Homework: Off the Grid

Living away from it all no longer means living without.

text by: Lori Ryker

April 1, 2008

Fifty years ago, building a home in a remote area away from the stress of everyday life frequently meant sacrificing basic creature comforts. Homes located off the grid—with no access to municipal power and water sources—were, generally speaking, havens only for people who were amenable to a primitive existence.

This situation began to change in the 1970s, when alternative energy, such as solar power, became more widely available to the public. Though improvements, the early technologies were clunky and lacked sophistication, with wind turbines and solar panels that dominated a property’s aesthetics, and waste-management systems that failed to eliminate foul odors.

Today, the technology behind stand-alone energy is cleaner, smaller, more reliable, and fully integratable. It also is more widely available, which means one can now live comfortably anywhere—from New York City to the Amazon jungle. Newer solutions include glass windows that contain thin sheets of barely perceptible photovoltaic (solar) cells, which double as shades as they collect power from the sun. Also available are small solar panels, about the size of a postcard, that integrate with a home’s roof shingles; composting toilets that look and work like standard toilets; wind turbines that resemble a sculptural work of art instead of a windmill; and garden systems that purify water to a higher degree than do many municipalities.

However, there are a few issues to consider before rushing out and buying a distant parcel. Some towns will not allow the use of wind turbines or greywater systems because the local building codes have not yet caught up with the ever-evolving technologies. In more remote areas—especially in foreign countries—it can be nearly impossible to find out what the rules and regulations are, as there frequently is no set precedent. If rules for water collection, waste disposal, and stand-alone energy generation are in place, an architect specializing in alternative-energy systems can help ensure that they are followed.

Once permission to build is granted, though, constructing a sustainable home in a foreign country is no more difficult than building a conventional one. According to New York–based architect Kimberly Ackert, who has designed off-the-grid homes in Australia and Singapore, all one needs is an architect who is well-versed in sustainable building, a local technical engineer, and access to the Internet to learn about local materials, manufacturers, annual weather patterns, and other factors.

While the Internet can give some indication of what sort of weather conditions to expect from a given region, it cannot determine a particular site’s individual circumstances, including the amount of wind, water, and sun it receives. A location with minimal amounts of all three elements would not be able to generate sufficient sustainable power. However, those with one or two of the requirements may still be an acceptable location to build. Even a plot of land characterized by gray skies and calm days can be suitable to build on, as long as it has a substantial amount of water.

If appearances alone suggest that a site may be a good candidate to support a sustainable house, the next step prior to purchasing is to ask a qualified architect to generate a detailed analysis. Land that appears to be ideal may actually contain obstacles that hinder energy and power production, such as a hill that diverts the wind to another location. The architect can also determine which energy systems make the most sense for a given lot. Such was the case with a home that Montana-based architect Brett Nave designed north of Yellowstone National Park. "Standard electrical service was available at exorbitant prices for a grid-inner-tie system [which ties into municipal power as a back up]," explains Nave. "So it was far more cost effective and far less damaging to the landscape to employ a wind-solar hybrid that can produce 100 percent of the energy required for the home without interruption or sacrifice."Every off-the-grid home needs to be customized to the local conditions, as well as to the needs and budget of the homeowner. Collecting rainwater in the Bahamas, for instance, can be as low-tech as using a rain barrel. Or it can be as involved as the system that Raleigh, North Carolina, architect Frank Harmon incorporated into a vacation home project on Abaco Island. The system allows rainwater to collect in a rooftop "dish" and drain through a steel column to cisterns located within the house. The most elaborate off-the-grid homes can incorporate high-end theater systems, hot tubs, or top-of-the-line kitchen appliances, but they will require a larger alternative-energy source and more space to install it.

Living away from it all in style is achievable if the desired experience and budget are clear from the beginning. The cost of living off the grid may be relatively low for a breezy palapa home on the beach, or it may require the creation of a family legacy for a snowy mountaintop lodge in the far reaches of the world. The sky—and the sun, wind, and water—is the only limit.

Lori Ryker is the author of Off the Grid (Gibbs Smith, 2005), Off the Grid Homes (Gibbs Smith, 2007), and Mockbee Coker: Thought and Process (Princeton Architectural Press, 1997). She holds a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. She founded and teaches at the Artemis Institute in Livingston, Montana, where she also runs her practice, Studio Ryker. www.studioryker.com, 406.222.4704