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The new code amendments attempt to integrate traditional methods of building with contemporary materials and construction methods. Many of the requirements have to do with installation, such as making sure insulation is correctly installed. A proposed amendment to a section of the IECC titled Additional Efficiency Package Option states that if a builder cannot comply with the code, there are some options for meeting the requirements. A builder can comply with an efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) performance requirement, an efficient lighting system, or an onsite supply of renewable energy such as solar or wind.

Builders and developers have complained that the new codes could worsen an already difficult construction climate. The codes take effect in January, with full compliance required by July. The new codes do not include a contentious requirement for sprinkler systems in homes. Action on part of the commercial code, including requirements for HVAC, has been delayed until further public hearings and a commission vote this month.

The Construction Industries Division of the State Regulations & Licensing Department will offer training and education on the new codes in the next few months. To see the rule changes, visit www.rld.state.nm.us/cid.

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Tammy Harkins

“Education is not widely regarded as a problem, although the lack of it is. The conventional wisdom holds that all education is good, and the more of it one has, the better. The truth is that without significant precautions, education can equip people merely to be more effective vandals of the earth. If one listens carefully, it may even be possible to hear the Creation groan every year in late May when another batch of smart, degree-holding but ecologically illiterate Homo sapiens who are eager to succeed are launched into the biosphere” (David Orr, from Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect. 1994)

A few days back, in preparation for teaching, I participated in a refreshing collaborative team effort with a group of teachers from various disciplines focused on the theme of food systems and food security. I was excited and felt great potential for our newly formed “house” within this large public high school, which was to focus on general career pathways related to sustainable technology and the natural sciences. Just last year, a group of dedicated staff members met weekly to forge the support systems necessary to launch two houses (the other is focused on the Arts and Humanities) at Santa Fe High. The aim was to provide more purposive direction to students’ futures, more engaging and integrated curriculum and more opportunity for teachers to collaborate with each other and the broader Santa Fe community. For what reason you might ask? Mostly to approach solutions toward the universal ills that plague our public school systems: high dropout rates, academic and social failure, disengagement with school and the overall depersonalized and disenfranchising experience that many students encounter. Teachers, as well, complain of their own exhaustion and frustration with all of the symptoms that grow out of these same issues.

In our freshman teacher’s team, we began to map out interdisciplinary projects connected to this year’s theme of food. During our summer meeting, we decided to start with food security. Since most of our students were going to be incoming freshman, we figured this would be a good place to begin the foundation of the complex systems of food. Also, last year several teachers on a “green team” had their classes participate in installing a demonstration permaculture garden and renewable energy system. Dana Richards and his Climate Change Conservation Corps (4C) worked with science teachers Marcia Barton, Tom Young and others to design and build this “outdoor classroom” from a brown lot to a lush garden and greenhouse [insert picture]. We got a PIE grant and other funding sources and began the project in late September. Teachers from our Sustainable Technologies house took a tour and will soon have their students participate in installing a 5KW solar array with Earth Works Institute and Positive Energy. Our team began to brainstorm ideas. Perhaps a field trip to the Santa Fe Community Farm to witness a more developed food producer and to talk about feeding the hungry in Santa Fe? Perhaps a field trip to the annual Seed Sovereignty Conference in Tesuque to understand the issues behind sources of food? Teachers from various disciplines chimed in on what units they might develop, including health and nutrition, green careers and how we could have a monthly food feast celebrating the various cultures and agri-“cultures” within our student body. We could trade recipes, multi-cultural farming techniques and knowledge about what we fished and hunted for in the bounty of Northern New Mexico. These conversations were energizing and vibrant for me, compared to the usual petty complaints about the overall flaws and inefficiencies of the school system, which were draining and demoralizing. Some teachers expressed concern about staying within the boundaries of their required curriculum, therefore making collaboration pointless. I too was concerned, as fidelity to our textbooks and student success on standardized tests is scrutinized and could mean our jobs. Often, it is this kind of conversation and experience that bogs educators and students down, causing teacher burnouts and student dropouts. These are only some of the elements that can make it an unsustainable profession and experience. After all, the average span of a public school teaching career is estimated at 5 years.

Why do I bring this up within the context of education for sustainability (formerly called ecological or environmental education)? Because the practice of teaching and learning about “green living” can often combat, at multiple levels and multiple ways, the issue of our disappointment and struggle with the current state of education. During my first year teaching in the public education system, I took a leap of faith (with my husband, Dana Richards) and decided to take several students from Berkeley High School, in California, across the country to the U.N. Earth Summit Preparatory conference in New York. It was out of this summit the idea of sustainability was galvanized and made more mainstream. We were the only high school youth group present among national and state leaders, chieftains and policy makers. Since we were the voice of the future, many of these important leaders listened to us, and the students knew they were experiencing authentic and living education. We traveled by train, reading relevant literature, holding class on Amtrak during the day and watching the changing landscapes of the natural world go by. Those students from 19 years ago are now adult social change agents trying to improve the natural and social systems in their communities. It was a formative and seminal experience for all of us, to say the least. My purpose as an educator shifted from solely teaching, reading and writing (the what and how) to embarking on a journey with my students in exploring the why and to what end all this education and information was about. The big questions were about how all this knowledge could be applied to solving problems, real world problems. With a passion for leaving the world a better place, my working definition of “sustainability,” several students and teachers began to shake up our classroom, our school and our community, and we awakened ourselves and others through learning about wisdom, compassion and authentic, applied education.

