Creating Global Sustainability – One Community Weekly Progress Update #59

One Community is purposed for transitioning our planet to global sustainability through open source and free-sharing do-it-yourself tools, tutorials, resources, plans, and instructions for all areas of fulfilled and sustainable living for The Highest Good of All:

• Here’s our project overview
• Here’s our world-change methodology
• Here’s how this becomes self-replicating
• Here’s how we are open source and free-sharing all the do-it-yourself designs

OUR MAIN OPEN SOURCE HUBS

Click on each icon to be taken to the corresponding Highest Good hub page.

One Community’s physical location will forward this movement as the first of many self-replicating teacher/demonstration communities, villages, and cities to be built around the world. Here is our weekly progress update (#59) covering our development and accomplishments for the week of April 7, 2014:

Global Sustainability
One Community Weekly Progress Update #59

Here is the bullet-point list of this last week’s design and progress discussed in detail in the video above:

GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY INTRO @1:00

HIGHEST GOOD EDUCATION @1:45

• Finished 25% of the Science Subject Molecule (see below)
• Finished the last 10% of the needed English Subject research

HIGHEST GOOD FOOD: @2:40

• Created Highest Good food overview poster (see below)
• Finished all 3-D plant placements for the Aesthetic and Diversity-focused Zen Aquapini Design
• Added 20 plant variety images and descriptions to the large-scale gardening page
• Completed sourcing, researching, and choosing over 350 additional specific varieties

HIGHEST GOOD HOUSING: @4:11

• Created Highest Good housing overview poster (see below)
• Explored thermal lag, loss, and our specific options for heating the Earthbag Village homes (details below)
• Finished about 50% of the open source village emergency fire and medical page
•  Victor Herber designed and checked the stress load capabilities of the vermiculture toilet removable-frame supports (see below)
• Philip Gill finished about 70% of the entertainment and dining dome custom furniture design (see below)

DUPLICABLE CITY CENTER: @5:25

• Karl Harris‘ continued progress on the SEGO elevations (see below)

HIGHEST GOOD SOCIETY: @6:20

• Finished 8 more pages of outlining version 1.0 of the custom and open source Highest Good Network (see below)

GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY SUMMARY: @6:55

• How you can most help us right now and how anyone can help

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ONE COMMUNITY WEEKLY UPDATE DETAILS

HIGHEST GOOD EDUCATION PROGRESS

We are improving life on Earth through Highest Good education that is for all ages, applicable in any environment, adaptable to individual needs, far exceeds traditional education standards, and more fun for both the teachers and the students:

• Learn about the components: Education open source hub
• Learn how the components work together: How to use the Education for Life Program
  

This last week the core team finished 25% of the Science Subject Molecule:

Science Molecule – 25% Complete

HIGHEST GOOD FOOD PROGRESS

We are here to create global sustainability through Highest Good food that is more diverse, more nutritious, locally grown and sustainable, and part of our open source botanical garden model to support and share bio-diversity:

• Learn about the structures: Aquapini & walipini open source hub
• See what we’ll be growing: Gardens & Hoop Houses | Large-scale Structures | Food Forest

This last week the core team created this Highest Good food overview poster:

One Community Highest Good Food – Click to Open and Enlarge in a New Window

We also finished all 3-D plant placements for the Aesthetic and Diversity-focused Zen Aquapini Design:

Zen Aquapini Sketchup Export

And we added 20 plant variety images and description to the large-scale gardening page. Cole crops, beets, celery, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, alliums, lettuce, peas, tomatoes, radishes, potatoes, squash, capsicum, melons, and parsnips also have complete cultural considerations and planting guidelines included on that page too now… Plus, behind the scenes, we have completed sourcing, researching, and choosing all the specific plant selections for each of these species. This now includes over 350 different varieties that we will now be adding a species at a time to the large-scale gardening page. Here are two examples of new plants added:

 Cole Crops

Brassica spp.: kale, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc.

Cole Crops

Cole crops are leafy vegetables eaten fresh or cooked, also dried, pickled, and canned. Some forms can be root cellared. The hardiest forms, such as kales can overwinter under mulch. They are highly nutritious, a source of glucosinolates, isothiocyanates and vitamins.

CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

• • • Brassicas are subject to beetle and caterpillar damage
    • Light fertilization after planting helps early rapid growth
    • Crop rotation is important for brassicas to avoid pest buildup
    • Transplant early spring; hardy types can also be planted in fall
    • Some types such as broccoli and brussel sprouts may provide multiple harvests

PLANTING GUIDELINES

Brassicas are usually set out in spring as transplants. Spacing is 12” each way or more; it is important to allow enough root room to provide adequate nutrition for each plant, as brassicas tend to be heavy feeders. Organic mulches are very beneficial as they provide nutrition as they break down, plus create conditions for soil biota that help suppress root maggots and fungal diseases.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Wikipedia – Brassica

Specific cole crop varieties coming soon…

Beets (Beta vulgaris)

Beets

Beets are an important vegetable from a dietary standpoint; leafy tops are consumed and roots are eaten raw, cooked, (though will lose about 25% of their folate value when cooked) pickled, and canned. They are a dietary source of betaine (trimethylglycine), an important modified amino acid that helps protect cells against osmotic stress, which assists in DNA formation.

 CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

• • • Beets are generally direct seeded
    • Plant in spring after soil reaches 55F
    • Beets like humus and good drainage
    • Beets like mulch and steady moisture
    • When thinning, pinch off rather than pull

PLANTING GUIDELINES

Plant seeds in well-worked soil in spring and rake in lightly. Keep moist until germination occurs. Once stand is thinned, mulch to conserve soil moisture. Light feedings with compost or earthworm casting teas are beneficial, but avoid excessive nitrogen.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Wikipedia – Beets

Specific beet varieties coming soon…

HIGHEST GOOD HOUSING PROGRESS

We are here to create global sustainability through Highest Good housing that is artistic and beautiful, more affordable, more space efficient, lasts longer, DIY buildable, and constructed with healthy and sustainable materials:

• Learn about the different village models: 7 Sustainable Village Models
• Visit the open source portals for the first two: Earthbag Village OS Hub | Straw Bale Village OS Hub

This last week the core team created this Highest Good housing overview poster:

Highest Good Housing – Click to Open and Enlarge in a New Window

We also explored thermal lag, loss, and our specific options for heating the Earthbag Village homes:

THERMAL LAG

Thermal lag is a time unit assigned to a material that indicates the amount of time it takes to heat up or cool down. Heating a material up depends on how much heat it can absorb (Specific Heat, C_p), the rate at which the heat can penetrate (thermal conductivity, k), the density of the material in question (density, ρ) and the thickness of the material. The Lag from heating one side to the other side heating up as well is the thermal lag expressed by:

This means that when our domes experience cyclical temperatures (day and night, seasonal) the temperature inside the domes lags behind. For our domes, we have calculated a 44-day lag in temperature meaning that the exterior temperature would not reflect the un-heated interior temperature of the dome. You can see this depicted in the image below where the blue line represents the average daily temperature of Page, AZ and the red line is the resultant 44-day lag temperature inside the dome. The green line is what a lag of over a year would look like, which happens to be the same principle that creates the 55°F below-ground temperature people reference as the benefit of building in-ground versus above ground.

Temperature Analysis for Page, AZ (not our location)

The good news is that extremely hot days in the summer would benefit from these cooler interiors. The bad news is that after over 44 days of cold temperatures, the inside of the domes are going to reflect that average cooler temperature. At that point trying to heat the structure becomes hard to predict because you not only have to heat the air in the dome, but the material of the dome itself, and the overall trend of the elements cooling the dome over 44 days is hard to offset.

To put it another way, the thermal mass of the domes resists temperature change much like a heavy thing resists changes in velocity (inertia). Once the temperature outside is pushing that mass colder it takes a lot of energy to push back and keep it warm in the space. The equations that represent the system of thermal properties move into the realm of advanced calculus and show traditional heating and insulating of these spaces would be cost prohibitive for our affordability goals for these initial structures.

Thermal Lag Calculations

Castles Used Wall Tapestries

This has led us to consider more creative options for heating. For instance, what if we could change when the tendency of the material to resist temperature changes is desired verses when it is advantageous? One possible solution comes from the middle ages. Castles are not known to be the homiest of places, especially in the winter. To combat the chill coming off the walls in the winter people put up floor to ceiling drapes and tapestries. These cloths added insulation to the inside of the space and kept heat in the room while reducing the amount of heat that was absorbed by the thermal mass of the castle walls.

Other options being considered are space heaters with energy rationing, parabolic dish heaters or electric blankets (heat the person, not the room), and other creative insulation approaches. As we continue to explore all options, the key criteria we are focusing on are affordability, sustainability, labor needs for implementation, maintenance, and our limited energy supplies when using solar.

 OTHER HIGHEST GOOD HOUSING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Victor Herber designed and checked the stress/load capabilities of the vermiculture toilet removable-frame supports that you see here. These supports need to be removable so they can be placed on the second tray from the bottom to jack all the trays above it up for easy removal and emptying of the bottom one:

Vermiculture Toilet Tray Design Progress

Philip Gill also finished about 70% of the entertainment and dining dome custom furniture design option for the Earthbag Village homes. This design includes built-in seating and an entertainment center, a table for eating or socializing, chifferobe, and ladder access to the loft storage or sleeping area:

Entertainment Dome Custom Furniture Design – 70% Complete

DUPLICABLE CITY HUB PROGRESS

We are here to create global sustainability through a Duplicable and Sustainable City Center that is LEED Platinum certified/Sustainable, can feed 200 people at a time, can provide laundry for over 300 people, beautiful, spacious, saves resources, saves money, and saves space:

• Learn about this building and it’s function: Duplicable City Center open source hub

This last week’s visible progress for the Duplicable City Center is complements of Karl Harris‘ (Architect Drafter, Designer, and founder of Harris Design & Technology Services) continued progress on the elevations in CAD:

Duplicable City Center continued examples of Elevations in CAD

One Community is focusing on components to help people create global sustainability through a Highest Good society approach to living that is founded on fulfilled living, the study of meeting human needs, Community, and making a difference in the world:

• Read the Highest Good society overview: Highest Good Society
• Learn about the model for fulfilled living and sharing: A Day in the Life
• Learn about the 4 economic models: RBE | For-profit | Non-profit | Entrepreneurship
• Open source community collaboration and management software: The Highest Good Network

This last week the core team finished 8 more pages of outlining version 1.0 of the custom and open source Highest Good Network  software. We are now about 80% complete with this outline so we can return to the creative coding process. Here is a screenshot of this work in progress and what can be expected from this application:

Highest Good Network Software Outline – 80% Complete

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