The inner products of work are perhaps more vital than the outer ones.
Work that enriches skills, self-esteem, mutual respect, being of value to our community, and connection with all of creation is work that nurtures and sustains both us and the world we dream into existence.
Feeding our souls is as important as feeding our bodies.
The following articles are the roots, stretching back more than 25 years, of what is called "Factor 10 Economics" now moving rapidly into implementation worldwide. Lovins & Hawken's Natural Capitalism states, "The governments of Austria, the Netherlands, and Norway have publicly committed to pursuing Factor Four efficiencies. The same approach has been endorsed by the European Union as the new paradigm for sustainable development. Austria, Sweden, and OECD environment ministers have urged the adoption of Factor Ten goals, as have the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Leading corporations such as Dow Europe and Mitsubishi Electric see it as a powerful strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Among all major industrial nations, the United States probably has the least familiarity with and understanding of these ideas."
"Our Homes are a Goldmine," Daily Astorian, Feb. '09.
"TillaWatts", 21 Jan. 2009.
"TPUD: Please Raise Our Rates", 20 Nov. 2008.
"Beyond an Overstuffed World", 3 Nov. 2008.
"Quick and Simple Answers", 26 Oct. 2008.
"Global Warming: Ban Billboards, Buy Less, Work Less" Daily Astorian, 24 July 2008.
" Global Warming: Require Zero-Energy Homes" Daily Astorian, 3 July 2008.
" Global Warming: Ban Incandescent Lightbulbs" Daily Astorian, 3 July 2008.
"Global Warming: Double Vehicle Mileage NOW" 14 May 2008.
"Global Warming: Building Moritoriums in Impacted Areas" 28 May 2008.
"Global Warming: Taking Real Action: 28 May 2008.
“Flexplexes”, 9 March 2008.
“Slow Cities” 10 Jan. 2008 North Coast Citizen.
“Get U.S. Out of Debt” 29 Dec. 2007 North Coast Citizen.
“Truly Affordable Housing,” 29 Nov. 2007 North Coast Citizen.
“Go Slow,” 18 Oct. 2007 North Coast Citizen; Global Intelligencer, Oct. 2007.
“One Step Isn’t Enough,” 20 Sept. 2007 North Coast Citizen.
“Easy Steps to a Better World,” Global Intelligencer, Sept. 2007.
“Flex-Housing,” 25 Aug. 2007.
“Empty Boxes,” 31 May 2007 North Coast Citizen; Global Intelligencer, June 2007.
"Bad Dreams, Bad Fix - It's a Gas!", 17 May 2007. North Coast Citizen.
"Investing in Community", Global Intelligencer, May 2007.
"Tracking Things", 5 April 2007. North Coast Citizen.
"Good Work!", 22 March 2007. North Coast Citizen.; Global Intelligencer, March 2007.
"Zero Energy Homes," 25 Jan. 2007. North Coast Citizen; Global Intelligencer, Feb. 2007.
"Oh, No! We've Been Elected!" for Daily Astorian, 3 Jan. 2007.
"Some Truths May Be True" 14 Dec. 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Real Health Care", 30 Nov. 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Debt Traps Are Bigger Than Mouse Traps," 16 Nov. 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Fake Food," 19 Oct. 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Big Changes are Easier than Small Ones," 21 Sept. 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Don't Feed the Alligators!", 7 Sept. 2006. North Coast Citizen.
“Free Homes,” Sept. 2006.
How to use CLT structures to get us out of the housing debt-trap and eliminate home financing costs in 25 years.
"Living Without Oil," 24 Aug. 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Acknowledging Fears and Hopes," 13 July 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Two Homes from One," 29 June 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"We've Got It. Don't Lose It." 15 June 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"NOT Living in a Parking Lot," 1 June 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Are We Crazy?" 18 May 2006. North Coast Citizen.
