The optimist's house

Encounters with sustainable homes in cold places, and the people who build them

I started writing a book about sustainable homes, not realizing that I was tackling a huge topic, one that would develop a life of its own and leave me struggling to keep up. It's not so much the range of homes and building styles, which is huge (ranging from simple earth buildings to high-tech double-walled homes wearing a skin of photovotaic panels), but the trouble is that word - sustainability. What the heck does it mean?

I soon find that I'm not alone; all of the homeowners and builders who I talk to have pondered this question. In fact, as soon as I explain my predicament - my doubts about what sustainability means and whether it's even possible in our society - that's the moment that a real conversation usually begins. There are no answers to the really big questions in life, but by trying to navigate them you can get to a point where you begin to see the pattern. So it is with sustainability.

Hope is contagious. I find that I have more hope now than I've had for many years, which is curious because most of the people I'm meeting expect things to ‘get worse' in any traditional economic or environmental sense. But they are hopeful, they've pushed the boundaries of what's possible in building a home, and many other aspects of their lives, because they believe that we can push the boundaries of what's possible in society, our personal lives, and our choices around ‘home.' I'm inspired by the people I meet along the way, on my journey across North America by train, bus, boat, and veggie-powered car.

This is the book you're looking for if you know what you want in a house - energy efficient, space efficient, beautiful, etc. - but you're not sure how to get there. Maybe you're overwhelmed by the range of options, and you want something that sums them up well for you. Maybe you just want a book that's as fun to read as it is informative. Then what you're looking for is the Optimist's House.