Over the years we had programs where seniors from Berkeley High spent six months in exchange programs with seniors from the Yurok, Karok and Hupa tribes studying the complex issues around the endangered salmon, rivers and species in Northern California, while living in and experiencing these places. Though conventional teachers at our high school said that standards and test scores would not be met, the University of California commended the program and awarded it AP and general credit status. Students kept demanding more, as we created more choices based on pedagogy and content that offered real world opportunities for students to make a difference in their local and global communities. A few years later, it finally culminated in a small school of 400 students and 20 teachers focused on ecoliteracy and social justice, which continues very successfully today. Of course, teaching outside of the box, engaging students in community improvement with methods of project-based, integrated, student-centered learning with a constructivist approach, all went against the typical ideas of a solid public education. It certainly challenged the idea of prescriptive textbooks, data-driven education and standardized testing. The classic arguments of lack of rigor or adherence to standards or even the concern that remedial students would not get any structure have all been shot down by the high graduation rate from this school, mostly due to the high attendance, engagement and real world accomplishment that the students experience. Even better, we had stories from college and beyond that revealed the profound impact from an education focused on sustainability and applied learning. We had our own special graduations in which students repeatedly gave commencement speeches stating that they finally looked forward to going to school, were accepted into Ivy League colleges because of their altruism, (not just their grades) and felt that they had made a difference. One of our students, involved in a community retrofitting and renewable energy program, went to MIT, got several sustainable energy programs going there, and is now involved with the New York city council in major conversion of buildings to renewable energy.

When we bring up the idea of education for sustainability, we bring up the idea of authentic, living and active education as opposed to the current simulated, theoretical and passive education most of us know. Many educators and administrators still worry that our students will not meet state standards or our AYP stats. The D and F rate will soar if we venture away from what we are presently doing. We could also consider the D and F rate concerning our negative impact on our home planet. Given the state of the natural and social world, with climate change looming, economies crashing and rising poverty and species extinction rates, I would give our species a D-/F+. It is time to start doing our real “home” work.

Here are the hard questions to ask, when we might have skepticism about a different way of doing school or changing the current conventions and content of education. What kinds of human beings are we going to graduate? Do they care about their local community? Do they have natural and social knowledge about their place? Can relevance and renewal be a part of rigor? Can we educate students to be wise leaders, creative problem solvers and compassionate caretakers of their world? I have certainly witnessed it within the context of ecological education for the last 25 years of my teaching career. Every summer my husband and I have been lucky enough to have ex-students visit us and tell us about the great things they are doing to make a better world. They are successful, but not necessarily in the way our society often defines success. With just a small seed planted during their formative years in education, they have developed the capacity to care. Perhaps we can consider the importance of teaching and learning about our carrying capacity and our caring capacity. If we want education to be sustainable and successful for our students, I propose that we learn about all of the great programs and projects that educators for sustainability are developing out there. If you are a student or teacher, I leave you with a beginning list of local and national resources, so you can develop your own caring capacity. As an educator here is my main advice: go for the low-hanging fruit and what comes naturally for you and the rest will follow.

Education for Sustainability

LOCAL RESOURCES: Earth Works Institute, The Institute for the Love of Learning, SFCC’s Center for Sustainable Living, Santa Fe Community Farm, Northern NM Community College (Camilla Bustamante), Farm to Table, NM Solar Energy Association, Cooking with Kids, Santa Fe Sustainability Commission, River Source, Wild Earth Guardians, The Audubon Center, conservation youth corps from all over Northern NM, all the school gardeners and green teachers in SFPS (they can be found, just ask around).

NATIONAL RESOURCES: (just google all these) Adopt a Watershed; North American Association for Environmental Education; Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education; Center for Ecoliteracy; Green Schools Initiative; The Cloud Institute; Sustainable Agricultural Education Association; State Education Environment Roundtable and EIC (using Environment as Integrating Context); ACORN; Project Wet and Project Wild; Roots and Shoots, the Eco-League of College and Universities, Campus Climate Challenge

Educators that are great practitioners and authors of sustainability education: David Orr, Maria Montessori, bell hooks, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Paolo Friere, John Dewey, Rudolph Steiner, E.F. Schumacher, John Taylor Gatto

Tammy Harkins is currently teaching English at Santa Fe High school, from which she also graduated in 1982. She has been a teacher, teacher trainer and ecological educator for the last 24 years in California, Arizona and New Mexico. She is elated to be back in her beautiful hometown of Santa Fe, where she can still practice aerobics with the sunsets and starlight.

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Ann Euston

It’s an abnormally hot July Tuesday in Santa Fe. In a St. John’s College conference room, thirty people sit in four groups hunched over game boards; each participant pretending to be a high level official of the imaginary emerging Country X.

They feverishly bargain over resource allocation decisions. Should we invest more in agriculture? Energy? Water supply? In the game, all these decisions dramatically affect Country X’s environmental and economic future. Dennis Meadows of the Club of Rome group and author of the pioneering 1974 Limits to Growth, sits nearby, plugging their choices into his laptop.

They’re using Meadows’ educational board game/computer simulation, Stratagem, to learn the ins and outs of sustainable development. As impacts unfold with each decision, each table is moving its country in a different direction.

This is the second day of a two-week intensive program, the 2010 Global Sustainability Summer School (GSSS), sponsored by the Santa Fe Institute (SFI). For 25 years SFI has been at the forefront of interdisciplinary research into the equation-rich world of complex, nonlinear systems. But if, on the surface, this sounds vaguely esoteric, you’re wrong. Researchers at the institute have studied everything from the immune system to the stock market.

Still, in the past, SFI has not been heavily involved in the area of sustainability. But figuring out what a sustainable future would look like, much less how to get there, involves the most challenging array of complex systems affecting the planet. So last year SFI launched GSSS, a major new educational outreach into this field. In 2009, at the inaugural two-week school, the focus was strictly on climate change. This year the program has expanded to consider land use and geography as well as other environmental and social issues which are parts of the sustainability equation.

Throughout the two weeks of intensive activity, participants listen to experts in fields as diverse as ecology, urban development, renewable energy, resource utilization, theoretical physics, economic and climate modeling. They role-play, debate, write, blog, and build computer models that could be used in real-world situations. Their debates will be posted on the web.

