Here's the press release from Dow.  They're installed flat against the roof deck, so no propped up solar panels to mar the beauty of your home.  They're about twice as expensive installed as regular shingles...according to Dow.  So, maybe you should add something to that estimate for realism.  But, it's definitely an amazing invention that can't work better anywhere than in Taos.

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• Michigan Selected to be Site of New DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle Facility (eon.businesswire.com)

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David is an artist of course, but even more related to my real estate interests, he is an architecture artist, illustrator and designer as well.  Below, I've placed some of his materials and drawings to showcase his talents.  I hope to work with David and the TAO in the future.  We will create a special segment on this site just for showcasing their events and artist members.

Thanks for the conversation and a glimpse at the future of the Arts in Taos.

Docs Combined - Free Legal Forms

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In case you missed it, there is a transcript of some of the interview that CBS recently did with a Taos earthship resident and Mike Reynolds.  I know I didn't see the show, probably too early for many of us to focus.  There is not anything there that many of us didn't know already about earthships, though some may be surprised that the cost to build one is comparable to a conventional home.

I know some of them are really upscale now, with everything we're accustomed to powered by the sun.  Maggie Rodriguez was the interviewer, and she ended with "Yeah. Being green was considered weird not too long ago, so who knows?" Aren't they based in New York or somewhere like that?

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Entries Sought for Southwest

Contractor’s Best of 2008 Awards

Southwest Contractor magazine is seeking outstanding design & construction projects in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico for the publication’s Best of 2008 competition.

There is no entry fee. An independent panel of judges from the industry will select winners based on innovation, contribution to the community and overall excellence of the design and construction.

Categories include Best “Green” Project, Best Office Project, Best Concrete and Best Engineering, among others.

Winners will be featured in the December issue of Southwest Contractor and will be honored at awards banquets held in each state. Last year drew a record 800 attendees, including Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon as the special guest speaker at the Arizona event.

New this year: Some winners will also be eligible to compete in McGraw-Hill’s National Best of 2008 Awards. The national winners will be revealed in early 2009 in Engineering News-Record, all 11 Regional Publications and Constructor!

More information and criteria is available on the entry form online at www.southwest.construction.com/images/SWC_Best_of_08_Call_for_Entries_Form.pdf (or feel free to email me and I can send you the PDF). Call or email Scott Blair with questions at (480) 656-7615 or scott_blair@mcgraw-hill.com.

The due date for all submittals is Friday, August 22nd, 2008.

Southwest Contractor is one of 11 Regional Publications from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR and Architectural Record.

____________________________________________

Scott Blair, Senior Regional Editor

***BEST OF 2008 CALL FOR ENTRIES. CLICK HERE FOR INFO AND ENTRY FORM. ENTRIES DUE AUG. 22^ND***

480.656.7615

4747 E Elliot Rd #29-339, Phoenix, AZ 85044

For a free subscription, PLEASE CLICK HERE

www.southwest.construction.com

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Taos, New Mexico (May 22, 2008) – Architectural designer Joaquin Karcher’s custom homes inspire imagination, shatter the molds, break conventional design rules, and uplift owner’s spirits. Now he’s being recognized as one of the world’s best green building architects. RiverWired’s Design and Lifestyle blog places Karcher’s group One Earth Design to their list of the Top 16 earthy friendly architects.

One Earth Design pays homage to the intriguing beauty of the local historic Spanish and Pueblo style while at the same time integrating Green Building principles and developing new contemporary expressions for a highly energy efficient solar adobe Architecture.

Karcher’s luxury homes are custom tailored. Homeowner’s enjoy stunning panoramic views from beautiful outside spaces like porches, roof terraces and courtyards graced by fountains. Homes are designed with gourmet kitchens, cozy retreat alcoves, traditional features like a shepherd’s bed, magnificent fire places, and steam baths with integrated showers and water falls over rock ledges.
Integrated Green Building Concepts

ONE EARTH DESIGN specializes in the use of mostly natural building materials. Compressed Earth Block (CEB), Adobe, Straw Bale and Light Clay are the Green Building materials of first choice. They are the lowest in embodied energy, provide an unsurpassed indoor air quality (IAQ), and are extremely cost effective, being abundantly available, renewable and solid.

All three wall systems rank high on the list of Bau- Biology, a science which originated in Germany and deals with healthy living environments. Karcher wants residents to think of their homes as a third skin, with clothes being the second and surrounding themselves with the most compatible materials for the human body.

Taos Designer Building Green Homes

Earthen materials like Adobe, Compressed Earth Block (CEB) and mud plasters, due to their unique ability to absorb and release large amounts of humidity out of the air, would be what you are looking for. The result is an extremely comfortable living environment with a high degree of humidity and temperature stability.