"Two for One: Better Use of Existing Housing", 6 March 2006. NeahCasa Report on a pilot project for creating flex-housing out of generic 3-bedroom ranch houses - cutting water and energy use by 75%, while creating richer community.
"Finance-Free Housing", Sept. 22, 2006. Using Factor-10 economics to reduce overall housing costs by 80-90% in 20 years. The only real cause of housing unaffordability is our passive acceptance of government policy causing income disparity and allowing corporate profiteering on housing finance and energy operating costs. Here are systemic changes - within local community control - that can cut housing costs by 50-75% - across the board. For more detail on what we're doing on housing affordability locally, check out the action options and resources on <www.neahcasa.org>
"LNG Imports: Neither Safe Nor Wise", HIPFISH, Jan. 2005.
* "Transforming A Dairy Farm Into Community Enterprise", Laura Swanson, IN BUSINESS, Nov 2003.
"Economics, Architecture, And Banking," GREEN MONEY JOURNAL April '03; SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS INSIDER, June, '03; GREEN MONEY JOURNAL "Greatest Hits of First 12 Years" issue, Winter '04.
"Green Power or Greed Power" Jan. '03 * "Green Power or Greed Power?," THE NORTH COAST CITIZEN Nov. '02
"The Economics of Wholeness", MAGICAL BLEND, June '02. Overview article of LEARNING TO COUNT WHAT REALLY COUNTS
"Fixing Failed Forests," April 2002. A revisitation of my 1994 study of long-rotation forestry. In the interim, the professional forestry community has begun to substantiate my conclusions that long-rotation forestry has vast economic and social advantages over present forestry practices.
"Foreclosing Our Future," 12 April 2002. The core mechanism of our economics is future discounting or "present net value accounting". In real life, it causes major loss of economic productivity compared to longer term thinking. The integrative approach of Factor-10 economics, in contrast, produces far more economic productivity and financial return. Actions taken under PNV thinking often destroys the more productive long-term options, giving the appearance of "best value."
LEARNING TO COUNT WHAT REALLY COUNTS: The Economics of Wholeness, Fire River Press, 2002.
Values, the sacred, and economics rarely inhabit the same worlds. Yet put together with systems thinking, ecology and energy, they are the essential elements of obtaining multiple order-of-magnitude improvements in economics. Here is how to restore wholeness and sustainability to our economics and culture, while making the whole world a success.
"Terminal Ed: Our Schools Are Dead," Dec. '01.
"Ten Easy Pieces - of a Better World," DAILY ASTORIAN, 31 Oct. '01.
Hospice: Gateways of Life and Death, Oct. 2000. HEALING MINISTRY, Nov-Dec '01.
"Ending the Silences: Changing Community Chi", Sept. 1998.
"Efficiency vs. Effectiveness", BUILDING WITH NATURE #18, Jan. 1998.
"Their Population,Our Problem?" Nov. 1996.
"It's Oil Right, Folks! There's Good Times
Ahead", Solar '96 Solar Energy Association of Oregon Conference, October,
1996. webpub @ www.oikos.com/seao/SOLAR96/TBENDER
"Some Questions We Haven't Asked", April 1996. Reprinted in IN
CONTEXT, Issue 44, July, 1996. webpub @ www.context.org
"Simple Prices", Feb. 1996.
"Rent-Alls: A Key to Successful Transportation Systems", AORTA
BULLETIN, Jan 1995. Reprinted in IN CONTEXT, Issue 44, July, 1996. webpub
@ www.context.org
"Improving the Economic Value of Coastal Public Forest Lands",
Dec. 1994. Reprinted in IN CONTEXT, Issue 44, July, 1996. webpub @ www.context.org. A study of Oregon coastal forests showing that long rotations (240 yrs) would double timber yields, provide nine times the net timber revenues and 20-30 times the present total forest value. Timber turns out to be only a small player in both economic and total values.