It’s a mostly young (thirtyish), obviously intelligent, energetic, inquisitive group. They come from all over the US as well as India, Peru, Germany, Colombia, Sweden, Chile and China. They are doctoral and post-doc students, college faculty. Some work for environmental groups, some advise political leaders. When I asked one participant why she applied (as did 200 other people), she cited the Santa Fe Institute’s worldwide reputation for creating an atmosphere where people of diverse backgrounds and interests can interact, noting wryly that that “doesn’t happen much in normal academia.”

This is exactly what SFI and J. Doyne Farmer, 2010 GSSS’s Director, are hoping for. As he explains, the goal of the school is to inspire future global leaders to think more broadly and in ways they might not have before attending. He also sees participants building strong social networks for the future.

Farmer also sees GSSS as a service SFI provides to the leaders of tomorrow. Currently the school is tuition-free – the only way many could afford to attend. This year’s participants needed only to cover travel costs.

As the week proceeds, students use the GSSS blog to reflect on questions they’ve been asked, and are asking themselves about sustainability and our global future; questions like: Is the Earth our garden or a wilderness? Can we think about sustainability without humans? Does everything have a monetary value? They are also considering challenges such as the relationship of controlling global warming with the equitable distribution of the world’s wealth, what it will take to boost the economies of developing countries while preserving biodiversity and ecosystems, whether technological or traditional cultural systems work best, and the broader implications of social unrest precipitated by environmental problems.

On Saturday night’s blog, Eli Lazarus, a coastal geologist, reflects on the school, his colleagues, and a field trip to Taos. He notes that it’s been “a week of the most intellectual discussion, concentration and provocation I’ve ever experienced… By the time Highway 84 widened into the Santa Fe fringe, excitement about our coming collaboration was palpable… all the distance we’ll soon be traveling, the expanse of possibilities there to explore.”

That confirms Farmer’s observation that after the first week GSSS is going really well: “like what I expected, only better.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Dennis Meadows asks each student to choose one of three scenarios to describe her own future: ever-improving, a climb then leveling off, or a bell curve – up then down. Most choose the cautiously optimistic middle way.

And it’s Farmer’s message as well. Yes, the world has serious problems; ones that we need to begin to deal with or face awful results. He laments the lack of thoughtful discussion, and, in some circles, even denial that we face serious crises ahead. He suggests that climate change, if it continues to remain unaddressed, could reach tipping points that would cause irreversible impacts.

Yet he remains optimistic that we can change, and that these problems do have solutions. It is his hope, and SFI’s goal, to empower GSSS students to return to their communities ready to lead and inspire all of us to make those changes.

Ann Euston writes on travel, landscape and the environment. She blogs about the West at “Home on the Range” wanderwest.wordpress.com.

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Susan Waterman

Four of the most frequent pests intruding Santa Fe gardens this summer – according to my own observations and comments from other gardeners – are the inspiration for this article. The good news on pests is that it’s often the case that a particular garden pest that appears one year may not be around the next, especially if plant residue has been removed from the garden at the end of the season. Cleaning infested debris out of your garden is a simple preventative measure when it comes to diseases. Also, the particular conditions of a season will encourage or discourage intruders, according to their preferences. In other words, an insect or fungus that you see one year may be totally absent the next. If a pest does appear, it’s usually possible to find a safe and organic way to eliminate most of the pests we ordinarily see.

So, if you’re wondering “what’s bugging my squash?” – right at the moment an insect and a fungus seem to be at the top of the list here in the Santa Fe area.

Squash vine borers (Melittia cucurbitae): If your gorgeous zucchinis or crooknecks have already give you some nice fruits, but now you just can’t seem to give them enough water – they just keep wilting – the culprit is probably squash vine borer. Cutting the plant off at its thick base right at ground level will most likely reveal a series of tunnels running through the base and up into the leaves. You will also see tiny larvae (little worms) or larger (1” long) fat white larvae tunneling throughout. Where did these nasty intruders come from? They overwinter as a pupa in plant debris or perhaps in the soil if they were there the previous season. This is why it is important to remove debris and destroy old vines, and to turn the soil (or till it) to prevent new infestations originating from the site. Crop rotation is also helpful. One way to reduce future infestation is to plant hubbard squash, which is a favorite of the pest – they will concentrate on these plants, and may be diverted from most of the rest. If vines are infested, you can manually remove the borers or kill them by puncturing them, and then portions of the vines can be buried to force new roots. Unfortunately, the red and black moths will travel some distance to lay eggs in the spring. The eggs hatch and the new larvae begin to bore into the stems. At the early stage of the life cycle, plants can be protected with row covers, and then uncovered later for pollinators. Also, the base of the plants can be sprayed with pyrethrins to kill young larvae before they bore into the vines. These larvae will also invade cucumbers, melons and pumpkins.

Powdery Mildew: This fungus attacks a variety of plants, including squash, zinnias, roses, phlox, bee balm and others. The symptom in every case is a flour-like white dusting on the upper surface of leaves. Or, there may be white dusty blotches on the leaf surface. The fungus thrives in hot daytime weather, especially when the nights are cool. Doesn’t that sound like this summer? Interestingly, plentiful rain discourages this fungus. Spraying or dusting with sulfur or lime-sulfur (Bordeaux Nix) may help reduce the spread of the disease. Or, use 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 1-quart of water as a spray, and apply it generously on the leaves.

Fusarium Wilt and Verticillium Wilt: These two fungal diseases attack tomatoes, peppers, melons, strawberries and others. Verticillium attacks several types of fruit trees as well. Fusarium wilt is more common is warm climates, and Verticillium in cooler temperate areas. On tomatoes, the leaves begin to curl and turn yellow, then brown and drop. At the initial stage of the disease, plants have a wilted look. Because these pathogens can survive in the soil for a number of years, crop rotation may have limited effect. It’s important to remove diseased plants from the area. Use resistant cultivars when available. Sterilizing the soil by baking it for several weeks under black plastic in full sun can help to control the problem.

