The older neighborhoods in my hometown of Austin Texas are seeing quite a bit of redevelopment and infill these days as the area grows like a weed. As would be expected, the developers are here building/remodeling and selling. Speculative homes apparently need a manicured yard before they are put on the market – presumably because a nice yard adds to the bottom line even though landscaping is expensive. Before the yard is literally unrolled and the plants are planted, I’ve noticed that developers begin by spreading out a layer of sticky red dirt.
I’ve not seen this type of dirt used in any other application and for good reason. Referred to jokingly around these parts as “red death,” the dirt is a type of sandy loam taken from deep within the sand and gravel pits near the Colorado River. Red death is essentially a waste product from the pit or, in other words, the cheapest dirt you can get.
To be fair, red death is completely non-toxic, but it has no organic material and little biological activity: things plants need to grow. Developers use it for a variety of reasons. A common reason is that construction makes the surrounding lot uneven and chunky with rocks and debris. Red death covers all that up.
So there you have it. The Earth’s own pancake make-up.
Yards can grow despite the use of red death by tapping into the nutrients below. However, sometimes a heavy topcoat of fertilizer is needed. These topcoats can pollute nearby streams and contaminate water supplies.
In the end, red death is a corner cut that can create environmental degradation. Wouldn’t it be almost as easy to just smooth out the existing topsoil and add organic compost to it?
Sometimes I imagine a day when the environmental ethic will change … much as other values our culture and others traditionally hold are in a constant state of flux. I imagine a time when the pervading value will be to do things that are good for the Earth. I hope I live to see that …
evacuate all urban areas. this has been a public announcement for good people.crime congestion and sub division rules should be enough to point any thinking person in the direction that distance from bad elements and greed should be a fantastic idea.
We can’ even get dirt right. That’s going to be a surprise for those new homeowners who think everything is good with carpet-like yard. I guess the grass isn’t always greener.
Unfortunately as a contractor and developer in the speculative market I can tell you the exact reason for these kinds of practices. Most people want the “most house” that they can get for the payment that they qualify for, and green issues take a back seat to marble counter tops and tile floors (and nice yards). Home shoppers are very tuned to cost per square ft, and amenities, and they just assume that codes requirements insure that they are getting adequate quality. The consumers pay lip service to all kinds of quality issues, but “Always the Low Price” wins the day in the market place. Because of this, we need green codes to mitigate energy consumption and long term environmental impact of housing if we are going to do any better.
The speculative market is extremely competitive, and not nearly as profitable as is commonly believed, and every business must make a profit in order to survive. The homes I build are considerably more energy efficient than the industry standard in my area. I control costs by taking advantage of the low hanging fruits of building a very tight, well insulated home from the ground up, and using cost effective energy efficient components (windows, doors, HVAC, appliances) and energy efficient design. This makes my construction cost 2-3% higher than it would be if I built the standard “spec” house. Even though these houses are 20-30% more energy efficient, they won’t appraise for substantially more, or command a substantially higher price within my market. Therefore, my efforts actually cost me money. Financially I would be better off not doing it. I do it anyway, because I don’t want to look back at the end of my career and know that all I’ve accomplished is to defile the land with a bunch of cheap houses.
Bravo David! An inspiring story.
Thank you from all of us who are struggling to make our houses more energy efficient!
I agree Ryan. Using Red Death is not a short cut at all - it would be cheaper and better to smooth out the existing dirt. I really don’t understand what developers are thinking half the time. Most of it is totally senseless.
David,
Thank you for your honesty and insight. I’ve been involved in building several homes as a kid and an adult–most recently in 2005. Home construction is incredibly difficult. So much thought is needed for seemingly every decision. We need more thoughtful builders like you.
I agree with Ryan, there is a need of conciousness amongst builders. However and sadly so, careless builders are far more common in this business than are responsible professionals. After being the GC of our own house, I wonder even more about the general scruples of those working in the building business and think that building anywhere close to green is the last thought in their minds.
french intensive gardening is an underutilized solution for most applications
however itr takes a bit of work, hands on and most folks are lazy
too much obesity, TV,ipods and vid games among other things
that is why immigrant labour is now prevalent
shame on us
actually YOU!
i get to go back to Central America soon, where i moved in 1994, lots of the reasons being disgust, but #1 is to surf more, lol
USA is hopeless
unless bush and his corporate cronies are brought to trial and impeached NOW!
best is violent overthrow of the current status quo, but very doubtful for the above mentioned reasons
When I took a course in soil at Colorado State University, the professor became absolutely livid when some Forestry students called soil “dirt.” He yelled out, “If you continue to call soil dirt, I’m going to call the Colorado Blue Spruce a weed.” I’m willing to bet, however, that he’d think the term “dirt” is totally apropos in this case.
To depart a positive note, I take off my hat to David, a contractor worth his salt!
Bruce
e33aa1c2 98b7765a aaf cigarettes online find more about cigarettes online here [URL= http://w3shop.info/cigarettes.php?q=map10005 ]cigarettes online here[/URL]
You have an outstanding good and well structured site. I enjoyed browsing through it.