Environmental Activism on a Daily Basis

Sometimes, when a bird cries out,
Or the wind sweeps through a tree,
Or a dog howls in a far-off farm,
I hold still and listen a long time.

My world turns and goes back to the place
Where, a thousand forgotten years ago,
The bird and the blowing wind
Were like me, and were my brothers.

My soul turns into a tree,
And an animal, and a cloud bank.
Then changed and odd it comes home
And asks me questions. What should I reply?
Hermann Hesse

Photovoltaics:
In 2009 my wife and I refinanced our home and property and invested in a 5.5 kilowatt photovoltaic system consisting of 24-230 watt panels. Our goal was to offset the electricity that we consume with what we can make using the sun. Initially this was an ambitious goal, but with replacing an aging refrigerator and hot water-heater, not having a clothes dryer, changing our florescent lighting from T-12 bulbs to T-8 bulbs, changing our incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescents, plus getting into the habit of turning off lights, fans, and appliances when they are not in use, we reduced our total consumption from 10,500 kilowatt-hours (kwh’s) in 2007 to 6,000 kwh’s in 2012. Our photovoltaic system currently generates between 6,600 to 6,800 kwh’s/year. I should note that we do not use the electricity that we make directly, but instead sell it back to the power grid.

Because our house/studios are shaded by trees much of the year we could not effectively install the photovoltaics on our roof which would have been the easiest and most cost effective approach initially. Instead we installed our system on the north side of our garden, elevating it on poles and allowing us to walk comfortably underneath. The system faces due south and the panels are permanently angled at 30 degrees, a compromise between the 2 extreme ideal angles of the sun from solstice to solstice at our particular latitude. The system was installed by a local contractor, but was engineered by Direct Power and Water out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The 4.5″ diameter galvanized steel poles that support the panels were installed in 5 – 30″ diameter x 55″ deep holes, anchored in concrete around a steel rebar cage. Such a seemingly overkill foundation is needed to support the panels in up to 100 mph winds as the panels can take on the characteristics of a huge sail. The power that is actually generated from the system is direct current (DC) and has to be converted to alternating current (AC) before it is fed back to the power grid. This is done through a device called an “inverter” and unfortunately approximately 20% of the power made is lost in this conversion with today’s equipment.

After the initial installation, maintenance on the system has been non-existence. The panels have a life expectancy of approximately 20 years and their efficiency gradually falls off over their lifespan, generating less and less electricity.

Although investing and installing a photovoltaic system is a bit of a philanthropic exercise, initial costs can be recouped within 5 to 20 years depending on the amount of money you are able to claim from tax credits (the more money you make, the more tax you pay, and the more tax credits you can claim) plus the amount of money you can make from selling the electricity. In addition if the photovoltaic system is part of a business, a tax deduction of the initial cost can be taken as a business expense which amounts to 35% of the overall cost over 5 years. Tax credits from local state governments vary from state to state where varying incentives can actually make a solar investment lucrative (as in Florida) to not at all in less progressive states. In North Carolina a non-profit organization, North Carolina GreenPower, funded by volunteer monthly contributions from electricity consumers was set up to pay “green” electricity producers like me and my wife for the electricity we generate when it is redirected back to the power grid. In our case this is $.15/kwh, plus the local power company pays on average an additional $.04/kwh. Hidden costs that no one tells you about until after the fact are a county property/business tax and added insurance to your homeowners policy.

Most consumers are unaware of where their electric power comes from, as it has become something that is taken for granted every time a light switch, or a TV, or a computer is turned-on. Installing a photovoltaic system has made me ever cognizant of my and my wife’s electricity consumption. It is staggering to see how many pounds of carbon (over 113,000 pounds of CO2 per year for our system) we keep out of the atmosphere by creating “green” electricity. Plus with the simplest of changes in our day to day activities through conservation and efficiency we can save even more without sacrificing any comfort we might have otherwise.

 

Introduction:  My recent paintings address environmental questions that ultimately will determine mankind’s survival.  These paintings are about “Big Issues”.   As individuals we can take responsibility for our actions that positively effect the environment with the idea that every little bit will help.  The combined actions of many individuals (and ultimately a society) will add up to a healthier and cleaner earth.  These actions are what I call “Day to Day Issues”.

This blog will document how my wife, Rosa Patton, and I developed and live on a wooded parcel of land with the goal of minimizing our footprint on that land while also making paintings (me) and restoring carousels and band organ facades (her).

Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining             wilderness be destroyed , if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned  into comic books and plastic cigarette cases , if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction, if we pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste.  And so that never again can we have the chance to see ourselves single, separate, vertical and individual in the world, part of the environment of trees and rocks and soil, brother to the other animals, part of the natural world and competent to belong in it.            Wallace Stegner

 

Studio and Home.  In 92 my wife and I bought a 3-1/2 acre wooded parcel on the Haw River in North Carolina.  We engaged an architect, Frank Harmon, who advised us on the site and immediately began designing a studio and home for us.  Our studio needs were very specific and our home needs were minimal.  Mr. Harmon came up with a simple utilitarian building and because it was designed specifically  for us, it did not fit the 3 bedroom-2 bath formula that banks and insurance companies prefer.   Financing proved to be difficult, but luckily not impossible.  Our rationale for this decision was simply that we were designing this building for our use and our pleasure and not for some formulaic stranger in a possible future real estate transaction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite this idealistic idea our financial resources were limited, but I knew that if I built the building myself we could save substantially.  I also loved the notion of following David Thoreau’s example, although our 2,400 square feet of heated space is far from the simple cabin by Walden Pond.  Nonetheless I, like Thoreau, carved out a footprint within our hardwood forest just large enough for our foundation and a driveway, and proceeded to get all the needed permits from the county to begin construction in the fall of 1992.  Some areas of construction required needed help, but I usually managed to assist various subcontractors in some capacity, enabling me to facilitate quality control as well as directly overseeing every step of construction.  In other areas I, and usually one assistant, managed the remaining construction.  By the winter of 1994/95 I obtained a certificate of occupancy and my wife and I moved in at the end of 1994, although finish work continued for another 6 months, making the project last a full 3 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank Harmon’s design used a grid based on the dimension of a sheet of plywood and a very limited palate of materials, yet he created simple but unique spaces that met all of our needs.  Our building won a 1997 North Carolina A.I.A. design award as well as a 1998 “Record House” award from Architectural Record magazine.  The “Record House” award is one of only 6 to 8 given annually to houses from all over the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My and my wife’s initial plan was to use our upstairs apartment in our building temporarily and later build a small 1,000 to 1,200 square foot house just north of the studio.  The apartment at that point would have been used by guests.  However we choose instead to purchase several adjoining tracts of land that became available and to continue living in the modest 560 square foot apartment.  The land purchases (now totaling 18.8 acres) not only protected the land from future development, it also gave us much desired quiet and privacy, and continues to provide habitat for wildlife which we actively attract through feeders, plantings, and nest boxes.