Bacterial Wilt: If squash vines, cucumbers or melon vines appear to wilt midday, yet the leaves remain green, the cause is probably bacterial wilt. Eventually, leaves will die. Cut wilted stems and look at the sap – if it’s milky, the plants are infected and should be destroyed. A good preventive measure is to use resistant cultivars. Cucumber beetles and grasshoppers can transmit the disease, so use row covers as needed. If cucumber beetles are present, rotation with cover crops like alfalfa will help, and parasitic nematodes can be applied to the soil on a weekly basis to control larvae. Pyrethrin can be sprayed to control adult cucumber beetles and reduce the spread of bacterial wilt.

Our monsoon rains have been a great boon and blessing this summer. I hope your gardens are doing well and have been pest- and disease-free.

Susan Waterman has a Ph.D. in botany and over 25 years in sustainable agriculture. For more info, visit www.harvestbyhand.com. Questions? E-mail green@harvestbyhand.com

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In Chile Pepper Nation, several crops of Mesoamerican and Mediterranean origin have, over the centuries, acclimatized themselves to aridity, especially to water scarcity in the high deserts of northern New Mexico. Today, however, these superbly adapted foods have been marginalized and are now at risk of disappearing. While not all of these crops have completely disappeared from the landscape, some wild ones have definitely disappeared from the table. Today, most are treated more like an occasional delicacy, but there are several that remain available in mercados, even though they are gathered only by a few families, and eaten by those who still know how to prepare them in the traditional manner. I am referring to the quelites or greens that come up in our gardens, each of which has its own local name. In the Rio Arriba, we call them quelite pardo (lambs quarters), quelite del burro (wild amaranth), verdolagas (purslane) and esparragos (asparagus). They grow wild in our orchards, in our huertas and milpas, and on the banks of our acequias. In northern New Mexico, two of our wild quelites are kin to domesticated plants cultivated in parts of Mexico; the amaranth we call quelite del burro or quelite juz is known in Mexico as quintonil, and is related to the grain amaranth or alegria. Then there is the chenopod we call quelite pardo, the one that we consume the most. In Mexico, it’s known as quelite cenizo. It is related to the domesticated huazontle of Mexico, and to the quinoa of the Andes. My mother would always say that our wild food crops are “rizas,” that is, growing naturally with no one having to plant them or tend to them. The actual word is ricio, from the Latin, recidivus, meaning rebirth. In essence they are volunteer plants that know when to sprout, and produce a lot of food. With a good summer rainfall, all of a sudden what had appeared to be a barren landscape sprouts overnight with all types of edible plants.

In my adult life, I had never seen so many verdolagas growing everywhere as I did a couple of summers back. It reminded me of when I was growing up, for I remember my mother harvesting armloads of verdolagas, quelites and esparragos, the latter usually growing on the banks of the secondary acequias or linderos, which led into the orchard. Then, with the arrival of tractors, bush hogs and pesticides to the acequia systems, a lot of the asparagus simply disappeared. Now, as more producers are turning to drip irrigation and thinking of farming merely as a business venture – not as a multi-faceted cultural tradition – the delicate flavor of quelites pardos can only be found in those huertas that are still irrigated in the traditional manner by surcos, or in furrows. These plants don’t thrive with a drip-irrigation system because there is not enough moisture, as drip-irrigation only delivers water to the targeted crop plants that are destined for the market. The adoption of drip-irrigation and abandonment of the acequias are killing a lot of the biodiversity once common in northern New Mexico. With this loss from our fields and orchards, our diets will inevitably change and traditions will be lost. This is because a single kind of store-bought espinaca (spinach) cannot take the place of the diversity of quelites. This term comes from the Nahuatl word quilitl, a generic name for edible leafy plants. There is even a song about the value of the quelite:

“¡Qué bonito es el quelite!

Bien haya quien lo sembró

Que en sus orillitas tiene

De quien acordarme yo…”

There is also a dicho, or saying among the campesinos about the quelite:

“Quelites y calabacitas, en las primeras agüitas,” meaning these plants (wild greens and baby squashes) start producing with the first of the spring rains.

Even when welfare first came to New Mexico, and for some reason the check from the government arrived late, people would jokingly offer another dicho: “No importa, ya viene Mr. Kelly,” meaning that it didn’t matter much because the quelites (aka Mr. Kelly) were still in abundance. Quelites New Mexico style – served with a few red chile pods crushed with their seeds for texture and color, along with finely minced onions, a plate of beans and freshly made tortillas – is still a delicacy so rich in flavors that I doubt it could be equaled by anything served in a five-star restaurant. As long as I live, I will savor what the huerta naturally offers my family: bounties from the jardin rizo.

Juan Estevan Arellano is the translator-editor of Ancient Agriculture, and of many articles in both Spanish and English about the rural traditions of Chile Pepper Nation. He raises heirloom fruits, vegetables and wild greens in the Embudo area of New Mexico along the Rio Grande.

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• Buying foods from local farmers in season when costs are lowest, and preserving is an important way to support the expansion of a local food supply.
• Preserving your own foods, varying the seasonings, brings the possibility of endless variety to your meals.

Fall is the season of abundance, good prices on food, and if we stop to hear an inner voice, the time to start putting food away for the winter. Growing some of your own fruits and vegetables or buying in bulk from a farmer and preserving it will keep local food available through the coming months. Whether your interest in preserving food is for cutting costs, creating a healthy supply for your family, contributing to the expansion of a local supply, or just being creative in the kitchen, it is a fun activity that makes good sense. Recovering and teaching traditional food knowledge is one way of keeping people in the regional sustainability equation.

