Due to the price of natural gas and crude oil, it is predicted that it will cost you much more to heat your home this winter
(Photo by John Ferguson, courtesy of FEMA)
As summer winds down, you’re
probably not thinking about your
heating bill. But that’s something
market analysts are thinking about
right now. And reporter Kyle Norris
finds the predictions of what it will
cost to heat your home are going up
in a big way:
Transcript
As summer winds down, you’re
probably not thinking about your
heating bill. But that’s something
market analysts are thinking about
right now. And reporter Kyle Norris
finds the predictions of what it will
cost to heat your home are going up
in a big way:
This year the average cost of heating your home is going to cost a good
chunk more than what it did last year.
Doug MacIntyre is an analyst with the US Energy Information
Administration.
“We’re estimating that, on average, the household using natural gas to
heat their home will be spending 24% more than last year. For heating
oil we think the increase will be even higher with house holds spending
about 36% more than they did last year.”
Those predications are made by looking at the cost of things like natural
gas and crude oil. And by analyzing the weather forecast for the up-
coming winter.
MacIntyre says he does not expect these expensive heating costs to go
away anytime in the next few years.
Aileen Eilert and her plastic wagon loaded with
tomato and pepper starter plants, headed for the subdivision one block over to campaign (Photo by Ashley Gross)
Many environmentalists knock the suburbs. They don’t like how
dependent suburbs are on cars. They don’t like the sprawl, the large
houses and huge lawns. They think it’s a waste of land. Ashley Gross
reports… one woman is on a campaign to see some of those expansive
lawns turned into something a little more productive:
Transcript
Many environmentalists knock the suburbs. They don’t like how
dependent suburbs are on cars. They don’t like the sprawl, the large
houses and huge lawns. They think it’s a waste of land. Ashley Gross
reports… one woman is on a campaign to see some of those expansive
lawns turned into something a little more productive:
(sound of movie music)
Ever since soldiers returned from World War II, the suburbs have been portrayed as
the family-friendly ‘good life.’
“And so they joined the stream of family life in the suburbs. Soon to become part of
its familiar sights. Soon to absorb its familiar sounds.”
One of the most constant of those familiar sounds is a lawnmower.
(sound of lawnmower)
That noise just grates on Aileen Eilert’s nerves. Her goal is to live a more
environmentally-friendly life in the suburbs.
(sound of opening door and walking outside)
She does have a lawn. But she and her husband are converting much of it to
vegetable garden plots.
“So I have some snow peas growing here and here’s you know four tomato plants
and Bruce planted some peppers all the way down here.”
Eilert says gardening means she drives less often to the grocery store – and she’s
not buying produce shipped in from a different continent.
That’s important to her. Eilert says she decided to use less oil after her nephew was
killed in Iraq in 2005.
“You know, we’re fighting over there and it was about oil, and so I just thought I’ve
got to do something. I mean, it’s too late for me to do anything about my nephew,
and he was such a good kid. I’d like it to be where people – oh we don’t need to buy
oil from countries that may not be friendly to us or may not be stable.”
Eilert is not alone. People in the suburbs are beginning to think about their lifestyles
in a different way.
Evan McKenzie is a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago He researches the
politics of suburbia.
“The stuff that was planned and put in place in the 60s and 70s and even the 80s, I
think in some cases is giving way to new ideas. I mean they’re selling and giving
away rain barrels in the suburbs so people collect rainwater to water their plants
with. I never heard of that before.”
Not everyone is onboard with the environmental movement in the suburbs yet. Last
year Americans spent almost 11 billion dollars on do-it-yourself lawn care just to
keep the grass green.
Aileen Eilert wants to change that. She calls her new campaign “Grow Food, Not
Lawns.”
Her approach is one-on-one. Today she’s pulling a plastic wagon loaded with
tomato and pepper starter plants. She’s headed for the subdivision one block over.
(sound of wagon)
Eilert approaches Tim Lakis as he mows his lawn. He gives him a pepper plant.
Then comes the pitch.
Eilert: “Lawns actually use a lot of chemicals if you put chemicals on your lawn and
that gets into the water system.”
Lakis: “Okay.”
Eilert: “And then also your lawn mower has way more emissions than a car would,
not that I’m saying that…”
Lakis: “Okay, I’ll look it over.”
