Learn from Germany- Passive Housing Construction December 28, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, development, economics, green living, politics, renewable energy, solar energy.Tags: Berkeley, construction, consumption, cuspers, elizabeth rosenthal, energy, Germany, green ideas, IREC, Montreal, nabih tahan, Obama, passive houses, solar engineering school, sweden, ventilation
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Super sales people become great by stealing. Stealing the greatest, most profitable ideas and executing on them immediately to change, enhance, our own profit margin in whatever sales game we’ve got going. Not a difficult concept and it makes a lot of sense – find out who is doing what better and then do it too. If you get in on it fast enough, the saturation point will be a delayed concern. And Germany seems to have all the best ideas at the moment. Simplified solar lending, feed in tariffs, since 2004 Germany has endorsed solar energy as the new way and society’s climbing on board, and Italians and Spanish citizens are coming along, following their lead. America woke up from Bush inspired dormancy, Berkeley First, the state of Connecticut and according to IREC, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (celebrating 26 years, sends out emails if you want to update yourself firsthand), other states are coming along with market provisions for greater renewable energy endeavors here in the US. Slow progress but thankfully, we’re coming along. Obama and his ‘cusper’ crew are going to show us the way and if we’re smart, we’ll all move forward, fast, thanks to their visionary leadership.
Back to Germany, because they’ve been taking action and leading the pack. Elizabeth Rosenthal’s article on the New York Times (she is decidedly green and a great writer) put out a fantastic piece on passive houses. Passive housing construction really is the ultimate in green development as it uses minimal energy input to maintain perfect indoor temperatures no matter the weather. (The new renewable energy movement would be the penultimate solution, needing no energy for daily life being and even greater achievement.) The first physicist to develop the idea of warm houses without energy demand was Wolfgang Feist. As a German intellectual, he wrote in German, preventing **Americans** from being included in the dialog. Wolfgang Hasper of the Passivhaus Institut is publicizing the idea with his website, although written in German, has buttons for English and French translations of this brilliance. The idea is an airtight house with mechanical ventilation to create air flow in the home without heating or cooling, breezes or air recirculation resulting in 80% less energy consumption for comfortable living. Supposedly, the ventilation system is Swedish (where old people use kick sleds to carry their groceries over ice and snow to and from their walk to the markets and the sun shines infrequently in winter yet they have a huge FREE solar engineering school in Borlange). Go Sweden!
Now let’s talk visionaries. Nabih Tahan brings passive housing construction to the US from Europe and sets up shop where? Berkeley. Go California. For more information, check out any of these links. Green ideas are a go. Better to inform yourself on next wave ideas than check out Obama without his shirt (hot). If the media stays focused, we can all move forward together.
**What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. (A regular Montrealer…)
**What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual.
**What do you call a person who speaks one language? You guessed it. American.
Grandmas Go Green October 14, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in development, family, green living.Tags: American feast, BMW, bus, grandma, Metro, Montreal, Thanksgiving, walk
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Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone! What a delicious time to eat- the harvest, when the leaves change colour and turkey consumed at an unabashedly American rate. Perhaps its jealous mimicry for a family oriented, government sanctioned holiday. None the less, it’s as good an excuse to gather as any.
Wearing nice leather shoes and dressed in my woolen finest, I met my grandmother, the not-quite-34 year old troubadour at her humble Westmount abode. Two newspaper articles and a new luggage sweepstakes later, Gram and I ventured across the street to the conveniently located 90 bus stop which took us straight to the Vendome metro. We hopped the metro two stops north and walked 5 blocks to arrive at our Thanksgiving feast. We weren’t the only attendees at the party who rolled up in the BMW. All of the guests took the B-us or M-etro and W-alked to get to the party on time. And no one thought anything of it, totally normal.
Fantastic right?! The greatest role models for public transportation use are those people who use it to facilitate their existence everyday. Great many of our lesser young individuals in the city of Montreal make use of the transportation system devised to enable the great movement from here to there. Buses and metros may run at odd hours, show up late, not show up, run hors service (out of service), but when systematically implemented correctly in a society, they work to make a territory accessible to all.
My grandmother and her good friends gathered for Thanksgiving dinner having arrived by foot from the bus stop or the metro station around the corner. Gram commented on the way over that her dinner friend, at the tender age of 94, took the bus everywhere even though she made use of a cane to help get around. Her family could afford a driver to take her around but she maintains her link to the city using Montreal’s fantastically linked public transportation system just like everyone else. Another shining example of plucky Montrealers and public transportation buffs.
Two thoughts in closing. First, I would pitch the city of Montreal as a great example of the success of a fully integrated public transpiration system. And second, I’m encouraging my grandma and her friends to start the Grandmas Go Green social networking sight. Green living individuals with kids who have kids can organize and pass tips on a variety of subjects. Website forthcoming.