The ideal wall is “breathable” which means that airborne vapor and air molecules can flow naturally (migrate) through a solid and open pore wall. This process also helps to detoxify the air and eliminate odors. Such an indoor air climate will never feel like living in a plastic bag as in standard cavity wall construction where vapor barriers are being used.

All other materials are evaluated for safety during production, during their life span and after their use. Environmentally friendly insulation materials and non-toxic paints and finishes are a given.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

High energy efficiency is another area that ONE EARTH DESIGN considers vital. Passive solar principles creatively applied take advantage of the sun’s free heat. Particularly in the Southwest, where we have well over 300 days of sunshine per year, it would be unnatural not to take advantage of these concepts. Features like sun spaces, open floor plan design, thermal chimneys, clerestories, shading devices, etc. can create spaces with amazing new purposes, break barriers between rooms, blur the distinctions between public and private, inside and outside, living and dining.

Carefully designed and sophisticated, engineered facades consisting of direct gain, Tromb- walls, state of the art solar hot water collectors, solar hot air absorbers etc. are trademarks of the new solar-adobe architecture.

Custom developed heating concepts that fit your needs and take the specifics of your particular building site into consideration will provide you with the most comfort in the winter time and save you the expense of rising fossil fuel costs, leaving your home with a small impact on our environment and an increased resale value. There is also tremendous potential in combining mass walls with south glazing. This concept brings the true qualities of solid earthen walls to full fruition. The heat taken in through south-facing windows will be stored in mass walls and floors (thermal mass), much like in a battery, and released as the outside temperatures drop trough the nighttime. If knowledgeably applied in conjunction with adequate perimeter insulation, R-50 in ceilings, and airtight construction (but breathable wall and roof assemblies), this can save 70% and more energy compared to a conventional house.

Exploring the Passive House Standard for the cold climate of the Southwest:

In recent years the work of ONE EARTH DESIGN has taken a new turn. As energy efficiency and energy conservation are moving to the center stage of the Green Building debate for the reasons to curb climate change and drastically rising home energy cost, Joaquin Karcher has started to work with the German energy standard Called Passive House. This exciting new concept is today's highest energy standard promising to slash the heating energy consumption of buildings by an amazing 90%! ONE EARTH DESIGN conducted extensive research and development adapting this standard to the cold climate of the Southwest. Joaquin Karcher was invited to speak at this year’s US PH Conference and presented the findings to a larger audience of piers. It is available in the Southwest today, is cost effective and provides the highest comfort level. It is the single most powerful building concept available to homeowners who are personally committed to reducing their own CO2 pollution and offsetting the rest to become carbon neutral.

POWER, WATER AND WASTE MANAGEMENT

Today’s solar technology is rapidly changing and offers a variety of possibilities to serve your needs without sacrificing comforts. ONE EARTH DESIGN favors grid inter-tied or net metering systems depending on the project’s location and the client’s personal motivation. Standalone systems are also available and will be designed to meet your personal needs.

Water plays an important role in high desert climates like the Southwest.

ONE EARTH DESIGN promotes Multi Use Water Management Systems. All buildings are furnished with a roof water harvesting system as a standard. The collected water is stored in underground cisterns and can be used in many different ways. It can serve for landscape / garden irrigation or it can be pumped back into the house and used to flush the toilets. In cases where well or city water is not available, it can be purified and used as drinking water.

Gray water systems are another water conserving feature. In most cases gray water is purified in an indoor planter bed and then used for irrigation purposes.

GREEN HOUSING CLUSTERS

Based on European background and training, ONE EARTH DESIGN takes the issue of Green Building into high-density developments along the ideas of New Urbanism. Community planning can employ Green Building features more cost effectively and with greater impact than in single residences. It offers the chance to dampen sprawl and create integrated ecosystems.

# # #

For more information contact:

Peter St. Cyr

Griffin & Associates PR

(505) 319-3237

pstcyr@griffinassoc.com

or

One Earth Design

Joaquin Karcher
P.O Box 216
Taos, NM 87571
(575) 758-9741
oneearth@taosnet.com

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We're quite familiar with adobe homes in the Taos real estate market.  We're far from unique as an area in employing this construction type.  However, in some areas they are more an oddity.  In an article about an adobe home in Witchita Falls, TX, the history of the home is interesting.

Of course, Taos did get a mention, or I wouldn't have caught the article in my Google Alerts.  Built in the 1930's, the home is being lovingly cared for by the current owners who bought it in 2006.  William and Nancy Wilson made a trip to Taos and were impressed by how cool the interior of their adobe rental was in the summer.  They returned home to Witchita Falls and built themselves an adobe, and financed it via an FHA loan.

It wasn't an easy thing to get FHA approval, and the article gives the steps they went through to finally get construction going and the home completed in 1939.  As Taos residents, we may sometimes forget that the construction methods we're quite familiar with are really very rare in other areas of the country.

photo credit: o2ma

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