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bruderhof energy conservation
24 nov 2004
last saturday, pe drew gillett and i discussed solar heating and energy
savings with the bruderhof design/build group near albany, ny. they have
2 architects, 6 office people, and construction help as needed. they've
done outside work, eg airplane hangars, but lately they only work for the
bruderhof, a christian family organization with about 2000 members in 11
locations in england, germany, australia, and the us, in new york and
pennsylvania. they plan to start 3 more locations in the next 3 years.  

they started in germany after wwi, then fled to england, where they lived
until just before wwii, when they all moved to paraguay to avoid internment
of german members. they left paraguay and came to woodcrest in rifton, ny
in 1954. some are quakers and hutterites. many still speak german. when i
mentioned a uu policy on "disruptive persons," someone replied "christ and
his followers were disruptive persons. christ said 'if you are near me, you
are near the fire,' and being near the fire is not necessarily comfortable."
their web site has an article by wendell berry about how we are destroying
the earth and a modest proposal that we only draft people over 65.

as pacifists, they are concerned about using oil. architect pete weeks
met me at the train station in one of their 10 jettas powered by used
french fry oil :-) ours had a 5-gallon plastic tank in the trunk with
a heater loop from the radiator and a switch on the dash marked "diesel"
and "veg." you start on diesel and switch to veg after a few minutes in
wintertime, and switch back to diesel at the end. their newer conversions
switch automatically. the fry oil comes from fast food places who save it
for pickup in 5 gallon containers. it gets filtered, then goes into the
plastic tanks. the jetta fuel filters get changed 4 times per year, 
because of particulate matter. 

the bruderhof live frugally, with 340 people and 30 buildings on 100 acres
at woodcrest. the oldest member is 99. the youngest was born 2 weeks ago.
we reviewed plans for a new "2-family dwelling" (2 kitchens being the main
fire risk) for 50-60 people living as families and sharing facilities and
working in on-site businesses. the woodcrest factory makes equipment for
disabled people. other locations make wooden furniture, signs, and "twinshot"
injection-molded plastics. members file tax returns and declare "dividends,"
keeping the irs happy under constantly shifting rules, even though they
have no income or bank accounts. 

this year woodcrest decided (by strict consensus, as usual) to leave the
heat off until saturday november 20 and learn to live in 50 f buildings
with sweaters, as in england. the weather was mild, and they still hadn't
turned on the heat as of sunday morning. they heat with oil and propane
and wood, 200 cords per year at woodcrest, burned in large efficient
bruderhof-built boilers with 380 f stack temperatures. another location
has district heating. they burn wood chips ($900 for 30 cubic yards, like
oil at 15 cents per gallon) in a new automatic 2.5 million btu/h boiler,
equivalent to about 50 home boilers. they are looking into cogeneration. 

they've already come a long way in energy conservation. i didn't see one
incandescent bulb in my visit. i did see someone walk into a room, turn off
a 26 watt cf ceiling light, and turn on a 5 watt cf over a table.

nick