"Amazon Student Housing," April, '94. A case study done for the students at the University of Oregon wanting to extend the life of existing student housing rather than replacing it. Same story here, but dealing with actual existing buildings. Ability to avoid financing costs through incremental replacement / upgrading is key issue that offsets the costs of working on existing buildings. The "outdated" buildings have been moved to a new site, and now continue to provide quality affordable housing!
"Finding Time", IN CONTEXT, Spring 1994.
"Co-housing to Co-mmunity", Nov. 1993. Reprinted in THE HEART
OF PLACE, 1993.
"Time and Place", Nov. 1993.
"Borrowing Trouble" Nov. 1993. Reprinted in IN CONTEXT, Issue
44, July, 1996. webpub @ www.context.org
"Vitality and Affordability of Higher Education", Oct. 1993. Reprinted
in IN CONTEXT, Issue 44, July, 1996. webpub @ www.context.org. Reconfiguration of higher education to release faculty time locked into a pre-Gutenberg lecturing system. Separation of resource access and accreditation; global availability of videotaped lectures; a network to connect research needs, evaluation of learning resources, etc. Savings here run from 50% on a small college system to the multi-digits with global resource availability.
"Transforming Tourism", EARTH ETHICS, Summer 1993. Reprinted in
IN CONTEXT, Issue 44, July, 1996. webpub @ www.context.org. A narrative of how the transformation in a slice of our society occurs - personally and institutionally.
"Building Real Wealth", May 1993. Reprinted in IN CONTEXT, Issue
44, July, 1996. webpub @ www.context.org, BENDIGO ADVERTISER (AU) Apr 20,
27, May 4, 2002.
"Endgames", Nov. 1990. Reprinted in IN CONTEXT, Issue 44, July,
1996. webpub @ www.context.org
"OR-MAX", w/Lee Johnson, 1988. 6mb PDF
"Green Tags", w/Lee Johnson, Nov. 1988
"The End of Nuclear War", Dec. 1986.
"Hidden Cost of Housing", RAIN, Mar/Apr 1984. Reprinted in UTNE
READER, Summer 1984; SUN TIMES, Nov/Dec 1984; ALTERNATIVE PRESS ANNUAL,
1984.
Top award winning entry in the 1981 California Affordable Housing Competition. Major costs over a person's or a building's life? Turns out to be financing and energy - nothing else close. Durability is the major lever. A cluster of alternatives to reduce housing costs by that same amazing 90%.
"Hidden Cost of Housing",UTNE READER, Summer 1984. 9mb PDF
"Sharing Smaller Pies (New Values section)" RAIN, Oct. '83
"IS Socialism the Answer?", RAIN, June/July 1983. 2.8mb PDF.
"Violence/Non-violence", MANAS, June 8, 1983.
"Work and Leisure", MANAS, April 13, 1983.
"True Security", RAIN, Oct/Nov 1982. 2.5mb PDF.
"Community Economics," RAIN, Aug. '80.
"IS Population A Problem?" w/Lane deMoll, RAIN, Jan. '80, Apr.
'80. 3mb PDF
"Automate the Rich, not the Poor," RAIN, Dec. '79.
"Hometown Rooters or Corporate Looters," RAIN, July '79. 5.7mb PDF.
"The Dream of Greed," RAIN, June '79. 4mb PDF.
"Economics Where People DO Matter," RAIN, Apr. '79. 3mb PDF.
"Self-Reliant Economics," RAIN, Dec. '78. 3.5mb PDF.
"Granny-Flats and Duplex-Pensions," RAIN, Nov. '78.
"The Crisis Crisis," RAIN, Oct. '78.
"You Get What You Give," RAIN, June '78.
"Suburban Renewal," RAIN, Apr. '78.
"Jobs, Humbug!," RAIN, Apr. '78.
RAINBOOK: RESOURCES FOR APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY. Co-Editor. Schocken Books, 1977.
"Size and Growth," RAINBOOK, 1977. 2.1mb PDF
"Taking Pipe," RAINBOOK, '77.
