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It's a fascinating article but I don't know enough about Vastu Science to comment. What I do know is that the older Ojai homes blend in beautifully with the natural environment whereas many of the newer ones look like overbuilt monster hotels.

rich, your wasting your talent run for city council or president

rich, for city council or your wasting your talent run president

Here is a structure by architect Glen Small. It is a low income housing idea using a giant space frame. After the frame is built plant growth covers the entire structure. It utilizes a south facing orientation to take advantage of natural solar gain during the day. The green machine:

http://www.glenhowardsmallarchitect.com/gsmall_p05.html

Wonderful concept eventually whateever physical principles underlying the phenomenon would be quite interesting and instructive. Buinling engineerss are using new flame-retardant new compsite materials that are flame resistant as well as using lightweight heat resistant metal allows for framing and varois forms of rock treated with and compined for heat resistant composite materials for roofing. The designs are also including new venting and attic cooling systems as well as sealing the arteas between eaves and the interior attic space to be prevent firestorm conditions to be drawn into the rafters. Elaborate interior and exterior sprinkler systems are bing used, creaing abatement areas in proximity to the dwelling and well as more fire resistant varities of ornemantal plansts, fire break berms and yes innovative designs that for whatevever reason seem to confer greater resistance to approaching fire.
Howevever, here is a question to ask, why locate your dwelling in a semi- arid ecosystem that also is regularly buffeted by Sant Ana winds. Albeit, the people are going in with greater protection than somebody in a dwelling onstructed with cedar shake surrounded with euculyptus trees. Fire is a natural part of those ecosystems which occurs on a regular basis a part of the forest renewing process. The Chumash knew that and planned accordingly. When locating into those area implies a certian amount of risk. Population sprrawl contibutes but also is a sort of hubris that one to go into nature and be free of risk. FEMA and the the insurance industries as well as by continuing to bail out these people by inuring them to the risk by passing some of the cost onto others. Counties and municipalities hungry for additional funds from property taxes have loosened zoning regulations and issued many varianceswhich may not meet the standard of good judgement in terms of safety much less acting as good stewards of the unique ecosystems that are vanishing from our region. The avarice of developers pays into this, but beyond them is the whole nexus of lenders ( bank, lenders, mortgage originators... think Countryside), builders, suppliers of buiding materials, pressure from building trades for jobs and let us not for forget the reality industry that makes property from inventory to be sold and the constant churning of the sale properties to be sold and resold. Each of of the paticicipants has lobbies exert politcal and financial power and leverageto affect policies in which they have significant
financial stakes in creating, maintaining and expanding development into areas ( no matter how tastfeully designed and well constucted ) are questionable projects in terms of sustainaability, effect on fragile ecosystems , in which fire is regular part of habitat self-regulation that has gone on for millenia. The efect on the hydrogy of the water-sheds in those ecosystems is another important consideration
So, while many of us want to be"close to nature" - live in proximity to and " with the natural world... returning to source " and all the other aphorisms that resonate with so many of us, there are impacts and unintended consequences that occur. Adversely impacting on the very things we value, as well as exacting some additional externalized costs and consequnces that externalities that are not facored into the true price. Such as the expense of fighting fires-- 1000 or more personel- on overtime- helicopters and large planes loaded with fire retatdan- making multiple drops- some times over days or longer-- all at public cost -- taxpayer funds-- that could be used for universal preschool for 3-5 year olds, directed to expand access to all to get closer to the possiblity of some form of universal health care- certainly an expansion of the S-Chip program that expands health care to the the children of poor and low income workers that has been vetoed by Bush. Not to mention the injuries and deaths of firefighters-- ironically most of whom probably can not afford the homes they are tasked to preserve in spite of ill-advised policies that allowed the homes to be built. I doubt that any of any of the firefighters getting a cut of the money that flows from the activities of the myriad lobbyists that were instumental ingetting the properties built.
Not to be cynical oe spiteful-- I wonder if Angelo Mozzilo - the director of Countrywide -- the largest lender to homeowners in California and a big funder of developers ( who allegedly ) cashed out hundreds of millions of dollars in Countywide stock options just prior when the whole sub-prime and other mortgage scandals became public -that resulted in hundreds of thousand to millions of foreclosures ) who lives in a multimillion dollar enclave in the forrest, could be enlisted to be a voluntary firefighter as part of a community service and restitution.
Many of us have our " California dream " - that manifests it self in ways that that are a yearning to have a close connection to nature - often an elemental aspect of our spiritual sensibility. Let us consider the impact when many people share a similar desire to have that connection to nature and want a level of proximity that fulfils this.
With a sustainable develoment plan not driven primarily by the lobbying intrests of those financially profitting from development but a range of stakehoders in addition to the development interests, legislators,envi, non- affiliated enviorrnmental activists, unaffliated panning specialists and respective members of academia who can provide information from a range of disciplines-- ecology, hydrology, soils engineerining , geologiy, geograhers,deographers,geologist,meteorologists. etc I know this has been done to vary degrees from county to county , even municipality to municpality , and basic state wide reg and rules. ... but maybee there is some way to review and intergrate what has been done ... and deveop a best practice series of guidelines that act a a strting place and can be adapted regionally. A viabe development commitee that can provide input as well as a process of checks and balances that inform and direct policies - and be a source of non biased information(good luck). The real cost of building and developing in at risk area and fragile eco-systems needs to reflect what economists refer to as "network externalities". The frequent bailout of those who build in fire, flood and other risk areas creates what economist refer as a " moral hazard " .
Those involved don"t pay the full consequences of their juices and are even encouraged to some degree to repeat the same behavior after a disasters without a reassessnent of the wisdom of the judgement to do so.
Pardon me Raymond if if went off on a long riff, but I believe the issues are related in a broader scale with common theme. Now , if we could utilize a Vedic verity can invoke community, cooperation and sustainability -- that can direct away the heat that commonly is a product of the competing issues involved more easily discerned
but transform the energy to light so so that solutions can be more easily discerned.

George Bailey