Ways of Preserving Foods

In addition to saving money and buying locally, preserving food affords the convenience of cooking ahead and having those “emergency meals” that keep us from purchasing processed foods laden with sugar and fillers. Plastic containers and cans are not a healthy way to store food. Make a slow cooker full of your favorite soup or stew, cook beans, make low-sweetener preserves, pickles, or preserve seasonal vegetables as they become available through the growing season. (See www.freshpreserving.com)

Canning – involves packing fruits or vegetables into canning jars fitted with lids, and heating in either a water bath or a pressure canner. Do not try to recycle food jars from the grocery store, since canning jars are made to withstand higher temperatures without breaking. Following a recipe is important to know the appropriate canning time. There are two types of canners: the old-fashioned water bath canner is recommended for acid foods only (e.g. fruit, tomatoes). The pressure canner (not the same as a pressure cooker) is recommended for all other foods. If you are using a water-bath canner, food may need to be cooked before packing into jars. When using the pressure canner method, food can be packed into jars raw with liquid, and cooked during the canning process. Advantages of the pressure canner include better avoidance of bacteria for non-acid foods. (See

www.canningsupply.com)

Drying – removes the water to avoid spoilage, an ancient food preservation tradition. Whether drying beans or corn on the stalk on a blanket indoors, using drying screens or an electric hydrator, and then storing in airtight jars, this saves storage space. Remember the New Mexico ristra method of hanging chiles to dry! Keeping dry food to use in cooking or for sprouting expands the options for tasty and nutritious off-season use. Just make certain to dry thoroughly to keep mold from forming, and store the food in a dry place. (See www.thefarm.org)

Salting – A time-honored tradition, salting is an excellent way of preserving herbs and greens. When cooking later in the year, put a tablespoon into your stew and omit the salt from the recipe. Use about 1/2 cup of salt (non-iodized, coarse grain) per 6 cups of herbs. The herbs will cure and condense over a period of two weeks. Then, pack into jars and store in the refrigerator for use up to a year. (See www.homecooking.about.com)

Freezing – Although freezing may seem more convenient than canning, the downside is plastic containers. Perhaps the worst contemporary food practice is freezing in plastic and then microwaving food in the plastic. High heat does drive the plastic (a petroleum product) into the food, and freezing does also to a lesser extent as well. Not healthy! You can freeze in canning jars if an adequate “headspace” is left between the top of the food and the lid to allow for liquid expansion. Experiment with one jar. (See www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/focus_on_freezing)

Storage in Root Cellars – Storing food in underground cellars is another time-honored tradition in Northern New Mexico (el soterano). Root vegetables, apples, tomatoes, canned goods, salted foods, and jars of dried foods can be stored throughout the winter this way. (See www.motherearthnews.com)

Equipment and Costs

The essential basics in equipment are a canner, jars, a jar lifter, and a funnel. Once the initial investment is made for equipment, jars and screw bands can be reused if kept in good condition. Only the lids need to be replaced each time (about 20¢ per lid). Consider this as an investment for a lifetime of healthier eating.

• Water bath canner ($20) or a pressure canner ($65 to $79).

• Jars with screw bands and lids ($1 each, in packs of 12)

• Canning kit – jar lifter, funnel and additional tools ($6)

There are two types of jars: wide mouth (Kerr) and regular (Ball). These are easy to find at grocery and discount stores in New Mexico. My personal favorite is the wide mouth jar since it is easier to fill. A funnel is recommended for filling. Although the jars need to be sterilized before filling, the dishwasher is a modern shortcut.

Dehydrators for drying food can vary from just over $50 to $300, depending on quality and size. Screens for drying can be hand built.

How to Learn

For safety reasons, it is preferable to learn from someone who is experienced.

• Family members – Renew familial ties by having extensive conversations about the “old ways” of preserving and storing food. Just remember, when talking with Aunt Flora in Florida, altitude adjustments may be necessary for Central to Northern New Mexico.

• A class – local sources include community colleges, agricultural extension agencies, and private lessons. Many high schools are now giving classes to students to encourage self-sufficiency skills.

• Guidance from an experienced friend – throw a canning party!

Some good books to learn from are: Preserving Summer’s Bounty (Rodale Press); Canning for a New Generation (Liana Krissoff); Canning & Preserving for Dummies (Amelia Jeanroy); The Dehydrator Bible (Jennifer MacKenzie); and The Everything Canning & Preserving Book (Patricia Telesco).

Getting Started

Easiest to start with are jams or applesauce processed in a water bath. With jam and jelly recipes, for health reasons, beware of recipes that call for a cup or more of sugar. This amount can be cut way back, and low-glycemic sweeteners can be used (honey or agave).

Just Apples Applesauce

. (Pick or buy the food as ripe as possible to reduce the amount of sugar needed.)

2 to 3 pounds of apples per 1 ½ quarts (about 7 large)

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 1/2 cups water

Sugar to taste (optional)

Cut apples in quarters and core, leaving the skin on (antioxidant rich); cut in chunks. Cook apples with ½ c. water on medium heat in a covered saucepan until soft (about 20 min). Add cinnamon and 2 cups water in blender (2 batches) to pulverize skins. Taste to see if you can make this dish without a sweetener. If necessary, use a small amount at first and then try tapering. Fill hot applesauce into sterilized canning jars, leaving ½ “ headspace and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes, according to directions. Remove jars with a jar lifter for safety. After cooling, press on center of lid. If lid does not depress, a good seal was created.

Preserving food as a family activity is creative, interesting, and bonding. As a must for reducing our dependence on the external food supply, incorporate food storage areas, edible landscaping and family gardens into green design and building. Let’s bring back the root cellar!

Susan Guyette, Ph.D. is Métis (Micmac Indian and Acadian French) and a planner specializing in cultural centers, cultural tourism and native foods. She is the author of Planning for Balanced Development: A Guide for Native American and Rural Communities. E-mail: santafeplanning.com.

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Seasoned pro Allan Sindelar shares his approach to designing high-performance off-grid systems: what works, what doesn’t, and how to select a top-notch installer.

