Published in the West Marin Citizen, August 30, 2007

On the Bicentennial of our country, at the behest of President Carter, American children were being taught the value of energy conservation, an education somehow lost on the American populace over the intervening years. Those in school in the 1970s may remember teachers asking us to draw our ideas of what a "green house" employing multiple energy-saving techniques would look like. Two years later, in 1978, architect Jim Campe built a real, three-dimensional green home in Inverness, the first of many such homes in West Marin designed by him and others.

The Campes, along with three other hosts (Jerry & Barbara Meral, Steve Hadland and Anneke Van der Veen, and Randy Fleming and Chris Reding) welcomed 90 curious West Marin citizens participating in a tour of green homes in Inverness and Point Reyes Station this past Sunday.

Judging by the enthusiastic response by the coordinators and participants, this tour is likely to be the first of a series. The brainchild of Campe and the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin (CLAM) Executive Director Rae Levine, the tour served to raise community interest in environment-friendly design and construction. Speaking to the group prior to the tour, Levine stated that she believes "we can do green and affordable at the same time" when building housing. Her group hopes to combine these principals in the creation of 50 affordable units in 25 years in the Inverness-Olema-Point Reyes area.

Speaking after Levine, Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey (representing West Marin) emphasized how "This home tour is part of a much larger way we relate to the earth and live our lives. Green doesn’t stop with home design but incorporates a lifestyle of energy conservation. Green architecture brings a sense of community and engages us in the idea of living locally." Kinsey noted how Marin County would soon be requiring homes over 3500 square feet to offset their footprint via incorporating green building techniques. The homes on this tour incorporate green aspects in appealing and comfortable homes far smaller than that. As Kinsey stated, "We can live smaller and still live quite large if we orient out homes to incorporate the landscape."

Campe employed the ideals of passive solar heating in the layout of his home, orienting the structure along an East-West axis in order to maximize southern exposure and allow for cross-ventilation to moderate the temperature. On the southern facing roofs, Campe installed photovoltaic panels, which power the energy needs of the home and send any excess back to the energy grid via a dual-direction motor. Campe doesn’t need to buy any electricity with this system, because the panels generate more capacity than they use.

The three other homes on the tour employ similar techniques, as well as some additional technologies developed over the intervening decades. (See accompanying photographs and captions.) The Meral home in Seahaven, designed by Campe and built by Dennis Rodoni in 1991, has a recently completed second unit built by the same team that uses ‘Solatube’ skylights to bring natural daylight from the roof to the interior of the home in the day, with florescent bulbs for evening light.

Prior to and following the tour several vendors displayed their wares and services on tables in the Dance Palace, including a dual half and full-flush toilet, as well as environmentally-friendly cellulose insulation and sustainable wood materials. Fairfax Lumber and Hardware provided free low-flow showerheads and compact fluorescent lights. Among those gathered at the table of books relevant to green building was Sean Culman, architect with Solutions, a LEEDs-accredited firm based in the Presidio. He participated in the tour because it served to "exhibit green architecture examples that work, catalyzed community interest and provided a way for people to relate to each other and to nature." He noted that "green building techniques are important underlying mechanisms that help to generate community. To get effective green building you must collaborate - these decisions engage your grey matter and allow you to participate more fully."

Campe set the group off on the tour with a challenge to "figure out ways not to simply generate zero carbon, but instead generate minus carbon by employing techniques you see on the tour today." He pointed out that any new building should be compared to NO building, asking ourselves if we really need to build new or remodel extensively. If we do, "can we do it in a sustainable way?"