Word: solarized
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...developer Michael Corbett strolls around the gardens of Village Homes, his pioneering experiment in ecological living in Davis, Calif., life looks pretty good. Solar panels help keep the houses warm, shared backyards bring neighbors together, and natural drainage irrigates fruit trees. Corbett reaches up to a branch, plucks off a persimmon, and bites into it. "Just right," he proclaims with a smile. Village Homes is one of the world's best examples of sustainable development--it doesn't degrade the environment that future generations will inherit. But only a quarter-century ago, the ideas behind the project were considered...
...which uses building design to make neighbors more neighborly. The couple bought 60 acres of tomato fields west of downtown Davis and drew up plans for a housing development that would combine residential, commercial and agricultural elements in an unprecedented mix. The houses, which would use the latest in solar-heating technology, would be built in clusters and oriented toward the backyards, which would open onto large common areas. Fruits and vegetables would grow there, using water collected by natural drainage (the land would be contoured to capture most rainwater, with excess flowing into ditches and ponds rather than concrete...
After three years of delays, the Corbetts got the go-ahead, and the first of 240 homes began going up. In the heart of the development, a day-care center and a small suite of offices were built. Nearby, a solar-heated pool and playground looked out on a vineyard. (A restaurant would come later.) The homes came in all types and sizes: traditional, modern, even four with sod roofs. There was virtually no restriction on style, but all had to use solar heating. And there was one iron commandment: Thou shalt not block thy neighbor...
...began the case on a Monday morning. After cooking myself a breakfast of solar-heated chickwiches in my $2,000 studio apartment--a cardboard box under the Brooklyn Bridge--I donned my bullet-proof vest for entry into the Manhattan office...
...glass foam that's 99.8% air. It resembles nothing so much as solidified smoke. The aerogel is packed into a collector that resembles a circular ice-cube tray about a foot across. En route to Wild 2, one side will trap dust that's wafting in from beyond the solar system--another item of great interest to astronomers--and once there, it will flip to scoop up comet dust...