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Wild Sage Cohousing Sets
Sustainability Standard
By Wendy
Priesnitz
Across North America, a growing number of
cohousing neighborhoods are
leading the move toward sustainable lifestyles. They are, according to
research, driving 30 percent less than the rest of us, paying 50 percent
less in utility bills and using 40 percent less water.
But the Wild Sage Cohousing community, built in 2004
in Boulder, Colorado, goes beyond the typical environmental friendliness of
similar neighborhoods. The community recently received an EPA energy rating
of Five Star Plus – the highest rating given – on all 34 of its attached
townhomes.
Cohousing communities are small-scale neighborhoods
that provide a balance between personal privacy and living among people who
know and care about each other. The concept began in Denmark in the early
1970s. Individual dwelling units enjoy convenient access to shared space,
usually including a common house with facilities such as a gourmet kitchen,
dining room, a children’s play room, laundry facilities, guest rooms,
library, sitting areas, and workshops. Each home is entirely
self-sufficient, complete with a kitchen, but residents often prepare meals
together in the kitchen of the common house.
Cohousing developments are designed, planned, and
managed with a high degree of resident participation. Most major decisions
are arrived at through a consensus decision-making process. To make Wild
Sage as environmental as possible within their available budget, green
building architect and future resident Bryan Bowen and 70 community members
met for two years before construction began and agreed on a number of
solutions. Among the features chosen by the neighbors were active and
passive solar design, airtight housing construction, and a car-free interior
courtyard.
“Our houses are so tightly built that air is retained
12 times more efficiently than in a typical U.S. home,” says Bowen of the
EPA’s independent air blower door tests. “We designed and placed the homes
to stay cool and light in the summer and keep maximum heat in the buildings
during the winter.”
Energy conservation features standard in all the Wild
Sage townhomes include shared walls and double-paned windows, south facing
buildings for strong solar gain, air blown non-toxic insulation, and
fittings for photovoltaic panels. In addition, active water conservation
measures collect runoff from the roof-tops and channel the rainwater to
plants.
As is fairly typical in cohousing, residents’
vehicles are parked at the edge of the property. Homes are also clustered to
make as small a building footprint as possible to help preserve the land in
its natural state.
Because of the extra planning costs, group
facilities, and various environmental innovations, cohousing communities can
be expensive. Wild Sage has attempted to accommodate a variety of family
sizes and budgets. The cost of units range from just over $100,000 to around
$450,000, with about 40 percent of them qualifying under the City of
Boulder’s affordable housing program.
Learn More
Wild Sage
Cohousing
Wendy Priesnitz is
Natural Life Magazine's editor. This article was first published in 2004.
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