Who:
Ed Paynter
Active member, past Chair of Sierra Club Council and Hoosier Chapter
Where:
Indianapolis, IN
Today, like most weekend days this summer, with members of our developing intentional community and other friends, I continued dismantling a 140-year-old timber framed barn. We will reassemble it in the spring on our community's site in south central Indiana. Inside we'll build apartments, a workshop, dormitory rooms, a garden work area, a community dance floor, and other equipment storage.
Using permaculture principles, we will capture and use rainwater from the roof, reuse gray water, and handle our waste with minimal impact on the environment. Our community will encourage daily personal interaction by thoughtful placement of a pond, gardens, and orchards to grow much of our own food. Soon we will generate much of our power needs using photovoltaic panels, and a micro-hydroelectric generator if we can concentrate our creek's water flow sufficiently.
We are saving the barn, once on Indiana's Historic Landmarks Foundation's "10 Most Endangered Buildings" list, because it represents -- in its posts, beams, joists, and rafters alone -- more than 10,000 tree-years of hardwood forest growth! Since we plan to use "green" materials for our buildings, we would not likely have built a wooden barn if we hadn't found one to reuse.
Next spring, when we re-erect the barn, we will incorporate reused insulation and earth-plastered straw bales to in-fill the walls. The barn will be oriented with the long roof facing south to capture maximum solar energy. This fall and winter we will be looking for another barn for "spare parts" to replace damaged posts and beams, and to save a few thousand more tree-years of forest growth. You can follow our progress at raccooncreek.blogspot.com