In a nutshell:

• An experienced off-grid installer can help make sure you get the system that meets your needs.
• The interview process is critical to getting an off-grid system that performs to your expectations.
• A professional installer will use site survey tools to find the best location for the PV array.
• A thorough load analysis takes the guesswork out of system sizing.
• Teaching the customer to understand and operate their system is crucial to post-installation satisfaction.
• Regular maintenance of off-grid systems is taught by the installer, and needs to become a habit.

Just a few years ago, most solar installers specialized in off-grid systems for homes beyond the utility lines. Now, most new solar companies only do grid-tied systems because the largest customer growth has been with residences and businesses with access to the electric grid.

But the two system types are very different, and the skills needed to design, install and support the two are likewise distinct. Off-grid knowledge is gained through lengthy experience, and many newer solar companies (and those serving only urban markets) simply don’t offer off-grid services. If you’re considering an off-grid renewable energy (RE) system, here’s what you need to know to successfully hire a pro.

The Relationship

Working with an off-grid installer is akin to entering a long-term relationship, and it does not end with the installation. Depending on your technical skills, you may need your installer to guide you through the system’s long-term care, and you may need to call on that installer when problems arise. You will want to feel confident that your installer will support you and your system for years to come.

A good designer-installer will generally start with an initial conversation, either in person or by telephone. Answers to these questions are important to the design process:

• Do you already have the property, or are you still in the process of looking for land or a home? (This helps your designer understand what information you’ll need.)

• Where is the property? (If it is far away, a good dealer will often suggest another installing dealer closer to you.)

• Is there an existing home or other building on the property, or are you planning to build a new home?

• What, if any, RE equipment is already in place? Can you provide digital photos of the existing photovoltaic (PV) system?

• If you are building a new home, are you doing the work yourself or are you working with a general contractor?

• Will this be your full-time residence or a vacation home?

• If you are building new, how far are you into the design or building process? (Your designer is best included in the RE design process from the beginning.)

• What are your motivations for wanting to be off-grid? Is it your only option due to your location? Are you concerned about utility outages or future rate hikes?

• How far away is utility power and what would it cost to bring it in and hook up to it?

• Do you have specific needs related to your lifestyle and life situation, such as young children or elder care, plans to work at home, livestock, etc.?

• What do you know about off-grid living?

• How will you heat your home?

• What are your water supply needs, and is any equipment in place now, such as a well?

• What budget range do you have in mind, and how will you finance your project?

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SHOPPING FOR OFF-GRID PROPERTY

Here are a few issues to consider when searching for your off-grid paradise:

Most off-grid properties are remote, which likely means far from town services. As you consider a parcel, consider if its remote location will necessitate excessive driving.

If the property has reliable grid power at its edge or nearby, consider tapping in. Build your home as if you will be off-grid – that is, with the sensible energy efficiency of an off-grid home – then hook to the grid and install a grid-tied system to offset your utility electricity consumption. You will spend less, reduce your impact by letting the utility take the place of a backup generator, and have less maintenance and battery replacement expense.

If buying a home with an existing RE system, consider having the system professionally inspected, just as you would have the home inspected. An existing system may have served its former owners well, but may be totally inadequate for your needs, or antiquated and difficult to maintain. Few home inspectors are qualified to evaluate RE systems; use this opportunity to get to know an installer to see if they are right to upgrade the system.

If buying an existing on-grid home, it is probably best to leave it on-grid. Taking an existing home off the grid is a difficult and expensive task, as many prior decisions – about siting, appliances, water supply, and heat, to name a few – were likely made without consideration for future off-grid possibilities.

Besides providing a good initial profile of what you are seeking, and at what level of technical detail, your designer should address your questions. A seasoned off-grid installer often hears more “between the lines” than is verbalized. They can often sense (and answer) the questions you don’t yet know to ask, and may even nudge you to revisit the idea of grid connection if they feel you don’t have a realistic picture of the responsibilities involved in maintaining an off-grid system. Don’t be offended – you will save money and effort by discovering this early in the process. (Note: While there are no monthly electric bills, off-grid living is seldom cheaper than utility power, as amortized battery replacement costs often match utility charges.)

Depending on the property’s location, an installer may also assess your reasons for wanting to live off the grid, and how feasible that might be for you. If you have not yet settled on a property, they may advise you of some things to consider when looking for your site, such as a building site with unfettered solar access. (See “Shopping for Off-Grid Property” above).

Most installers do not charge for an initial consultation, which usually lasts about an hour. Think of it as a “mutual employment interview” – at its conclusion, you and your installer will have a pretty good sense of your compatibility, and will decide together whether to move on to the next steps in the design process.

Load Analysis

A load analysis is the next essential step in the off-grid design process, providing the hard data necessary to build a system that will efficiently meet your energy demands.

You must provide your designer with a comprehensive list of everything you expect to power in your off-grid home—that means every light, appliance, and mechanical component, big and small. The expected power consumption of these loads and hours of use are summed and averaged to estimate daily energy consumption. This becomes the basis for the system size and design.

Most PV system installers or dealers use spreadsheets or fill in-the-blank forms to walk clients through the process. Besides paper calculations, consider purchasing an inexpensive watt meter that measures power use and energy consumption.

For system designers, a load analysis serves four purposes:

• Lists and quantifies loads so the system can be sized to meet the home’s needs.

• Helps identify ways to achieve end results more efficiently to use less energy. The process is a vehicle for your designer to educate you about off-grid living, including lifestyle changes for greater energy efficiency. It often includes replacing inefficient appliances. For example, if you like a big-screen TV for watching sports, consider a second smaller, more efficient one for most shows, saving the large screen for full batteries and Superbowls.

• Helps identify overlooked or inappropriate loads, potential problems, and special cases; and suggest alternatives that use less electrical energy. Examples include hot tubs, which, in off-grid situations, usually are heated with wood or gas, not electricity.

• Creates a record of how much energy use was expected in case changes are called for. Consumption can be reevaluated, and loads reduced or the system expanded accordingly.