Aside from some strange looks, that went pretty well.
But Eilert learns pretty quickly there’s way more gardening going on here in this
neighborhood she thought. She’d pegged it as a lawn-addicted wasteland. But this
subdivision’s residents are kinda green.
Eilert: “I assume you use a gas mower?”
Man: “No. Electric.”
Eilert: “Do you? Oh you are just the perfect person to talk to today.”
Woman: “I mean, every year I grow my tomatoes and peppers and zucchinis.”
Second Man: “Every year I try to get rid of more grass and put in more plants.”
Eilert even gets a recipe for cooking dandelions. She leaves the subdivision
encouraged.
“People were concerned and people did think it was a good idea to have gardens
and they’d be willing to make a little more of a sacrifice to make the earth a little bit
better.”
She’ll be visiting more subdivisions soon, trying to get more people to turn those
suburban lawns into gardens. And maybe get them thinking, just a little about other
things they could do.
The nest of a Swainsons warbler. (Photo by Judith McMillan)
The 'Nesting' exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History)
The nest of a Vermillion flycatcher. (Photo by Judith McMillan)
Nests in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. (Photo by Gretchen Cuda)
The nest of a Painted bunting. (Photo by Judith McMillan)
A parasite visits - this nest holds the egg of a cowbird. Cowbirds surreptitiously lay eggs in other birds' nests. The birds that made this nest discovered the egg, and mounded the nest around it so it would not be incubated. (Photo by Gretchen Cuda)
Some of the world’s most intricate
architecture is not always constructed by
humans. Sometimes the most skilled architectural
wonders are designed by nature. Gretchen Cuda reports on an exhibit that celebrates
birds’ nests:
Transcript
Some of the world’s most intricate
architecture is not always constructed by
humans. Sometimes the most skilled architectural
wonders are designed by nature. Gretchen Cuda reports on an exhibit that celebrates
birds’ nests:
Judith McMillan didn’t find her inspiration in tree branches. She found it in the
basement of the museum where she works. She was rummaging through drawers
there when she came across a hundred-year-old collection of bird nests.
“This Museum must have 10 cabinets full of bird’s nests.”
She was fascinated and immediately knew she had a new subject for her art.
McMillan is a photographer who has been volunteering at the Cleveland Museum of
Natural history for 20 years. In her latest exhibit, titled “Nesting”, she captures some
of natures most inspiring, and often overlooked architecture – the nests of birds.
(sound of exhibit crowd)
“I was looking for nests that were different from each other so that you could see that
these birds were little architects. And there were so many different kinds of materials
used – and then the eggs could be so different. Some with little tiny speckles, some
with different colors some with little calligraphic streaks around them, so it was that
variety that I wanted to capture.”
All the photographs are in black and white – because she really wanted people to
concentrate on the architecture without being seduced by the color. She’s fascinated
by the way different birds chose very specific materials to work with – everything
from marsh reeds, grape vine, or little knotty twigs – like this one.
“This is a vermillion flycatcher – it’s almost like it’s made of pick up sticks in the way
their pushed together.”
And to emphasize the diversity of structures birds can create she shows me an
Orioles nest that’s five inches deep and formerly hung like a basket from a tree.
“I actually had to shine a flashlight down in it when I was taking the photograph in
order to get the eggs to show up.”
Most of the nests and eggs were collected around the turn of the 20th century by
amateur naturalists who never thought twice about disturbing the natural wildlife.
But the practice eventually fell out of fashion as people became more
environmentally conscious and large nest and egg collections were often turned over
to museums – explains Andy Jones the museum’s ornithologist.
“People whose grandfathers were dealing with eggs as a hobby, well their
grandfathers are passing away and so they contact their local university or natural
history museum, and say, ‘hey do you want these?’”
Those specimens were originally collected just because they were pretty. These
days, they’re still beautiful, but they also serve a scientific purpose. Scientists can
look at things such as the thickness of the shells, or the type and number of birds
found in a specific location and tell a lot about the birds. They can see where birds
used to live and how far their territories reached. They can even tell if a bird that’s
extinct now once lived in an area.
Judith McMillan hopes her photographs will not only show how beautiful the birds’
handiwork was, but will also inspire people to do something about saving the birds
that are still here.