Public Transportation and Ipods September 3, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, economics, green living, public transporation, recycling.Tags: broken Ipods, cutting the line, exact change, Metro, Montreal, new bus tickets, new metro tickets, public transporation, Quebec French
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The Montreal transit system recently changed from itty bitty bus tickets to large, coated plastic bus tickets that are 3x the size and non-recyclable. In addition, they’ve provided the reusable microchip card that can be recharged and used for the next 8 years. (If two good ideas are proposed and one is not significantly more expensive and better for the environment, the company should chose the option that is better for the environment.) I bought my rechargeable card as soon as they came out.
Now, in order to recharge your card, you go to the big vending machine thing and put in your money and the machine stamps that many passes into the card which you then swipe through the turnstile. If you don’t have the money to put a strip of passes into the recharge card, you can still dump your $2.75 one-way fair in the bucket. The transportation guy won’t just push his handy turnstile pass-through button and let you go into the metro, he will issue you a single large plastic coated one-time-use card which you have to swipe in order to gain entry into the metro. The plan is good, the execution of the plan sucks. After the one swipe, the card becomes useless and gets discarded.
When I pay my $2.75 with exact change after jumping in front of a very long line of shmucks who are waiting for their passes and change, NO, I absolutely don’t want a wasteful piece of crap plastic to put through the machine, I want you to push the button so I can pass through without a hassle. Understand that I’m in a hurry, that’s why I jumped the entire line with my exact change in the first place.
My Ipod broke about a year ago and I’ve been Ipod-less as a result for a while. Although I have a CD player, I just can’t go back. (Keep looking forward man.) And because I don’t have an Ipod, I’m not going to just drown my furry with classic rock ballads of sex, drugs and rock&roll at the thought of being forced to accept the one-time use plastic piece of crap card that will get me into the metro one, and only one, time. I will, on the other hand, concentrate on just how I’m going to verbally crucify you and your worthless pieces of plastic waste on my blog for the world to read. I paid exactly 2 dollars and 75 cents to get on the Metro, a fantastically green transportation alternative that enables me to get from here to there almost instantaneously without turning on my car. Two dollars and seventy-five cents is exact amount for a ride, not a penny more or less. I paid for a ride, not a lecture. My lack of Ipod allows me to ruminate on the ridiculousness of getting bitched out for putting my exact change in your window and then not wanting to accept your one time use un-recyclable piece of crap plastic card. Do your job, push the button, waste not, and we won’t have a problem.
(And by the way, if you’re going to huff and puff about my line jumping, understand I can’t understand muffled Quebec French through a thick piece of glass. If your words are inaudible, I’m not going to understand you because I’m not going to put the effort into translating information about the plastic card. It’s not because I’m not trying, I’m in a hurry, you have your money, and I’m not waiting around to hear your say something about putting the plastic ticket in the box, just push the button and we can both get on with our lives.) Yes, it bothered me…
Shitty jobs in Montreal September 1, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, development, recycling.Tags: anglo community, Bloc Que, Montreal, positive impact, recycling, shitty jobs
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The Montreal Anglo community represents to no one. Seriously alienated, the Bloc goes on the record stating that they shouldn’t shy from being labeled “intolerant” with regards to their demands for a French speaking community. Come on guys- even now? Yes, the common response resonates, relegating Anglophones to the service industry and strictly physical jobs (labor, landscaping, warehouse work).
Not a problem actually. Even with a crappy service job, if you out-sell everyone else, you’ll make the most money in tips guaranteed. Thank you sales skills. Crappy jobs pay the rent. If you’ll recall the move, The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Halthoway toasts to the “job that pays the rent.” My dad loves that line. Anne’s a good girl giving hope to all individuals in between big things ready for the next to begin and stuck in the staging ground…
While you’re in your shitty job, you might attempt to make the positive impact that you promise to all of your “real job” opportunities. For instance, if a restaurant doesn’t recycle anything, try to bring that to issue without being hated for attempting to add value to your shitty restaurant job. I’ve been told by SO MANY PEOPLE that the managers and owners of the shitty jobs just don’t give a shit about trying to do better/ be better… I, myself, have suffered the consequences of thinking big… As my wise grandmother tells me, “just shut up and do your job,” my roommate agrees, “nobody cares about your ideas.” Shitty jobs just kill me. I try to be the best at everything I do. I’ll out-maneuver you, out-sell you and then take your job because I’m more valuable. Maybe that’s why the shitty job sucks so much. They just don’t give a crap about what I can bring… Do you even know who you have busting for you? You seriously don’t even know…
Recycling is important, I don’t care what you say about it. As a mater of fact, I recycled 8 more bottles today than you ever did before. It required taking bottles and putting them in a bag and then walking that bag across the street… Seriously. Now shut up and stop making excuses.
