INTEGRITY & DURABILITY---Old Fashioned Values....or New Concepts?

The building profession- for the past 30 or so years-has been,not unlike the proverbial drunken sailor, staggering along the line separating the old,comfortable world of traditional building standards-those of our Fathers and Grandfathers- to the sometimes impertinent and cold face of modern building science. We are on the edge of this line-no longer staggering- and poised to step across it into a new golden age of building.....today.

My wife and I, during one of earlier trips to Europe in the late 70's, were filling the fuel tank on our borrowed Dutch friend's car...when, we nearly dropped in a faint, as the fuel pump ticked off the gasoline in liters-literally flying by us at fan-like speed.....and at over $5/gallon U.S.---in the 70's!! What were we paying for gas in 1979 in New England--certainly no where near the $5 mark! So, as we watched the counter flying through liter after liter....and---gulp----dollars flying as swiftly....we began to see why our friends owned small,lightweight cars and rode their bicycles to work, to the market, and to church and saving the car for holiday trips.

Our Dutch friends were dumbfounded at the thought of our behemoth,gas-guzzling cars and pickup trucks (and there were no SUV's....at least, they weren't called that back then). A year or two passed and our friends came to the States for a prolonged visit---WOW! they exclaimed... about the vastness of our New England landscape...and the great distances to run to town, for the post office, a loaf of bread--market day?..Oh, you mean the supermarket!? Oh, I see why you need the big cars..everything is so far away.

That was the late 70's... an older world,not a wiser world...but filled with the potential for great changes in building,in the auto industry, in science....and we fell asleep. The not so distant OPEC oil embargoes evaporated from our consciousness, the world was in another upheaval--American hostages in Iran---and the news was alive with ideas for change...and we savored our slumber. And we continued down this primrose path of good n' plenty with no apparent direction or course to follow---energy is energy...Hey! I won't pay nearly $4/ gallon gas..not here in the U.S.of A.!!!

Some say we need to develop a national energy policy.......and why won't we do it??? It's simple...we don't have to. Yeah, okay..we're spoiled..we can be selfish... and, we ARE independent- in mind, body and spirit. And this can make us great, and it does. But, it is time for us to wake from our hypnotic slumber.....really? Do we, can we give up our 18 mpg super-size pickups (and that's being generous), our gas-powered toys, our multiple vehicles. Sure! you say... I'd love to see 29 mpg ratings for my truck or my SUV....but, give it up? And for what and why? Are we really willing to give up anything, to sacrifice anything for so-called energy independence, do we want to have to make radical changes to our lives? We're not ready for it-not yet.

And how about a government sponsored energy independence policy...nope-you're better off waiting through several cycles of global warming and global cooling before that happens. So how are we going to do it here in the U.S.- by individuals like Duncan Syme who designed and co-created Vermont Casting's initial offering..the Defiant, then the Vigilant, the Resolute and the Intrepid-the classiest,most classic wood-burning appliances to ever grace our home and hearh; Amory Lovins and his Rocky Mountain Institute-creators of one of the first super-insulated housing systems in North America-in 1984. And you get countless others who do things, who try things, who fail-and bounce right back up with even better ideas. You get passionate and creative about what you do, what I do,and you build momentum with others and how to do it...and to just 'do it!'---simple.......it's will, it's will power, it's not will we?...it's when we will it and we do it. Here are quotes from two Swiss energy efficient building specialists-about Americans:
    "A huge change of attitutde has to take place in the USA. But I think Americans will only start to 'insulate their energy' when it gets seriously more expensive."
  --Bernhard Alpstaeg-CEO of the Swisspor Group -specialists for sustainable bldgs
   ".....there is an immense distance between the American building standard and that of Switzerland. On top of that,there is a difference in mentality. A young Swiss pair wants to stay in their newly built house until they get old; an American builds for the next five years. An American can only be convinced with these arguments: energy efficiency,comfort and health."
  --Ruedi Kriesi- leader of technology at the Zehnder Group,etc.

Change is in the air...it's here...it's quiet...it's out along ancient hedgrows in smaller houses......solar hot water panels in the suburbs...pv panels on office buildings?...yeah..it's here---slowly, but surely..step by step. I guess it comes down to 'how do want to live?', what kind of effort are willing to make?....is it worth it-----yep.

Integrity and durability...they always trump the rest of the deck- no matter how the cards are stacked. So let's shuffle the deck.......and play!