“I didn’t understand until I started using a camera myself how you can isolate
something and make people look at it differently–And I hope through my
photographs I’m getting people to take a fresh look at things. It’s hard to have an
appreciation of nature unless you really look at it and start to really care about it.”
Recent surveys have found that many songbirds are disappearing. If people don’t
start caring, those photographs and drawers full of nests might become the only
reminders of many more species that go extinct.
Nathan Kipnis calls this condo building in Evanston, Illinois a "calendar that happens to be a
home." Kipnis says he positioned windows and floor tiles to heat the home in the winter and keep
it cool in the summer. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
Architect Nathan Kipnis shows off green technology he incorporated in a condo building in
Evanston, Illinois. He says casual visitors and real-estate agents could miss green features
of a building, such as this fireplace, which doesn't allow room air to escape the home. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
Chicago Realtor Celeste Karan opens the door to a home for sale in Chicago, Illinois. Karan
says, when getting up to speed on green technology, she sought the help of architects, engineers
and designers who knew the fundamentals. She says educated realtors can help home-buyers wade
through claims that green home builders make, but buyers should ask realtors to provide data to
back those claims. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
The recent housing crisis has taught us
home values don’t always rise. So, people just
want to make sure they get what they pay for in
a house. That’s especially true with green homes
that are supposed to provide extra value – like
healthier air and lower energy bills. But does
your real-estate agent know enough about green
homes to make sure that’s the case? Shawn Allee reports says many do not, but the
industry’s working on it:
Transcript
The recent housing crisis has taught us
home values don’t always rise. So, people just
want to make sure they get what they pay for in
a house. That’s especially true with green homes
that are supposed to provide extra value – like
healthier air and lower energy bills. But does
your real-estate agent know enough about green
homes to make sure that’s the case? Shawn Allee reports says many do not, but the
industry’s working on it:
When Nathan Kipnis showed me a green home he designed – I spotted some green
features all by myself.
For example, it was hard to miss the solar water heater.
But it turns out, I missed stuff.
The architect had to show me the living room tile.
“What you’re seeing here is the dark grey slate. This is set to take sun in the
winter, fall and spring that comes in here. As the sun gets lower in the sky,
more sun comes in here and it heats up the floor with that.”
“What’s striking about this is that you have these little placards that read,
‘floor absorbs sun, creating thermal surfaces’. These are green crib notes so
to speak?”
“Yes. We definitely needed these because there was the chance that of
course realtors would come through here unaccompanied.”
Kipnis sweated over this solar tile, but at first, real-estate agents were like me – they
missed it, or they didn’t get how it worked.
Kipnis says, it’s likely some potential buyers went home clueless.
Still, he doesn’t blame the agents.
“They’re just kind of used to here’s the crown molding and here’s the
fireplace trim and here’s the pantry. That’s what we call, their expert
knowledge base.”
Some realtors are expanding their knowledge base to include green homes.
There’s a certification program that gets agents up to speed on energy conservation,
water use, and other green home features.
It’s called EcoBroker.
John Beldock runs EcoBroker.
He says it trains agents to protect home buyers.
“Many people stay in their houses longer than five years. If you’re really
watching out to make sure a consumer is buying a house that she can afford
to buy but afford to operate, you’ve really provided a valuable service to
society.”
Four thousand people have EcoBroker certification.
That sounds like a lot, but there’re more than two million real-estate license-holders
in the US.
So, most home buyers will encounter agents who are not trained, or ones who
mostly trained themselves – like Celeste Karan in Chicago.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to the table with some high-level people in the
industry who’ve been kind enough to explain things to me over coffee.
They’ve become part of my network and through that I’ve learned more
than anything else.”
Karan says formal certification is great, but when it comes down to it, buyers should
press agents about a home’s green claims.
And when possible – ask for numbers.
“There are certain properties where I know it’s been computer modeled and
the claims are likely to be true because they’re based in performance
testing rather than somebody just coming up with a number that sounds
good.”
Karan says there’s a lot at stake in getting green housing claims right.
The trend’s young, and it’s vulnerable to realtors who over-sell green features.
“Building better quality buildings has to be the norm. In order or that to
happen, the claims about them have to be honest, and people have to
continue to buy them. If buyers want it and builders build it, the market will
expand and move forward.”
Karan says it’s not like realtors are trying to screw people over.
There’s room for trust.
It’s just that for now, it’s best to back up that trust with a bit of skepticism.
