EXTREME GREEN VILLAGE TOUR – with multiple Views!!!
Look down. You are over a 120-acre version of the Extreme Green Village. It is 12 acres wide and 10 acres deep.
(NOTE: To get a sense of size. In the Public Parking area, you see the red square. That square represents an acre. That is 208 foot by 208 foot. 43,264 square feet per acre.)
The first thing you notice is how GREEN everything is. The green represents areas where vegetables and fruits can be grown! That is one aspect of the Extreme Green Village Design, creating living areas and growing areas together.
It is designed with enough garden area capacity so that the project can have Sustainable gardening. (If you are interested, go to “Space for Gardening!” on the left column.)
I really think it will be fun to live in an edible garden! This design allows a good density of population and promotes an appreciation of nature.
Look down at the green stripes on the left. Those are approximately, 650 garden covered storage units! (If you are interested why we are building 650 storage units, go to “Time Challenges to build the Extreme Green Village” on the left column.)
The dimensions of the green striped area are 288 feet wide and 2080 feet long. That is almost 14 acres of gardens. I’m not counting the driveways because after all the work has been done on the project we will put arbors, gardens or solar arrays over the driveways!
As a point of note we will also look to put arbors, gardens or solar arrays over all the roads and parking and pedestrian walkways.
Green-Burbia – Top Down View
Look down at the figures that look like green crossword puzzles. That is what I call Green-Burbia. It’s like the promise of the suburbs but taking into consideration Green issues, as you will see.
In this version there are 330 Green-Burbia one-story townhouses. Each crossword figure represents 20 housing units. That could be 50 acres of gardens and solar arrays.
Look down at the yellow paths within the crossword figures. Green-Burbia, providing the dream of suburbia but making it Green and improving the quality of life.
This project is designed to be pedestrian centric. The yellow paths divide the front faces of the townhouses, only allowing foot, bicycle, tricycle, wheelchair and Segway-like vehicles.
The idea is to promote walking back and forth to the Town Center. Saying hello to friends. Pick up your mail. Pick up groceries. Stop to have a coffee with friends. Etc. (If you are interested, go to the Extreme Green Village Street View on the left column.)
The gray areas are driveways and parking areas. Isn’t it amazing how much land is given over to the car?
Look down at the area that says PUBLIC PARKING. In the long run that area will get smaller, but in the meantime imagine that area covered with even more arbors and solar arrays also. That’s 12 additional acres of edible garden’s and solar arrays!
As another note, the Green rectangle in the Public Parking area is really part of the Town Center. It is the area where all shipping and receiving is done. Also, it is where general maintenance/repair, auto build/repair and bicycle and tricycle build/repair is done. High MPG vehicles, Green boats and RVs can be rented. Etc.
Look down at the Town Center. Green City Living.
In this example the blue surrounding the Town Center is like a moat. That may be slightly whimsical. It will more likely be an irregular shaped pond instead.
But in either case water is important. The Project will have full site water collection and work towards 100% water recycling!
Lets look closer at the Green Crossword puzzles.
EGV Street View
EGV The Street View – Green Burbia!
Here’s an angled and closer view of those green crossword puzzles. With the nearer view, they look more like buildings.
From the very bottom of the picture, going to the left, you can see the blue road. Along that road there are 2 garages with those red doors. Just like every roof surface, the green represents gardens or greenhouses.
Green-Burbia Street view Closer
In between the 2 garages there is a carport with solar panels on the top.
The back yards have 7-foot tall privacy walls surrounding them so that you can roll the kitchen out into the back yard! Also look at the walls that divide the two backyards. Notice the dividing walls angle up to the top of the walls in some cases. The purpose of that design is to block the view so that your neighbor can’t look out their windows on their roof garden and see into your backyard.
The backyards also have a double door access to the next private back yard. It can be open for parties and locked for privacy.
Look behind the carport with the solar panels. The person living there has a sunshade, keeping their entire backyard cool. (You can see an angled dividing wall.)
