WinSol Overview + intro

(copied from earlier blog in mid 2010) 
 

It just dawned on me that some readers of this blog have no clue to what WinSol3 is.  WinSol is 'Winning Solutions in Wind + Solar. Here's a short history of how WinSol buildings got started:

I am a big fan of solar energy and Bucky Fuller dating back to my junior year in college and thanks to a great teacher in advanced thermodynamics.  At the end of my college ‘career’,  besides getting a BSEE degree, I was also 6 hours short of a math degree. I loved Bucky's geodesic domes and math.  What turned me onto math was a class called ‘abstract algebra’. It was a pretty advanced class with high order differential equations, but I thought it was cool to create your own multidimensional universes.  I went a couple dimensions higher than 27 (tensors) – try writing the rules for that universe!  At that time (1973) I was fascinated by computer modeling for weather predictions and tensors – which nowadays look ancient. This eventually led to my first geodesic dome.

Note: Having great teachers really makes a big difference down the road!

In 1977 I purchased some land in Trinity County (Douglas City + Weaverville) with my vision to create an intentional community (no, not a commune) and to have a little in-city lot for future retirement.  It was pretty idealistic and naïve - I thought I could make a living there. Turns out if you’re not in the lumber industry or own an airplane, you are SOL.  Nowadays with the internet, I wish I still had those properties.

I built my first small (12’ diameter) geodesic dome out of electrical conduits with a swimming pool liner cover using a small solar collector + battery for lighting.  This was in 1978.  The next geodesic dome was a monster 36’ diameter built from 2x4’s with wooden dowels (not a single nail in the framing!) and plywood skin.  I learned that if you make a ¼” mistake on cutting a couple of these geodesic framing members, the dome won’t come together on the top!  Fun! Bucky Fuller’s math was genius!

Eventually the dome's foundation got sheered by large snowdrifts – first failure and lesson learned: always beef up the foundation more than you need – shit happens, law of unintended consequences.  Years later, when remote fun seekers started ripping off my house, I sold the property and focused on my downtown Weaverville lot.

The lot was located a couple blocks from the center of Weaverville right next to the creek and I had one of the last water meters in place before a moratorium.  So starts the history of WinSol1. 

After reading more Bucky Fuller books, I was intrigued with his concept of a Dyaxiom House: where all the utilities and building operations are located in a center triangle and lsnake out like an octopus into adjacent rooms.  Seemed like a no-brainer compared to our mainstream floor layouts - having all plumbing and electrical in one center utility area.

Along this same time I discovered and followed Ed Mazria around after he published his passive solar book.  It’s amazing what he’s doing 30+years later with architecture 2030. Long live Ed!

Cutting to the chase, WinSol1 had a long sloping shed roof opening up to the south and SW blue sky areas with the back roof slope positioned to deflect winter winds, and collect rainwater.  

I got to know Jeff Shields pretty well at the Planning Commissioners office in Weaverville, and told him I couldn’t afford an architect and a structural engineer. He said that if I submitted detailed stress and deflection calculations, they’d review it and it could perhaps be approved.  They really wanted to see this house built in their town.  I still have the original, approved blueprints.  WinSol2 and WinSol3 also have this feature.

Then came the reality of plopping down $600 or so for the permit and promising to have substantial completion within a year.  I wasn’t ready to take out a bank loan (nor did I want to), willing to travel from SF to Weaverville every weekend, and purchase building materials – yet. So when it came time to step up, I stepped back.  Years later  (1984?) I sold the property easily with the last legal water meter in the city.  Now when I go look at that area, I’m glad I didn’t built it.  There are ticky tacky balloon framed apartment buildings adjacent to a busy street.  When I bought the plroperty there was nothing around except a school, ½ mile away.  Progress.  My life took a few interesting turns between 1984 and 1987. In 1987  I purchased the property called 7L where WinSol2 and now WinSol3 was built.

With the design and structural learnings of WinSol1, and wisdom from Bucky Fuller, Sim Van der Ryn’s Berkeley Farllonne house, David Wright,  Ed Mazria and others, it set the stage for the design of WinSol 2 + 3.   

A writing note:  I stopped using semicolons in all my writing, after reading ‘A man without a country’ by my current favorite author: Kurt Vonnegut.  He is truly our modern Mark Twain.  Here’s his quote (pg 23) on semicolons: ‘they are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show that you’ve been to college.  And I realize some of you may be having trouble deciding whether I am kidding or not…. ‘ he wasn’t.