Homeowners can now purchase green insurance
(Source: Immanuel Giel at Wikimedia Commons)
Some homeowners are paying a little
extra for a green insurance policy. Mark
Brush has more:
Transcript
Some homeowners are paying a little
extra for a green insurance policy. Mark
Brush has more:
Fireman’s Fund Insurance says it’s the first company to let you buy this extra coverage.
If your home is destroyed, they’ll pay to build you a new one using standards certified by
the U.S. Green Building Council.
That means things like using wood that is certified
sustainable, energy efficient appliances, and recycling the materials from your old house.
Don Soss is with Fireman’s Fund. He says the decision to offer the green insurance
policy was driven by the market.
“We’re very interested in offering products and services around sustainability. And there
was customer interest for it, so this was really in response to customer demand.”
Soss says their insurance policy will also cover homeowners for partial losses.
Environmentally friendly architecture is
becoming very common. Architects are designing
innovative, cutting edge, energy-efficient homes,
using renewable resources. But, Lester Graham
reports on another approach that recycles an
entire house:
Transcript
Environmentally friendly architecture is
becoming very common. Architects are designing
innovative, cutting edge, energy-efficient homes,
using renewable resources. But, Lester Graham
reports on another approach that recycles an
entire house:
You know, we’re always hearing about new green building construction – new homes with all the
latest. That’s nice, but it’s a little ironic to think about all those resources being used to
build new to save resources.
That’s why I kinda got interested when I read about Matt
and Kelly Grocoff. They bought a modest, century-old house and started making
energy-efficient changes. A lot of them as Matt showed me in the bathroom.
“We have the motion-sensor light. We have the compact fluorescent bulbs. We have a
dual-flush toilet that will use only (flushing sound) use point-eight gallons for a flush.
This is actually a one-gallon-per-minute shower head. It will save you at least $100 in
electricity your first year of having that because of the eleven-thousand gallons of hot
water that you’re going to be saving. (faucet sound) This faucet aerator is also point-
five-gallons-a-minute. It’s plenty of water to wash your hands. Most people will never
notice that they’re using two-gallons-per-minute less in this faucet than another faucet.”
(stairs sound)
And that’s just the bathroom. As the couple took me upstairs, they told me about the really,
really efficient geo-thermal heat. They insulated everywhere. It’s tight. But everything
was off-the-shelf. None of that, ‘oh this is custom, you can’t buy it anywhere’, type
stuff.
Kelly Grocoff says if your house is a statement about you, then having a low-impact on
the earth’s resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is part of the statement they
want to make.
“For us, we proclaim loud and clear this is where our values are. And this is where we’re
going to spend our time and it’s incredibly important to us.”
And with all the efficiencies, all the updates, the house looked normal, comfortable. And
the Grocoff’s say that’s the way it should be.
Matt: “One of the things with building green, everyone thinks that you’re going to sacrifice
something, you’re going to spend more money and you’re not going to be as
comfortable. And that is completely not true anymore.”
Kelly: “We have made zero sacrifices. We have gained enormously. And we have no
time to waste. Your house is the number one place where you can make a significant
impact on a daily basis. For me there’s no other choice to be made.”
Matt and Kelly Grocoff say doing something about reducing energy use, reducing the
emissions that are causing global warming, and re-using old lumber and this old house
is just a start for them. They want to help other people do it too. That’s why they’re
launching an online site for do-it-yourselfers called ‘GreenovationTV.com’
Matt: “Uh, through Greenovation TV, we’re going to take everything that we’ve learned from
this house and teach others about it.”
Kelly: “We need that kind of resource there as we’re going through this process. And so there was hours upon hours spent researching things. And that’s kind of the goal with this station.”
Matt: “Once you have the knowlege to do it, it’s really, really easy.”
The Grocoff’s say the one thing holding people back from making their homes more
environmentally friendly is they feel like they have to do it all or it won’t be right. They
say just take the first step. Even if it’s just changing to a lower-energy compact
fluorescent bulb, it’s a good start.
The Tehachapi Wind Farm in California. The turbines produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 350,000 people each year (Photo courtesy of the Department Energy)
Large wind turbines are popping up all over
the United States. But some homeowners are beginning
to put up their own backyard wind turbines. Lester
Graham reports:
Transcript
Large wind turbines are popping up all over
the United States. But some homeowners are beginning
to put up their own backyard wind turbines. Lester
Graham reports:
Dozens of companies are popping up, making these smaller wind generators.