(Note: In the future, if malleable solar Photo Voltaic sheets become cost effective, all temporary solar and rain covers will be solar PV.)
Just like in the back yards, the rooftop yards have a 7-foot privacy wall all around them. And they also have the double door access to the next private rooftop yard. It can also be open for parties and locked for privacy.
(Note: If you don’t like gardening or don’t really use the rooftop, you can let the Cooperative do it as part of the food growing and selling Cooperative effort. The connecting rooftop doors make it so much more efficient. And they will only come in once every three days.)
Look down to the right. You will see a stairway that goes up to the rooftop gardens on both the town home and the garage.
All Staircases
(Note: One of the important aspects of this Extreme Green Village project is to design it so that every area is wheelchair accessible. Even the stairways can be made wheelchair accessible with the addition of a reinforced railing set low enough so that specially designed wheelchairs can ride the rail up to the second level!)
Now let’s look at the front yards. There are a lot of options as to the front yards. The standard would be a 7-foot privacy wall but with 4 foot wide by 3 foot high windows that can be shuttered closed when you want to go to sleep.
(Note: Even though the walls of these compressed earth block buildings are over 2 feet thick, at 3 AM, 2 happy, laughing people walking by your town home might wake up a very light sleeper. We will have white noise generators to block the sound!)
Look at what a Coop Member gets in “Green Burbia”. They get more privacy, quiet and private space than most people with over 2 acres of land!
Green-Burbia Round Windows.
This first town home has round windows on the first floor and on the second floor has the arch over the windows. Some people have asked why we don’t have square windows. These compressed earth block buildings can last as long as or longer than adobe and, if maintained can last for hundreds of years. To make an arched or round window is cheaper, stronger and more stabile in the long run of hundreds of years. The compressive strength of this building material has less chance of failure than a rotting wooden beam or a rusted steel-supporting beam.
This building is 44 feet wide and 44 feet deep. Interior room is approximately 40 by 40.
Notice the high 7-foot wall dividing the pedestrian walkway from the front yard. Imagine all the openings shuttered closed and the sound dampening white noise system on.
(Important Note: The idea is to have a certain density of population. In this case, 10-14 people per acre. But the closer people live together, the more problems people have with noise and losing privacy. The unique design of this Extreme Green Village INCREASES privacy and REDUCES problems with noise!! I can’t stress the importance of this design.)
Look at the foreground. This person doesn’t have the 7-foot wall all the way across their front yard. Instead they made a 20-foot segment of the wall only 2 feet high so people can sit on it. You also see a row of corn and a rosemary bush. I will have a number of container grown herbs in my front yard, like this rosemary bush. Imagine stopping on the way home and sitting down next to a big rosemary bush. The aroma is wonderful.
Here are three town homes to look at.
Green-Burbia 3 Town Houses
The yellow town home is 22 feet wide and 44 feet deep.
The tan colored Town Home is 52 feet wide. The blue covered shade over the front door could be Photo Voltaic solar or a solar hot water system. Look at what this homeowner did. They pulled the wall back and made an alcove so that people could sit down and get out of the sun. How thoughtful and sociable.
Look at the blue covered shade over the pathway. Imagine in the summer if your walk to the Town Center was in shade all the way.
The light blue Town Home is only 16 feet wide. That means inside, it’s only 14 feet wide. It’s like a shotgun house. But there is a movement among a number of Green people to live on less. In Austin, Texas it’s called Simplicity.
If everyone lived in a 16 foot wide Green Burbia Town Home that would be over 800 units in the area that I’ve predicted would be 330 Town Homes.
How many Green Burbia Town Homes per acre? Rounding to nearest whole number.
16 foot wide = 16 Town Homes per acre.
22 foot wide = 12 Town Homes per acre.
33 foot wide = 8 Town Homes per acre.
44 foot wide = 6 Town Homes per acre.
52 foot wide = 5 Town Homes per acre.
66 foot wide = 4 Town Homes per acre.
