If architecture can be subversive, then Pliny Fisk’s latest creation
is a
Molotov cocktail, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, and the Declaration of
Independence rolled into one shiny edifice. Combining the lowest of low
tech
with the highest of high tech, the building is designed to be as
self-sufficient as possible. Rather than relying on a power plant miles
away,
it will use photovoltaic cells to make its own electricity. Instead of
importing drinking water and exporting wastewater to distant treatment
plants
through miles of expensive pipes, the 2,000-square-foot building will
provide
its own water treatment.
“It’s the antithesis of what’s going on in industrialized building,”
says Fisk
of the Green Builder Demonstration Project. The structure, nearing
completion
at Fisk’s Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (aka Max’s Pot)
near
the corner of FM 969 and Decker Lane, looks from a distance like equal
parts
treehouse, barn, and erector set. It’s a radical departure from
mainstream
architecture because the building system is designed to be self
sufficient, low
cost, and above all, flexible. Fisk calls it a “grow home.” Need
another room?
No problem. Just pour a concrete footing, bolt on a couple of
Fisk-designed
rebar cages, fill in the walls with blocks of concrete, straw, wood, or
even
canvas, and presto, another room awaits.
The building subverts existing construction methods because it relies
almost
completely on materials that are either recycled or available within a
few
miles of Austin. Half the building was made of compressed earth bricks.
The
bricks were made on-site, from soil which came from property two miles
down the
road. Another wall is made from a mixture of caliche and fly ash. The
fly ash
came from the Lower Colorado River Authority’s Fayette Power Plant. The
doors
and windows are made from recycled plastic and wood fiber, made by a
company in
Junction. The straw bales in one wall came from Manor. The clay in
another wall
came from a hole in front of the building.
Funded by the General Services Commission, the City of
Austin
Electric Utility Department, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission, the Lower Colorado River Authority, and the Meadows
Foundation, the
building uses very little wood. “You don’t have to have wood to have a
green
building,” says Fisk. “In fact, the less wood you use, the greener it
is,
because our forests are in trouble.” Instead, Fisk has transformed
cheap steel
rods known as “rebar” into a structural component. The load-bearing
walls are
held up by narrow beams made of four pieces of rebar that have been
welded into
a square. The rebar cages work in conjunction with pre-cast concrete
box beams
that can be filled with concrete.
The entire building cost about $150,000 and Fisk says it will be
inexpensive
to maintain. The cooling will be done by a high-efficiency heat pump
that uses
the cistern as a heat sink. The heat pump and thermal mass from the
earth walls
will keep the house warm in the winter. Lighting will come from a
12-volt
system of halogen lamps powered by a one kilowatt grid of rooftop
photovoltaic
panels.
Fisk expects to complete the water catchment and treatment system
by the end
of the summer. A panoply of pipes will feed rainwater from the roof
into three
tanks with a total capacity of about 13,790 gallons. The wastewater
treatment
will be done in a series of small canals containing water-purifying
reeds.
For years, Fisk was considered a fringe player in architecture. But
now, his
concepts are being pursued by a variety of groups. He recently signed a
contract with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to work on
industrial
building design. Last November, his designs for affordable and
sustainable
development won two awards from the Mexican government. He is
negotiating with
the Environmental Protection Agency on a program to define
sustainability
measurement techniques for green building in the U.S.
“Water is a hot topic. Wastewater is a hot topic. People are looking
for
alternatives and we are getting cooperation from a number of different
levels,”
Fisk said. “It’s not a fluke. It’s not so much Max’s Pot doing their
weird
thing. A lot of people are concerned with these issues and that’s why
they fund
us.”
Fisk doesn’t like to think his building is subversive. Instead he
calls it
“anticipatory.” His goal is to develop a building system that can
“accommodate
all the changes a building goes through. Houses become law offices.
Restaurants
become something else. Usually, buildings aren’t meant to do that. It
takes a
great deal of effort to change a building, or you tear them down, which
is very
wasteful.”