Southwest Windpower is one of the older manufacturers.
Andy Kruse is a Vice President there.
He says these smaller wind turbines can supply power for houses on the grid; maybe
even enough to sell some electricity back to the power company. But some states
haven’t passed the laws necessary to require power companies to allow the turbines to
be hooked up to the grid.
“States that have yet to do that, you know, they have to question it. I mean, some of
them have never even heard something like this either for solar or for wind, so it’s a
learning curve for them.”
Kruse says home-grown wind power is starting to catch on, with thousands of people
asking about getting their own small wind turbine put up in their backyard.
For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.
The EPA says sediment runoff rates from
construction sites are typically 10 to 20 times greater than
from farmland.
(Photo courtesy of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction)
Some home builders say the housing market
is tough enough. They don’t need environmental
regulations that make it tougher on them. But
some “green” builders say the housing industry
can improve the environment, do the right thing
for communities, and still make money. Julie Grant
reports:
Transcript
Some home builders say the housing market
is tough enough. They don’t need environmental
regulations that make it tougher on them. But
some “green” builders say the housing industry
can improve the environment, do the right thing
for communities, and still make money. Julie Grant
reports:
Have you ever driven by a construction site and seen all that dirt? A lot of that dirt is washed off the site by
rainstorms and ends up in local creeks and rivers.
Russ Gibson is with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
He says that dirt kills aquatic bugs and fish.
The dirt covers up gravel bottom streams – that fills holes
where bugs want to live. If bugs can’t live it mucks up the
food chain. Gibson says fishermen know when this
happens.
“You’ll have some of the smaller fish and the bait fish, like
minnows and darters, will feed on the small bugs that live
there. If you don’t have bugs to feed the bait fish you don’t
have bait fish to feed the big fish.”
Beyond that, the silt from construction sites can also muddy
up where fish lay their eggs.
And enough construction dirt can fill a stream so much that it
can make flooding more of a problem.
So, how much dirt are we talking about?
The EPA estimates that 20 to 150 tons of soil per acre is lost
to storm water runoff from construction sites.
That means every time a new house is built, truckloads of
soil can wind up in local streams.
If a homebuilder pulled a truck up to a bridge and dumped a
load of dirt into a creek, people would scream. But because
construction site runoff is gradual and not as obvious,
builders get away with it.
Lance Schmidt is a builder. But he’s not your typical builder.
They used to call him a “tree-hugger builder.” These days
he’s seen as a trend setter.
Schmidt says nobody in the building industry is talking much
about construction silt.
“Believe me, stormwater’s not a fun issue to talk about. (laughs)”
But it’s one of the biggest pollution problems in creeks and
rivers.
Schmidt’s crew just dug a hole for the foundation of a small
house. He’s climbs up on one of four mounds of dirt. He
knows when it rains, some dirt can get washed away, and
end up in a nearby river. That’s why he puts up sediment
barriers. But most of the time no one checks to see if he
does.
“There aren’t any regulations as far as I know. I mean other
than if somebody was to complain.”
The Environmental Protection Agency in Ohio says it does
regulate construction sites. But, usually just the larger ones,
where there might be problems. The homebuilding industry
doesn’t really think it’s the problem.
Vince Squallice is director of the Ohio Homebuilders
Association.
“Construction and earth disturbing activities in construction is
not causing the siltation problem in Ohio.”
Squallice says farmers are mostly to blame for dirt runoff in
the rivers. It’s true that sediment runoff from farms is a huge
problem. But the EPA says sediment runoff rates from
construction sites are typically 10 to 20 times greater than
from farmland.
Squallice says builders already have to deal with too many
regulations such as setbacks from streams.
“Some of the regulations recommended to protect streams go
overboard in terms of environmental protection.”
Squallice says because of the housing bust, it’s a time to
help homebuilders, not enforce more environmental
regulations.
Builder Lance Schmidt says homebuilders need to look at it
a little differently. They can help solve a problem, keep
streams clean, and help cities with flooding problems.
“And that’s the avenue that I’ve decided to attack at. Rather
than attack the regulations, let’s sit back and find ways that
we can actually do this.”