(NOTE: The actual number of Green Burbia Town Homes and the actual number of Green City Living units will be determined by the people wanting to live in each alternative.)
The Town Center – Green City Living
The Town Center for this first design of the Extreme Green Village is 28 acres.
Look down at the dark green area at the bottom left. That area would be a “Food Garden”, a place where perennial food bearing plants would grow. Will the petting zoo be right next to it? Will we be able to talk a veterinarian to want to live here?
Look down at the light green areas. That area contains the sports fields. More about the sports fields down below.
Look down at the yellow pedestrian pathways. The pathway that frames the entire Town Center is 4400 feet long! Anyone want to take up running?
Look down at the straight wide yellow pathway that goes from the PUBLIC PARKING area to the yellow pathway that forms the shape of an octagon. The central octagon frames the Clock Tower that will be the focal point of the Town Center.
There are 3 other yellow pathways that copy the octagon shape as they spread out from the center. The reason for this is that it is simple and among other reasons, it makes an attractive and distinctive street design on a “YOU ARE HEAR” map! (Maybe on T-shirts too?)
That map will be at every street corner so visitors won’t get lost. If someone was going to a meeting they need to find it fast.
The tan colored side streets may or may not be in the positions you see depending on the size of the individual buildings and the evolving nature of the Town Center development.
(The Town Center will always be changing depending on the developing Extreme Green businesses that are birthing within the Town Center.)
Town Center shop view
Here’s a representation of the buildings on the Town Center.
The first floor of all the buildings in the Town Center will be for Green Businesses and Green Services.
Someone asked, why these buildings are so monolithic. The quick answer is that the design isn’t carved in stone. Additional side streets can be added to reduce the length of some of the buildings to a half or a third their shown length.
But the width is because of the second floor. The second floor of all the buildings in the Town Center will be for Green City Living. This design provides for private balconies, private living areas and a common but wider lengthwise hallway that allows for common meetings, parties and fun activities.
(When I was developing this project and explaining the idea of “Green Burbia” (All the dreams of suburbia but with Green considerations in the design) I learned that a number of aware Green people understood the Sustainable values of the Extreme Green Village but did not require all the private open area that Green Burbia provided. There life was outside their home.)
Green City Living.
For those people, Green City Living is like living in a Coop in the city, but still be Extremely Green.
(Note: 30% of New York City home ownership is in the form of Cooperative Living.)
Lets take a tour of the Town Center.
Town Center from the parking lot.
Here is a view from the parking lot. The first time person will notice the Clock Tower first.
Town Center Clock Tower.
The Clock Tower will also be the water tower for the 100% recycled water. In addition, it will be the central attachment point for the triangular shade and rain covers.
See the little people. They look like ants from here! It also gives you an idea of proportion.
Measuring from one side of the octagon to another is 220 feet. That is a little less than 40,000 square feet. Assuming 10 square feet per person there is room for 4000 people! And all under shade!
It is important to have a public meeting place for the entire population of the Extreme Green Villagers once a month. But what will happen on all the other days and nights of the month? Concerts. Plays. Movies. Outdoor dining.
(Note: Look at the little man on top of the Clock Tower, for me, I want to have a zip line going from there to the ground!)
This environment will help Coop Members to be more sociable.
Look to the right of octagon.
Shaded Sports Areas.
Those are shaded areas for playgrounds. (adults can use it too) With giant slides. Obstacle courses. Zip lines. Mazes. Bounce Houses. A Trampoline with safety harness and bungee cords. Etc.
(We will be developing low cost sun-shades. Imagine your small children (and your adults) being protected by the sun when they are exhausting themselves running around, outside! All yearlong.)
Town Center Entertainment District.
The idea is to create places next to the Clock Tower or central octagon where Coop Members and their guests can meet on the spur of the moment and go to a self serve food court style Coop dining operation where Coop Members cook their own food, reheat prepared dishes, make a salad, make an omelet, make a pizza, make their own drinks etc. And then sit down together. Either outside or inside and relax.
