods or components of foods, resulting in diverse symptoms. Foods implicated in food intolerance can be: any of the above, lactose, biogenic amines - histamine tyramine,preservatives (BHA, BHT, sulfites), artificial colors, MSG, nitrates, salicylates, and more.
THE EVOLUTION OF WHEAT Wild Einkorn Wheat hybridized with a Goat Grass at least 30,000 years ago (30,000 BP) to produce Wild Emmer Wheat. About 10,000 BP huntergatherers began to cultivate Wild Emmer. Subconscious plant selection slowly created Cultivated Emmer that hybridized with another Goat Grass around 9,000 BP to produce an early Spelt. About 8,500 BP, natural mutation changed the ears to a more easily threshed type that later evolved into the free-threshing ears of Bread Wheat.
Many people are suffering from an intolerance problem with gluten for many reasons. This article does not include all the reasons. 1 - The evolutionary change of the actual wheat plant structure has lead to an inability for some individuals to digest the “modern grain”. 2 - Products that are grown with genetically modified organisms (GMO) seeds are not proven to be safe and could produce side effects that do not occur in nature. In addition, GMOs are designed to tolerate pesticides and chemical spray - which can cause an increase in health problems. 3 Our society has had a large increase in the production of processed wheat products in the past 50 years, and therefore more consumption of flour based foods like pasta, crackers, breads, pastries, snack items such as pretzels, sports bars, etc. And the more ingestion of these foods, especially if they 34 ecolocalliving.com
Emmer Wheat also evolved to create the Macaroni Wheat now used for making macaroni, spaghetti and pasta products. There are many great product substitutes for those that are avoiding gluten: Rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat, cornmeal (polenta, legumes, gluten free oats, and then (processed) rice pasta and other gluten free products such as bread, cereals, crackers, etc. In addition, many restaurants are offering gluten free options, and gluten great bakeries are also more popular. Overall, many people that decrease or eliminate gluten seem to have an overall positive affect. They have a better sense of completed digestion, they lose weight, and they describe a sense of improved physical and mental clarity. This may be because gluten can cause inflammation in most people at a cell level and beyond. Once the inflammation is decreased or eliminated the body becomes more balanced and more able to function with more vitality.
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