{"id":97,"date":"2005-10-20T15:48:38","date_gmt":"2005-10-20T22:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oclandscape.com.previewdns.com\/ocblog\/?p=97"},"modified":"2022-10-06T08:47:11","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T15:47:11","slug":"real-goods-solar-living-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/real-goods-solar-living-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Goods Solar Living Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below is a profile for Real Goods- A alternative energy center and
\ngardens located in Hopland, California.<\/em><\/p>\n

Project Type:<\/strong>
Retail sustainable goods outlet\/ Non-
\nProfit Institute for solar and sustainable technologies, 12 Acres in size<\/p>\n

Designers: <\/strong>
Architect: Sim Van
\nder Ryn<\/font><\/a>
Landscape Architects: Stephanie Kotin and Chris
\nTebbutt
Completed June 1996<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/strong>
Website: http:\/\/www.realgoods.com\/<\/font><\/a>
Address: 13771 South
\nHighway 101 Hopland, CA 95449
Phone: (888) 212-5640<\/p>\n

Project Background:<\/strong>
The Real Goods Solar Living center is
\nthe vision of John Schaeffer, the founder of the sustainable products company
\nReal Goods. Located about 90 miles north of San Francisco, the center
\nencompasses three distinct elements: The 5000 square foot Real Goods retail
\nstore, the Solar Living Center- a non-profit educational and research division
\nof Real Goods, and Solar 2000, a 132 kilowatt solar array, which is one of the
\nlargest solar power sites in Northern California. Real Goods is a mail-order
\nbased company, which had over 18 million dollars in sales in 1996 when the
\ncenter opened. The project was built as a model for the use of sustainable
\nenergy technologies, building materials, and a showcase for the company\u2019s
\nproducts. The Solar Living Center manages the facilities and grounds and focuses
\non educational workshops and continuing research. This includes the promotion of
\nsustainable building materials and techniques, permaculture, and sustainable
\nlandscape design. <\/p>\n

Project Design:<\/strong>
Sustainable design of both the
\narchitecture and the landscape was of foremost importance for the center. The
\nsite selected along Highway 101 in Hopland, lies in a 20 year flood plain and at
\nthe time of purchase was a CalTrans dumpsite. The husband-wife landscape
\narchitecture team of Stephanie Kotin and Chris Tebbutt transformed what was a
\nbare, noisy site into an interesting and lush oasis with as much landscape
\nmeaning as interesting form. Solar energy panels are built into and featured
\nwithin the grounds of the center and incorporate the ideas of sustainable energy
\nuse directly into the landscape. Distinct design elements such as incorporation
\nof the cardinal directions as distinct axis, a solar calendar, a central
\nartesian well and stream, and a large pond and wetland are all designed together
\ninto an inclusive package, rich with symbolism and artistry. Throughout the site
\nindividual design elements speak to the message and artistic quality of the
\ngrounds. One poignant example of these elements is the Memorial Car Grove. The
\ngrove contains old rusting muscle cars that have had holes cut in the roofs to
\nallow trees to grow through. Elements such as this show a rich synthesis of
\nmessage with form. <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong>
–A Place in the Sun<\/font><\/em><\/a>– the book about the creation of
\nReal Goods
-Personal Site Visit<\/p>\n

For More:<\/strong>
–Review of A Place in the Sun<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

–Solar Living
\nInstitute<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n

–Van Der Ryn
\nArchitects <\/font><\/p>\n

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\"rg2.JPG\"<\/font><\/p>\n

\"rg3.JPG\"<\/font><\/p>\n

\"rg4.JPG\"<\/font><\/p>\n


<\/font> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below is a profile for Real Goods- A alternative energy center and gardens located in Hopland, California. Project Type: Retail sustainable goods outlet\/ Non- Profit Institute for solar and sustainable technologies, 12 Acres in size Designers: Architect: Sim Van der Ryn Landscape Architects: Stephanie Kotin and Chris TebbuttCompleted June 1996 Contact:Website: http:\/\/www.realgoods.com\/Address: 13771 South Highway … Continue reading Real Goods Solar Living Center<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3587,"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/3587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oclandscape.com\/ocblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}