Detroit/Montreal & DNC REC Solar Recharging Station August 28, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in business, economics, education, politics, solar energy.Tags: Detroit, DNC, economy, Montreal, REC Solar, solar energy
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And then there was one. After live-at-home holdout got shipped out to Germany to handle business there, the lone conservative real estate developer remained. Living in a “starter house” in Ferndale, he and his wife have established themselves quite comfortably in the Detroit area. Real estate development is his family’s business.
Practically every individual of my graduating class left the greater Detroit, Michigan area. Many went to State or Michigan for university, great state schools, smart move guys, moved back home after graduation and lived around town, but very quickly thereafter the majority moved out of state. The economy or lack thereof, induced a second flight. With no work in Detroit, off we went to Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, I guess Florida… Some have returned to take over family businesses. But for those born without the entrepreneurial spirit and labor of their families to fall back on, determined high school graduates departed to achieve their potential elsewhere. (Thank you to my Facebook network.)
I moved to Montreal for school at age 17. Oh Canada, how I love thee. Beautiful nature smack dab in the middle of everything. It’s green with grass and trees and city floral arrangements. We recycle; we use the metro and our beautifully functional legs. (We walk and we wear heels.) There are dogs and bicyclists wearing miniskirts using the bicycle path in the middle of the street in the afternoon. Helmets mess up our hair; it’s a dare to auto drivers to watch out for us. Because we’re on bicycles, our brains are important and we get hurt easily. Tamtams happens every Sunday, the spontaneous gathering of likeminded Montrealers who just want to chill for the afternoon in the park, listen to some drumming, dance a bit, duel a bit, juggle, drink, guitar, tightrope walk… You know, the usual.
Then a second flight. All McGill students left Montreal after they graduated. To Toronto, Memphis, Vancouver, Boston, New York… English speaking young professionals couldn’t find work in our magical city due to a language barrior. Difficult times for Anglos. It’s a big deal when you can’t pass as a French speaker.
I thought I’d like LA. The sun always shines… through a layer of smog…Good friends, hard work almost rewarded; definitely a struggle under tons and tons of beautiful garbage. A non-existant public transportation system… Voluntary emissions reduction, just do it.
Although I should highlight this fact even more, everyone should know that MySpace and REC Solar have teamed up to present a solar recharging station at the Democratic National Convention. This is huge. Go recharge your Ipods, video cameras, cell phones, laptops or any other plug-in you’ve got- it’s renewable, it’s like plugging into a perpetual fusion reaction, it’s free. Also, pick up some information on REC Solar because they’re dominating in the race to heal the world. Making money and saving the planet- it’s totally possible.
17 going on 18 August 27, 2008
Posted by sunlightmyfire in development, family.Tags: cousins, development, FROSH, Montreal
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My Vancouver-born first cousin, Samara, is in town. She’s checking out schools for next year and helping her mom move her other grandmother into an old folks chalet. I get to show her around but as a 17 year old, how deep into the rabbit hole will she go? I mean, I had a significant resume of success a 17but on the other hand, as a sheltered prep school kid, it took moving out to University in order for the final reveal on young existence to occur.
At 17, I had never been to detention, kept my shirt tucked in and had taken my high school choir to Europe after my graduation ceremony and still led by example, no drinking, no staying out late, no hitting on cute German boys… I made sure that everyone made it back on the bus in time. One week prior to my Montreal departure, everything changed. Having never even set eyes on the hyped Christmas trees, I smoked for the first time at the camp fire behind my best friend’s house. After having successfully navigated myself down level one into the underbelly of the world, I knew I could take it from there – said my thank yous and good byes, packed up and headed out.
Frosh week at McGill changed my life; booze, boys, a 3 day controlled bender (my first, supervised by an experienced student who had been there before, perhaps even the previous year) I achieved my corruption goals quickly, nothing ever too stupid, but definitely stupid enough. Over 2000 teenagers, freshly freed from their parents, attempting to shed their lingering high school images and get wasted collectively, perhaps for the first time, making friends, exploring a new city, trying to remember and hopefully making a somewhat/positive impression memorable just long enough to be able to walk down the street and yell, “Hey you! You were in my Frosh group remember? How’s school going so far?… Ya, I’ve decided not to drink for a month… You too? Ya, that was crazy fun!”
Although my own personal bundle of issues may be a work in progress, I take pride in my 17 year old success. I’ve told my cousin lots. No holds barred. She’s eating it up, she wants to come to Montreal for University. Excellent! Sharing tidbits to a captive audience is such a joy.
And just as an aside- along with the unique, relatively unknown, and fantastically free fun available any night of the week (except if it’s raining), Montreal remains a cheap, great city for students, communal but definitely big enough to grow into. I kept attempting to share my Frosh experience with my American friends, all developing and growing through their own first weeks of school, but alas, it was the first of many untranslateable Montreal-centricities that I absolutely love about this city.