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THE DYNAMICS OF OFF-GRID DESIGN & INSTALLATION

Most off-grid installations and substantial system upgrades are arranged and completed directly with homeowners. But some projects require that the installer work through a general contractor, who is responsible for planning and executing the entire building project, including hiring, coordinating, and scheduling subcontractors.

Typically, each subcontractor completes one aspect of the job with little coordination with other subcontractors—and little understanding of specific off-grid efficiency needs. The result often is that each system—heating, appliances, AC wiring, etc.—works well but the home wastes a fair amount of electricity.

If you’ve hired a general contractor to coordinate your building project, insist that your RE installer remain involved from the onset of the design process, and encourage collaboration among the various subcontractors—especially those involved with the electrical, lighting, water pumping, and heating.

Key systems, such as lighting and heating, should be designed as a team of contractor, subcontractors, and PV system designer. The PV designer reviews nearly all of the design decisions and appliance selections for compatibility with the finite energy available. He or she will also make sure the array will be installed in a location to maintain its solar access.

For the client, a fifth benefit arises that is the most important of all—a valuable self-education process. Most of us who live with utility power take energy availability for granted. We use it as needed and pay the bill each month, and we have had little reason to assess our energy use. Doing a load analysis can be an eye-opening activity, since some folks are quantifying their energy use for the first time and may need to reevaluate whether their energy habits are compatible with offgrid living. Additionally, even if the client decides to stay on the grid, they are now armed with information on how to reduce monthly energy bills, which with minimal or no investment can save on future energy bills and reduce the home’s environmental footprint.

Load analysis is a rigorous and time-consuming process, but necessary. By establishing clear expectations of your solar electricity demands, you are far more likely to be satisfied with the final product and can better understand your system’s limitations.

Budget

Good wind and hydro sites are rare—for most folks, their off-grid resource defaults to the Sun. (To simplify the discussion, that’s what we’ll focus on, although some off-grid folks will implement hybrid systems to meet their energy needs.) Off-grid PV systems can cost as little as $3,000 or more than $100,000. Big or small, the design and education processes are generally the same.

Most clients initiate the budget conversation by asking for ballpark figures. They’ll ask what they think is a seemingly straightforward question, like “How much would it cost to power a 2,000-square-foot home?” What they don’t realize is that the size of the home is nearly irrelevant to the question being asked. Two homes of the same size can have electrical needs that differ by a factor of five or more, since a home’s energy use is largely dependent on how the occupants use it.

An off-grid system’s cost can vary greatly depending on the loads, lifestyle, and budget of the customer, and what renewable resources are available. A typical modern, full-featured, code-compliant off-grid solar-electric system for a customer who has properly reduced loads has at least a 1 to 1.5 kW PV array and a battery with three days of storage capacity. A system that size can cost between $15,000 and $25,000, including all components, design, labor, and support. It usually excludes appliances and a backup generator, carpentry, excavation, and concrete work, as these are usually best done by you or by another tradesperson at lower cost. Generally, wiring only includes connection to the home’s breaker panel—PV installers usually don’t install conventional household wiring.

If the budget exceeds your out-of-pocket expectations, your installer may be able to advise you of financing resources that others have used successfully (see “How to Finance Your Renewable Energy Home” in HP103). Federal tax credits of

30% for residential solar and 30% for efficiency upgrades apply equally to grid-tied and off-grid systems. While some incentives apply only to homes with utility power, many states offer incentives and tax credits, and few distinguish between the two system types (see www.dsireusa.org). A good installer will explain available incentives and guide you through the application process, as well as pull permits and secure inspections.

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Beware of Bargains

Factors that affect a PV system’s overall cost include the amount of power produced daily, inverter capacity and waveform quality, and battery bank size and quality, the inclusion of details like surge arrestors and battery vent fans. PV hardware follows some pretty traditional rules: You get what you pay for—and quality is usually worth the extra cost.

Use the questions in this article as a guide to understand the issues involved in creating a good system. Then interview several installers in your area. Who has the most off-grid experience? Who has the most satisfied customers, and can provide references?

Initially, don’t ask what the system will cost. A good designer can only answer, “it depends” until a full load analysis and interview is done. Inexperienced or unscrupulous installers will respond with a low initial figure, knowing that the goal at this early stage is to “get the job.”

Use your research to select a good designer/installer; then work with him or her to develop your particular system according to your loads, lifestyle, and budget. If the installer you have selected and chosen to trust tells you that your system will cost more than you can afford, work to reduce your loads or forego certain luxuries. Shopping for a cheaper system is usually a false economy and may prove disastrous.

Site Visit & System Design

Once your installer has a general idea of your loads, lifestyle, and budget, a site visit is next. Survey tools are used to determine one or more possible sites for your RE system. The installer will also measure conduit and wire runs, select a location for equipment and batteries, look for potential pitfalls to avoid, locate your water well, plan for a backup generator, and formulate a general plan for the installation.

Next, the installer will design the power system. Most will already have a good idea of what components will be used in your system—the bulk of the design process involves performing sizing calculations, resolving specific issues, and working through the various design subtleties. Your designer will let you know if your budget isn’t adequate to cover the system you’ll need to meet your loads. Once such issues are resolved, your installer will prepare a proposal for you. It will likely include component descriptions, an estimate of expected performance, inclusions and exclusions, estimated price, and terms of payment. Knowing your desired budget range will help your installer keep the proposal in line with what you can afford.

Because of the legwork involved and the custom nature of off-grid system design, most installers won’t provide “free estimates”—after all, you are purchasing their knowledge and experience, as much as the equipment. You may expect the design process to make up 2 to 5% of the overall system cost—that’s $400 to $1,000 on a $20,000 system. Some will credit part or all of this fee if you buy the system.

