Alviston Blog

This past Tuesday I had the distinct pleasure of talking with the first class of the Energy and Environment Academy at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California. It was thrilling to see just how excited these students are to be learning about energy efficiency and sustainable living.

In fact, I spoke only for a few minutes about the materials we use in building our energy-efficient homes when the kids started asking questions. I answered them as fast as I could, but they just kept coming. And they were good questions too.

Their teacher, Julie McShea, told me that that amount of intensity was unusual, but it was great to see. And to know that this group of students coming up is certain to have some of the answers to the big problems we are now facing; answers about pollution, transportation, housing, agriculture, and more. If they can figure out the questions to ask, they can probably figure out the answers.

I showed the kids many of the materials to be used on the new building that is being built on campus to house the new program. Products like insulated concrete forms, photovoltaic panels, radiant floor heating, dual flush toilets, and more. The building will act as a learning tool itself.

Julie said it was great to see the excitement, but added that to really get all this technology stuff, the students will have to know much more about electricity, which reminded me they were only freshmen. But heck, how many of us had even heard the term gigawatt at that point?

Unfortunately, there is a temporary hold on construction of the new building due to the current financial state of the state. However, we have been assured that it will be built. I hope it does not take too long, because we need these kids learning as fast as they can.

–Mark Alvis

My sister Paula and I took a trip up to Oregon last weekend to see how the “green wave” is catching on up there. We visited Ashland, which is famous for the Shakespeare festival.

What struck me was the genuine friendliness of the town. Everyone we met was kind and courteous, something I do not always feel in California anymore. I think we are getting very nervous in California, and are looking around for places for which to escape. It is too crowded and there is real concern that the basics like clean air and water are going to be outdated.

We picked up a couple of local papers in Ashland and there were no less than seven articles about sustainability, global warming, and green building. In comparison, it seems here the media is somehow afraid to talk about it. In an area that is going to be hard hit when we run out of water, you would think we would be talking about nothing else.

Heading north or heading up into the mountains is the natural reaction of animals seeking to stay cool, and to find water. That is what many people from California are doing as fires continue to decimate entire neighborhoods down south, and water becomes more and more scarce.

I watched Nova on PBS a couple nights ago, a show that I have always respected. However, they were saying things that were simply untrue, for instance, that it will take ten years for the plug hybrids to have an effect. If we had the balls, we could mandate that the car companies that we are giving our tax money to have to build plug-in hybrids, cars that can get 100 miles to the gallon, and easily more.

We have many answers; we just need to act.

–Mark Alvis

We are currently working with a group from Calvin Crest Camp up above Oakhurst in the Sierra. They have collaborated with Clean Water University and are going to be building a new facility where they will teach people how to operate a water purification plant.

The same building will house the system and the classroom, and will use insulated concrete forms (ICFs) for the walls and structural insulated panels (SIPs) for the roof. These materials are excellent choices for the climate as the Camp gets plenty of snow and cold weather, and the combination of ICFs and SIPs make for an incredibly energy-efficient shell.

To make the project as cost-effective as possible, and to minimize waste, Alvis Projects is advising them to be very careful when dimensioning the building. It may sound simple, but by using the dimensions that are “friendly” to the ICFs and SIPs, you can build a structure with nearly zero waste. This is a great advantage when you are working in the mountains as it both greatly increases speed and reduces dump runs.

While you can build easily to any dimension with ICFs, when you work with existing dimensions, it is cheaper, faster, and less wasteful. For example: since a standard block is four feet by 16 inches, you can build a building that is 40′ by 40′ and eight feet high without making one cut and throw nothing away. Of course, most people want some windows and doors, but with careful sizing and placement of windows and doors, you can still build with zero waste.

We call this zero-waste design and can be used when designing for commercial and residential as well.

–Mark Alvis