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Re: GBlist: Rant: Strawbale



I did not specifically answer yes or no to the question "is this an
appropriate activity" because ultimately as you indicated it is a
personal thing. If the question is asked in the context of urban
sustainability which is how I interpeted it I would say it was very low
on the list of priorities which is what I was trying to suggest in my
previous comments. If you are saying that your personal and aesthetic
needs are crucial to issues of urban sustainability (and I would not
dispute that position) then I would suggest you use a properly built
community darkroom and at the point of reaching some kind of peer
acclaim and its attendant financial rewards hire some good environmental
designers, build the proper darkroom and set a shining example.
If a proper community darkroom does not exist I suggest finding some
people sharing similar aesthetic and environmental concerns and in the
process of developing the project I would say it is inevitable that you
would attract the proper technical expertise to solve your questions.
I apologize if my tone seems abrupt but I am having trouble determining
if you are sincere or playing devils advocate
John

> > The questions remain:  is this an appropriate activity; and what
> > systems
> > are available to mitigate small-scale actiivities such as these?
> > 
> > Appropriateness:
> > 
> > I know full well that I am dumping chemicals down the drain.  Balance
> > this
> > against my *need* to make expressions.  Should my aesthetics be
> > limited,
> > when this is a process that bests suits my expressions?

White Crow / RSDC wrote:
> 
> John:
> 
> Excellent response.  You have brought to light some of the underlying
> questions.
> 
> The questions remain:  is this an appropriate activity; and what
> systems
> are available to mitigate small-scale actiivities such as these?
> 
> Appropriateness:
> 
> I know full well that I am dumping chemicals down the drain.  Balance
> this
> against my *need* to make expressions.  Should my aesthetics be
> limited,
> when this is a process that bests suits my expressions?
> 
> Systems:
> 
> It's a truism of the landfills that one of the top five sources of
> contaminants is left over paint thrown away.  This points to the
> disasterous effect of the accumulation of small events.  As you
> pointed out
> at the end of your response,
> 
> >You can define, based on the list of
> >chemicals used strategies for dealing with potential problems, you
> can
> >even refine the design to allow for recycling of materials, etc.
> 
> Can anyone give any help in coming up with strategies?
> 
> At 12:05 AM 5/17/97 -0700, you wrote:
> >I don't know where to begin. Terry's comments summed up my general
> >response to the more philosophical edge of your enquiry so maybe I
> can
> >deal with some of the more specific aspects. I'm not sure if a
> darkroom
> >or 700 sq. ft loft is an appropriate model for addressing modalities
> of
> >sustainability of megurban areas. I lived in enough 5 floor walkups
> east
> >of A to think that their might be some more significant models to
> choose
> >from. So the first issue I would deal with is "appropriateness of
> >endeavour" for darkrooms.
> >DARKROOMS
> >Darkrooms deal with toxic chemicals that have the potential to
> >contaminate both their immediate environment (the darkroom itself)
> and
> >can migrate via air, water, transfer of materials (clothing etc.)
> with
> >the potential of disrupting other environments. (anecdote: a friend
> of
> >mine is critically ill because the air in his office came from a
> >crawlspace that an adjacent darkroom had been venting into). The
> >construction materials that make up a room that contains darkroom
> >equipment will become contaminated and might at some point become
> toxic
> >in themselves which brings up issues of future use of the area or
> >disposal of those materials. You can define, based on the list of
> >chemicals used strategies for dealing with potential problems, you
> can
> >even refine the design to allow for recycling of materials, etc.
> >In the context of 'megurban' issues of environment and
> sustainablility
> >the basic question of appropriateness that comes up for me is:
> >Should darkrooms or similar 'private unregulated' chemical processing
> >facilities be allowed without adequate safeguards?
> >Or more simply, how could somebody in good conscience build a
> chemical
> >processing facility (however small) in a city or the country without
> >thinking and preparing for all the consequences of their activity.
> >If this seems too extreme then I don't understand the point of the
> >enquiry.
> >I'm curious - was this 700sq. ft.loft once low income housing and if
> it
> >was where did everyone move to?
> >
> >John
> >
> >
> >White Crow / RSDC wrote:
> >>
> >> I don't get it.  All this discussion about strawbale seems to me to
> >> fall
> >> into the category of *penny wise/pound foolish*.  The pattern of
> >> development that supports strawbale is at best suburban sprawl and
> at
> >> worst
> >> exurban creep.
> >>
> >> How do we make the megurban areas of NY, Paris, Tokyo sustainable,
> >> much
> >> less Cairo, Calcutta, and New Haven or Bridgeport?  How are we
> going
> >> to
> >> deal with all these people?
> >>
> >> The strawbale/earthship model reminds of the various
> back-to-the-land
> >> utopian efforts throughout American history which seem more about
> >> turning
> >> away from technological trauma than about solving problems.
> Someone
> >> here
> >> mentioned Thoreau living in the forest; he lived in a glade of
> trees
> >> minutes away from his cohoorts.
> >>
> >> My suggestion is to use part of this forum as a charette for
> pulling
> >> together the various modalities and direct efforts to megurban
> >> problems and
> >> solutions.  It is not an issue of asking for *free* design
> services.
> >> Its a
> >> matter of having a framework onto which to connect up expertise and
> >> ideas.
> >>
> >> A couple of problems:
> >>
> >> -*- At the beginning of the list, I floated out the problem of a
> small
> >> darkroom.  No takers.  The problem has, in a very manageable scale,
> >> issues
> >> of air quality, water quality, chemical disposal, electrical
> sheilding
> >> and
> >> tempering, and even the appropriateness of the endeavor.  I offer
> it
> >> again
> >> as a problem area to discuss.
> >>
> >> -*- We will be renting / buying a loft in NYC.  What kind of
> systems
> >> can be
> >> brought to bear within a very space-confined envirnoment?  Grey
> water?
> >> Lighting systems?  Add-ons to the ubiquitous steam heat system?
> Air
> >> cooling?  Air conditioning?  Waste management?  Insulation?  Window
> >> systems?  I would be happy to provide a floor plan of a small 700
> sf
> >> loft
> >> which we did *not* get.
> >>
> >> Any takers?
> >>
> >> amos
> >>
> >> __________________________________________________________________
> >> This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
> >> and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
> >> send e-mail to greenbuilding-request@crest.org.
> >> __________________________________________________________________
> >Attachment Converted: "c:\program files\eudora\attach\vcard2.vcf"
> >
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