Many experienced installers will refuse to install equipment purchased elsewhere, such as from an Internet retailer. Why? The installer would lose control over design and equipment specifics, yet still be responsible for the system’s care. Plus, warranty issues might have no clear resolution: Was a component failure the result of a defect, poor system design, or an incorrect installation practice? Also, the profit on hardware will have been given to a third party who has little incentive to support the end user.

Installation & Commissioning

A good installer will stay in touch as the installation days approach. Questions will arise, changes may be necessary, and the starting date may move up or back. Your installer may encourage you to be present and available during installation, to deal with questions that you can best answer. You may be asked to help out from time to time, if only for simple tasks. If you lend a hand it becomes “your” system with your time invested, and as you watch it come together it becomes less forbidding and mysterious.

Once installation is complete, the system is methodically powered up. Next come programming the inverter, charge controller, and system monitor, and the myriad details to complete the job. Your installer should include a high quality shunt-based system monitor, preferably located in a commonly used location in your home, rather than out with the power equipment. If this is your first off-grid experience, your installer may initially teach you just the basic use of your monitor so that you can live within your energy budget. In a month or so, once the system is more familiar, a good installer will return to present additional maintenance guidance. You should expect a full owner’s manual with all component manuals, design records and notes, maintenance procedures, warranties, and copies of any inspection reports or permits, but this may not be ready until after the system is operational.

Expect some support as you become familiar with your system’s capacities and limitations. You will likely have questions and may encounter problems—this is normal, and you’ll need your installer’s assistance. Better installers warrant their work and support manufacturers’ warranties as well.

A system that’s done well will give you the tools to live well, with minimal dependence on fossil fuels. You will have gained an appreciation of how to use electricity wisely, and how to match your living habits with the natural rhythms of weather and season—a wonderful way to live.

Allan Sindelar installed his first off-grid PV system in 1988, founded Positive Energy Inc. in 1997, and has lived off-grid since 1999. He is a licensed commercial electrician and a NABCEP-certified PV installer. Positive Energy has offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Taos. E-mail: allan@positiveenergysolar.com

Suggested Reading:

“Starting Smart: Calculating Your Energy Appetite” by Scott Russell, Home Power 102

“Toast, Pancakes, and Waffles: Planning Wisely for Off-Grid Living” by Allan Sindelar, Green Fire Times, February, March 2010

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In the arid Southwest, where droughts are a part of life, municipalities and individuals are capturing and reusing rainwater to conserve water, reduce costs, reduce the environmental impact of their residence or commercial building, and lessen the load on the municipal sewer and storm water systems. Rainwater harvested from rooftops can be used for drinking as well as for many non-potable applications such as irrigation and toilet flushing.

There are two general types of rainwater catchment systems – “active” and “passive.” Most professionally installed systems incorporate aspects of both to maximize water conservation.

Active rainwater catchment refers to systems that actively collect, filter, store and reuse water. Storage in the form of large tanks is usually the most visual aspect of active systems but these systems also incorporate “active” components such as pumps and sometimes filters such as ultraviolet lights. These active components require electricity as well as regular ongoing maintenance to run efficiently and effectively.

In comparison, passive rainwater harvesting systems incorporate no mechanical methods of collecting, cleaning and storing rainwater. The intent with passive rainwater management is to create catchment areas to contain water until it can be absorbed naturally into the land. Vegetative swales, dry creek beds, and pervious concrete or pavers are types of passive collection systems. Passive systems can be relatively inexpensive and are generally simple to design and build.

Which is best? Just as members of the building trade debate the merits of active and passive energy conservation building techniques, the same discussion is going on in the rainwater harvesting community. Some advocate active over passive and visa versa. In most cases, one or the other can be used effectively; however, there are cases where one technique is better than the other, so both should be considered when designing a catchment system.

While active systems are more complex and generally more expensive than passive systems, they have the ability to store large quantities of both winter precipitation and summer monsoon rains, and move it to specific locations where and when it is needed. Like passive systems, they are often used in irrigation systems, but unlike passive systems, they can also be used for indoor, potable and non-potable water use. This is because some active means is required to move water from the roof to indoors and deliver it on demand. Therefore, while both types of catchment systems greatly reduce overall water consumption, an active system is usually required if rainwater is to be used indoors.

Passive systems require little maintenance and can be incorporated in most new or existing landscapes without major surgery or costs. Start by building berms and swales to channel rainwater and slow it down to give it time to infiltrate into the land. Brad Lancaster’s book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1 is a great resource for those interested in fully understanding how these systems work and how they can be used on both large and small projects.

In my experience, it is generally the background and training of the individual that leads to an inclination to either active or passive systems. Both are valid methods of harvesting rainwater and neither should be overlooked as an option. Sometimes the site or the water use will suggest one “solution” over another. For example, commercial crop growing requires active catchment because of its very specific demands on water – timing and placement – that cannot be fulfilled with passive systems. Other situations where active may be the best solution include apartment complexes, high-rise buildings, commercial buildings with large parking lots, and large parks or school grounds. On the other hand, most residential systems should incorporate passive systems at the very least, and a lot of yards can rely solely on passive water catchment.

In Santa Fe and surrounding areas where we get one-third of our precipitation in the winter months, below ground active systems can capture and use this water during our typical dry springs, before the monsoons start. However, this extra capture requires below ground cisterns that can drive up the cost of the system substantially (two to three times). The cost increases because below ground cisterns are engineered with heavier materials to withstand burial, and because of the labor and equipment needed to bury the tank.

Rainwater harvesting can play an important role in conserving our precious water. Both passive and active catchment systems will save water and one should consider the merits of both when designing a harvesting system. But before you start catching the rain, make a commitment to conserve water by reducing your overall water use. By taking water-saving measures, you’ll reduce the size and cost of any system you install.

Doug Pushard, founder of the website HarvestH2O.com, has designed and installed residential rainwater systems for over 12 years. He is a member of the Semi-Arid Guild, and the city of Santa Fe Water Conservation Committee. E-mail: Doug@Harvest2O.com

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