Floyd resident interested in Nurturing Neighborhoods
Article and photo by Wanda Combs, Editor
If you ask Floyd resident Gail Moore her idea of an ideal home, she would describe it as safe, affordable and nurturing.
For her, living in an affordable, efficient home is a priority, because like so many, she has a small budget and lives with numerous health challenges.
Moore foresees living in a home of her own in a Nurturing Neighborhood with others. She knows that making it happen will require imagination and ingenuity. She refers to many sticks bundled together being stronger than one stick in the world by itself. “Cooperative lifestyles of health and sustainability empower us all.”
She is interested in a village concept, or Nurturing Neighborhood. As she envisions these Neighborhoods, an old-fashioned barn-raising comes to mind. "Many hands make light work. People with all different kinds of abilities can help, and we are all nurtured.”
Moore has been researching Most Affordable and Most Efficient housing since 2003, exploring various kinds of natural building methods and materials, because different materials work best in different situations.
The kind of housing structure she favors is low tech, utilizing appropriate technology and materials for our bio-region. Moore says the abandoned barns, houses and mobile homes in Floyd County can easily provide an inventory of reusable materials, which can also create local jobs for the people who deconstruct the buildings and sort and store the reclaimed materials. These more natural building methods vary are comparatively more affordable to build, maintain and insure.
Moore has accumulated a library of resources. Two books are The $50 & Up Underground House Book and The Earth Sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book by Mike Oehler. Oehler spent $49.50 on his first earth-sheltered, owner-built house, using recycled and free/scrap materials.
Some of these types of building are now included in the iBC--International Building Codes. Some are for other parts of the country without building codes.
The earth sheltered structures require no gutters or roofing shingles, Moore explains. “Oehler developed 13 different ways to bring in light, ventilation and views to earth-sheltered dwellings. Natural light and great views are a part of each home. These homes are covered with waterproof membrane and earth, along with appropriate plants for the area. Because the builders are paying attention to which way gravity pulls the water, roofs are built to allow water to flow away from the dwelling.”
There are also straw bale houses, houses made with recycled plastic building blocks, earth bag buildings, cob and more.
The modestly sized homes cost in the range of $10,000 or $20,000 to build.
These homes are easier to heat and cool without electricity, oil, gas or coal. Moore continues. “There are amazing 'low tech' technologies for heating and cooling, such as Passive Annual Heat Storage (PAHS) and Earth Tubes. A fairly recent development called Rocket Mass Heaters can heat a home using one-fifth the amount of firewood as a wood stove, and use scrap wood, while emitting only a tiny amount of particulate.”
Looking for options that would provide housing and help in supplying food for herself and others is a priority, Moore says. "Combining affordable housing and growing Edible Landscaping is another way of empowering ourselves. In these quickly changing times in which we live, it is of utmost importance that folks learn how to help build homes and help grow food in Nurturing Neighborhoods. This is exactly what Permaculture is about--Permanent Culture, Agriculture. Being an agricultural area, people in Floyd County already raise food and animals. It's time to build upon our strengths and combine better shelter with the food." Moore is excited to assist people “to connect these dots in Floyd County.”
"We are all aging. Each of us is just one stumble, trip, fall, heart attack, illness or lost pay check away from not being able to take care of our house, our family or ourselves,” she says. "Life is precarious, and everything is always changing. Now is the time for us to collectively build upon our local strengths, developing empowering strategies which move us through these ever-changing times in this ever-changing world.”
The Nurturing Neighborhoods, with a multi-generational, varied income/economy approach, place differently abled and older residents living in their own cottages or congregate homes, near younger folks and families. "Just like all ancient cultures, these types of neighborhoods are a way of developing extended families", she comments, "and it’s a way of breaking through the cycles of isolation and hopelessness so many people feel, too. These Nurturing Neighborhoods create bonds of caring and respect of diversity, allowing us all to live with dignity and grace….”
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