"The Dangers of Excess Quality," RAIN, May '77.
"Technology Is Not the Problem and Not the Answer," RAIN, May '77.
"The Third Pig Is Always Fattest," RAIN, May, '77.
"Ad-Free TV," RAIN Apr. '77. 2.6mb PDF
"Let Fantasies Be Fantasies," RAIN, Apr. '77, RAINBOOK, '77.
"$8 a Gallon for Gas?" RAIN, Feb. '77.
"Invisible Technology," RAIN, Feb. '77.
"Economics, Energy and Employment," RAIN Dec. '76.
"Stolen Goods," RAIN, Nov. '76, RAINBOOK, '77. 2.8mb PDF
"Costs of Tourism," RAIN, Oct. '76; RAINBOOK '77.
"Costs of Growth," RAIN May '76.
"The Cost of Energy Slaves," RAIN, May '76.
"Make Where You ARE a Paradise," RAIN Poster Issue, Apr. '76, RAINBOOK, '77.
SHARING SMALLER PIES. Monograph. 1975. Reprinted
in RAIN, April 1975; NEW AGE JOURNAL, Nov. 1975; THE FUTURIST, 1976; RESETTLING
AMERICA, Gary Coates, ed. Brick House, 1981. Excerpted in UTNE READER, Fall
1987
SHARING SMALLER PIES. Full Monograph. 1975. 10mb PDF.
"Changing Possibilities" excerpt of SHARING SMALLER PIES reprinted in STEPPING STONES, deMoll & Coe, 1978.
"Changing Possibilities" reprinted in Japanese edition of STEPPING STONES, 1981.
"Independence?"- with O.E.R.P, 1974. 3.3mb PDF.
"Emerging Energy Policy Principles" - with O. E. R. P, 1974.
"Cosmic Economics" - with Office of Energy Research & Planning,
Governor's Office, State of Oregon, 1974;
reprinted in STEPPING STONES, deMoll & Coe, 1978.
Growth, fueled by fossil fuels, operates on an "inversion" of values and successful practices from a sustainable society. What's now called a "Carbon Tax" originated in this article long ago, which warned of all the failure-shortcuts we're now trying, such as ethanol fuels that are not net energy producing.
"Cosmic Economics" reprinted in Japanese edition of STEPPING STONES, 1981. 2.6mb PDF.
LIVING LIGHTLY: Energy Conservation in Housing. Excerpts. 1973. Excerpts from my seminal 1973 monograph that rashly claimed, and then showed how, we could reduce energy use by 90% and end up with a better quality of life in the process. Actual implementation since then shows this figure was indeed conservative! Includes a report on the Ouroboros self-reliant demonstration house, confirming these potentials, that we built in 1973 with 150 totally untrained pre-architecture students at the University of Minnesota.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE, WUPPERTAL INSTITUTE
Amory Lovins from the Rocky Mountain Institute, and researchers at the Wuppertal Institute in Germany are in the forefront of applying this concept of systems efficiency to industrial processes and to specific energy and resource issues. Amory and L. Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken published Natural Capitalism in the US in 1999. an earlier version, co-authored by Ernst von Weizsäcker and theLovins, called Factor Four, has been published in Germany and England.
These order-of-magnitude improvement in institutional effectiveness are, however, a one-shot opportunity. To harvest them without dealing first with growth and greed will leave us in a few years with more people, less time, and without these resources available to support a transition to sustainability. Many proponents also appear blind to the fact that there is a limit to easy efficiency improvements. There is the usual bell-shaped curve...we're in the big-and-easy middle bulge. They will soon get much harder to obtain.
Contact Wuppertal Institute at PO Box 100 480, D-42004 Wuppertal, Germany -Tel:49-202-2492-152, or E-mail: <info@wupperinst.org>
Contact Rocky Mountain Institute at <www.rmi.org>