Schmidt says there are lots of creative building ideas that
can reduce flooding, and improve the rivers for fish and other
wildlife. But in this competitive market, builders won’t do it
until everyone has to play by the same rules. And he
doesn’t expect that to happen without better enforcement by
regulators.
Conservation Subdivisions by definition must preserve at least 50% of the total land that can be built on in a development. Local land trusts typically oversee the preservation of meadowlands, forests, and orchards -like this one - once they’re surrounded by condos and single family homes. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)
Developers are designing a new type of
subdivision that is selling even in this down
market. They say these homes sell better than
traditional ones because they give people what
they want: the feeling of living in the country
while living near the city. Lisa Ann Pinkerton
reports the new subdivisions are getting mixed
reviews:
Transcript
Developers are designing a new type of
subdivision that is selling even in this down
market. They say these homes sell better than
traditional ones because they give people what
they want: the feeling of living in the country
while living near the city. Lisa Ann Pinkerton
reports the new subdivisions are getting mixed
reviews:
(dog chain rattling and walking sound)
Robbie Dryden is walking her golden retriever Casey past a large apple
orchard in her neighborhood.
“The orchard’s great! Because when the apples start coming off the trees, my kids and I
walk down here and we just pick apples.”
But Dryden doesn’t live in the country. In fact, her subdivision is near a major
intersection, just south of Philadelphia.
“We’re off the street, so a lot of people don’t even really know we’re back here. I tell people where we live, that live in this area, and they’re like ‘where is that?’ It’s
where the orchards are. Because all the houses are kinda tucked back, so it’s private.”
Dryden’s neighborhood is known as a Conservation Subdivision. Its design
preserves the orchard and surrounding meadows forever. A land conservation
easement protects 70% of the subdivision from ever being developed.
Across the country, a few zoning boards have begun to mandate such
preservation in new residential developments.
(construction sound)
One of these is going up just a few miles east of Dryden’s neighborhood. This
subdivision is called ‘Weatherstone’. Out of its 300 acres, 180 of them are reserved as
open space, the form of small parks, a working farm and surrounding fields.
Weatherstone is being built by the Hankin Group and Vice President Jim
Fuller. He says his company preserves open space in all of its projects,
whether it’s required or not.
“It’s certainly more challenging to try to get this kind of project approved, and more challenging to build it as well,
but it’s definitely more rewarding.”
Fuller says conservation design builds the same number of homes as a traditional
subdivision. But instead of spreading the homes out, conservation lots are smaller
and closer together. That makes them cheaper to build compared to traditional
houses. That’s because the smaller lot sizes mean shorter roads and sewage
lines are needed. On top of that, since the houses are surrounded by open
space, builders can charge 10% to 20% more for the homes.
The downside, Fuller says, is smaller lot sizes can make local planning boards
nervous, especially if they’re not familiar with the idea. Building houses closer
together is known as higher density, and it’s associated with cheaper housing.
“Density is something that people are afraid of. They think that if the lots are smaller
than the values are lower, and will change the values of the adjoining houses. I think it’s been proven many times over that the opposite is
the case.”
“As a concept its fine. But it doesn’t work everywhere, that’s the problem with it.”
That’s Isobel Olcott, who serves on the local and county planning boards in
her area of Harding, New Jersey. Her board recently rejected a conservation
design that would have preserved 91 acres.
She says some townships cherish rural character. Township officials think
they can better preserve that by restricting developments to large lots.
“If they don’t want to live in clusters, it doesn’t matter how much opens space surrounds
them, they will always opt for low-density zoning.”
But across the country open space is being marketed as an amenity and
people will pay for it – even in a bad housing market.
Shyam Cannon is with the real estate research firm Robert Charles Lesser. He
says demand for these types of developments is out-pacing supply 2 to 1.
“There’s a fundamental need for water, for air, for access open space and I think the
traditional development paradigm simply doesn’t satisfy those desires anymore.”
Cannon and others say today’s generation of homebuyers don’t want a typical
suburban neighborhood. Often they want a neighborhood that simulates a
rural experience – and they’re willing to pay for it.
For The Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.
