7.3.USA-1-detail-b windmills and deciduous trees Highlights Relevant to Sustainable Design:
We can rethink power production.
Since the Amish are off the utility gird, they typically use windmills to generate the power to pump water from their wells. Years after preparing this drawing, I started looking into small-scale micro wind power production with residential-scale vertical axis applications versus the massive blades of the industrial-size wind turbines. The vertical axis wind turbines are now also available to power streetlights. Plus, localized solar panels are also options on streetlight poles. The combination of wind and solar power often works well, because if it is not a bright sunny day, the chances of increasing wind during inclement weather increase. Today, for traffic monitoring, many locations have poles and speed sensors that are not easily tied to the electric grid. So you will see solar panels on the poles along highways more so than in cities. When you use a navigation app or your smartphone to check to see the traffic congestion, you can thank localized micro power production for the information that we are starting to take for granted.
Highlights Relevant to Sustainable Design: deciduous trees
We can rethink site selection and natural shading assets.
Developers could stop cutting down the trees on the subdivision lots. Use the deciduous trees on the south side of the houses. Design the site plan by putting the houses to the north of the larger trees. Each major deciduous tree is worth about $60,000 if you had to make a towering machine to shade your house in the summer and collapse it in the winter to let the desirable warmth of the sun heat the home. Saving trees saves energy.
Author and illustrator: Charlie Szoradi is an architect, inventor, and the CEO of Independence LED Lighting. He writes about many other topics related to deciduous trees and windmills through his extensive travels around the world.
If you have found this posting online, it is an excerpt from Mr. Szoradi’s book Learn from Looking that served as the inspiring seed content for this drawing share resource. For additional drawings and insights on deciduous trees for shading and windmills for power production, we hope that you enjoy exploring LearnfromLooking.com. You can search via general terms such as sustainability as well as narrower terms such as deciduous trees, windmills, and Amish farms.