Most people will rarely cook at home.
Special interest gathering places.
Coop Members will form groups and run different parts of the Entertainment District. (All as part of their sweat equity contribution.)
Sports bars. Party rooms. Dancing. Karaoke. Musical Jam Sessions. Videogame room. Comedy Club. Dollar Mini Movie Theatres. Green focus groups. Green brainstorming business development meetings. Etc.
Look down at the water that flows from the moat to the Clock Tower / Water Tower / Octagon. Imagine little rowboats or kayaks and going for a row. It’s approximately a mile rowing from the Clock Tower, around the Town Center and back to the Clock Tower! A picnic and fishing opportunity. Another opportunity for exercise.
Town Center Coop Business Offices and Coop and Green Business Services.
Coop Business offices.
A Convention Center.
Rental Units.
An overnight and weekend babysitting service.
Meeting rooms. Welcome Information and Education Center.
Shipping, Receiving and Storage.
Post Office.
Auto build, rebuild, repair and rent.
The repair anything shop. Used electronics store.
Green boats and boat rentals.
Maintenance
Normal project maintenance.
Water.
Compost.
All gardening.
Tool making.
Solar, biomass and other Green Coop projects.
Recycling Center.
Town Center Shopping.
Shopping Pickup Center. Having Coop Members computer ordering for regular shopping needs and picking it up at the Town Center will save at least 500,000 miles a year!
Site grown produce.
Site made products.
Low cost bulk products. Regular bulk sales. But additionally, bulk sales for long term storage.
Tailoring shop. Used clothing store
Health Store.
First Aide. (Hopefully we can get a couple of Doctors and Nurses to live on the property.)
Holistic Medicine.
Exercise equipment.
Specialty items.
Art. Crafts.
Laundry/Coin Laundry/ with 100% water recycling and Green Dry Cleaning.
The Sports Fields.
This is just my imaginings of what could be offered in the sports fields. The idea is to help people to be active.
Basketball. A normal basketball court is 50 feet wide and 94 feet long. These will be 50 by 50. Or maybe the court dimensions would be different if it is combined with 60 feet by 120 foot tennis courts.
Wiiffle ball fields. They can also play double duty for small versions of baseball and softball. There are reduced distance baseballs and softballs. (Golf balls too.) You can get the same amount of fun but without taking as much room. Wiffle ball fields vary from 50 feet by 90 feet to 90 feet by 180 feet.
Volleyball. Court. Pea gravel instead of sand. It’s a slower game but it can be played in a smaller size. (They can also be for Badminton courts.)
Croquet. Courts 40 by 50
Horseshoe courts are 10 by 50.
Half-size football/soccer/whatever fields. 30 yards by 60 yards times 2 = 180 feet by 180 feet.
A dog exercise park.
A petting zoo.
A skateboard/skate/bike park.
Outdoor bowling. Just think of bowling differently. Instead of having a machine setting up the pins and clearing them, think of 2 parallel lanes pointed in opposite directions. You set up the other teams pins while you wait for your turn to bowl. 2 lanes would be 10 feet by 81 feet long.
A skills course. Baseball skills. Football skills. Golf skills. Batting cage. Foul shooting. Soccer. Etc. Imagine a workout going from one skills station to another. (This is another example where the sunshades will be used.)
The idea is to push all these areas as close to each other as possible so I can put in a pitch and putt golf course! Optional reduced distance balls so it can feel like a par 3 golf course! (The balls I am considering are called Almost Golf Balls! They are safe and go 1/3 the distance.)
(IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember, all of this is inexpensive because all the work will be done with sweat equity, by the Coop Members! The Coop Members who want to live here will be living and working in a creation that they have done themselves. Most people have earned money to buy things for themselves. They have never gathered together with other people to create something themselves. Imagine the power of that.)
And remember these compressed earth block buildings are made to last a 1000 years!
There will also be a gym and spa.