In San Diego’s suburbs, the homes on the outer edges of developments and in close proximity to the surrounding countryside are the first to burn. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)
Shannon Denton says even though dozens of homes were lost in her neighborhood, the natural amenities it offers outweighs her home’s risk of fire. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)
In San Diego, fire can float from house to house on the wind. The more current a homes building codes, the greater chance of its survival. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)
Most wildfires across the nation begin in wilderness areas and spread to urban development, but man’s presence usually brings the spark, typically in the form of a downed power line. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)
More and more Americans are building homes closer to wilderness. Natural surroundings offer amenities like hiking trails, within walking distance of front doors. But living closer to nature increases the risk of a natural disaster, for both man and the wilderness. (Photo by Lisa Ann Pinkerton)
Active flame front of the Zaca Fire, the second largest fire on record in California. (U.S. Forest Service photo by John Newman)
During the past 20 years, we’ve been building
homes closer to nature. Whether it’s near coastal areas
or in the wilderness, homebuyers want to live in more
natural settings. But… Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports
often that means putting people and property in the path
of floods or fire:
Transcript
During the past 20 years, we’ve been building
homes closer to nature. Whether it’s near coastal areas
or in the wilderness, homebuyers want to live in more
natural settings. But… Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports
often that means putting people and property in the path
of floods or fire:
2007 was the second worst in history for wildfires in the U.S. Nine-million acres were
scorched and Southern California bore the brunt of it. Most of the property damage was
in San Diego where wildfires in wilderness areas spread to suburban neighborhoods. Half a
million people were evacuated and Shannon Denton was among them. She says her
neighborhood was cleared out at 4 in the morning.
“We were scared. ‘Cause we didn’t – luckily we had all our pictures organized, so we just took most of our pictures and our video stuff, grabbed our kids at the last minute and left within a half-hour. It was scary, very
scary.”
(construction sound)
These days, Denton’s subdivision is busy. There are bulldozers demolishing the burned
out remains of old houses. And construction crews are building new ones on every single
street.
Denton’s thankful her house was spared. But she says even if it had burned down, she’d
take the risk of it happening again, because she likes living here.
“It’s pretty close to nature. There’s a lot of walking and hiking, a lot of mountains that you can take trails and different things.”
Despite the risk of fire, people like Denton don’t want to leave. Some of the 18-
thousand homes lost in San Diego last fall were built in places where wildfires had
burned only four years earlier.
That’s not unusual. The US Fire Administration says nearly 40% of new home
development across the country is in places where residential homes and wilderness meet,
and thus, are more prone to fire.
“They have a right to build that single family home.”
That’s Jeff Murphy of San Diego County’s Department of Planning.
“As a jurisdiction its our responsibility to have codes and ordinances that are
in place to make sure that there’s minimal structural damage as the result of wildfire and minimize
the risk of loss of life.”
Murphy says people are going to live where they want to, all government can do is
require smart development. And San Diego’s building codes are the most restrictive in
the California. They were reevaluated after the 2003 wildfires, when seven percent of the
homes were destroyed.
In the 2007 wildfires, Murphy says the new codes reduced that loss to one-percent.
“Even though we had a lot of structure loss during these fires, what these
numbers are showing us is that our codes are working.”
And Americans aren’t just building in areas at risk of fire. We build in flood zones, too.
FEMA estimates around 10 million people in the US are at risk of flooding. And
according to the United Nations, we saw the most floods of any country last year.
Roger Kennedy is a former director of the National Park Service. He says this kind of
“risky living” costs US taxpayers about two-billion dollars a year in firefighting and
rebuilding costs. The total in property damage hovers around 20 Billion.
Kennedy says people are choosing to build and live on land that’s in danger-prone areas
because they’re not responsible for the true costs. Insurance, guaranteed mortgages, and
federal disaster relief have reduced the personal financial risk.
“People wouldn’t settle in places from which they knew they would not be
rescued and where the taxpayers wouldn’t pick up- or the insurance company which is
essentially the same thing- wouldn’t pick up the tab.”
Kennedy says knowing about a home’s potential risk might reduce the material cost of
fires and floods. And, it might save lives.
But he says, people have to want to know their risks. And even then… they might choose
to ignore it. Because for many, the enjoyment their property brings far outweighs the
occasional “Act of Nature.”
For the Environment Report, I’m Lisa Ann Pinkerton.
Due to the price of natural gas and crude oil, it is predicted that it will cost you much more to heat your home this winter (Photo by John Ferguson, courtesy of FEMA)
