Homes of the future!

Jeff Langholz made a point at the beginning of his presentation stating that the future of water is brighter than we think and he then continued to show us why he thought so with on site alternatives to water consumption. For me, this was one of the most fascinating sessions we have had yet, and this reminded me of when I visited the Earthship models (http://earthship.com/) in Taos, NM when I was in boarding school in New Mexico. An Earthship combines much of what Jeff talked about into a sustainably built home made of recyclable materials, that allows for self-sufficiency in terms of electricity, water and vegetable or fruit growth depending on where each one is built.

So what did Jeff talk about? He talked about the different ways of how the on site water revolution is changing the way we can access water that is all around us in the air. This ranged from black and gray water recycling to getting water from fog or dew. He discussed the business model that he is planning on following to integrate these into individual homes starting in California at no cost to the home owner, thus taking away the complexity of the entire process. Jeff’s business model is very important because I believe not everyone has the time or capacity (in cities) to build an Earthship (even though I believe they are the suburban homes of the future), and in this way water sustainability is available to even the busiest people in society at very little cost and incredible profit to them and to the environment in general.