Fisk plans to move the Max’s Pot office into the new building when
it is
completed later this year. If you want a tour of the building, Max’s
Pot
usually has an open house on the first Friday of each month at 6:30pm.
But be
sure to call them at 928-4786 before showing up.
n SALAMANDER UPDATE: Since early 1992, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS)
has been noodling around with a proposal to list the Barton Springs
Salamander
as an endangered species. Earlier this year, after endless delays, the
agency
punted on the decision, kicking the issue back to the State of Texas.
And if a
recent letter from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
(TNRCC)
to the FWS is any indication of the state’s intentions, the salamander
is as
good as dead.
In a May 17 letter to Jana Grote, acting chief of FWS’ Austin office,
TNRCC
Water Policy Director Mark Jordan said his agency has reviewed “all
known final
studies and reports relating to the water quality of the Barton Creek
watershed.” Jordan concludes that the data shows “no demonstrated
material
decline in the water quality of Barton Springs” from 1976 to 1994. What
follows
is the most astounding bit of idiocy to come from TNRCC in many a day.
Jordan
writes, “Nor do the studies and reports demonstrate a direct,
quantifiable
relationship between the water quality conditions in Barton Creek and
those of
the Springs.”
Jordan said he reviewed a 1986 report by the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS)
called, “Hydrology and Water Quality of the Edwards Aquifer Associated
with
Barton Springs in the Austin Area, Texas.” Perhaps he skipped the
section
called, “Relation of water quality of Barton Creek to water quality of
Barton
Springs.” On page 86 of that section, the report says “The quality of
water at
the springs responds rapidly to changes in quality of recharge
contributed by
the creek… Because of the amount and proximity of recharge
contributed by
Barton Creek, this creek has a greater impact upon the quality of
Barton
Springs than any other recharge source.” In its conclusion, the USGS
repeats
its analysis, saying, “Surface recharge from Barton Creek has a
significant
impact upon Barton Springs, and the quality of water from Barton
Springs is
more sensitive to the quality of streamflow in Barton Creek than from
any other
surface recharge source.”
Jordan concludes in his letter that the proposal to list the
salamander
doesn’t “sufficiently recognize” the “significant efforts” being made
by the
TNRCC to protect water quality in the Barton Springs Zone. But if the
TNRCC is
doing such a good job, why is the salamander in trouble? Dr. David
Hillis, a
zoologist with the University of Texas who has studied the Barton
Springs
Salamander extensively, told the Chronicle, “It’s clear that
whoever
wrote the [TNRCC] letter knows nothing about the [salamander’s]
biology…
There’s been a great increase in turbidity at Barton Springs Pool and
the
increased silt deposits have reduced the available habitat.”
Within the next few weeks, an aquatic biological advisory team is
supposed to
release its findings on the salamander. Funded by a $25,000 grant from
the City
of Austin, the group is to study all available data about the
salamander and
make suggestions about further studies and protection efforts. All the
members
of the advisory team are from outside Austin, none have studied the
Barton
Springs Salamander directly, and the group has not consulted with any
of the
local salamander experts. Hillis said, “As far as I know, no person who
has
been directly involved with the Barton Springs Salamander” has spoken
to the
team.
But the team did hear testimony from George Murfee, an engineer who
works for
developer Gary Bradley. Last month, Murfee told the Chronicle that he
and Alan Glen – a lawyer at Fulbright & Jaworski who represents
developers
– were invited to give presentations to the advisory team by the Texas
Parks
and Wildlife Department. The advisory team is supposed to release a
draft
report of its findings within the next few weeks.
While the TNRCC, the advisory team, FWS and other agencies dither,
Hillis says
“There’s been a precipitous decline in the population of the Barton
Springs
Salamander. And it may in fact go extinct very soon. Whether [or not]
the U.S.
government decides to put the salamander on the Endangered Species
List, it is
an endangered species,” he said. n
This article appears in July 7 • 1995 and July 7 • 1995 (Cover).