Episode 1: Follow The Dream

Light is a cornerstone of life, second only to water. As diurnal creatures, humans are naturally awake during daylight and rest when it’s dark. Daylight not only aligns our internal clocks but also influences digestion, emotions, and energy levels.

When we consider wellness in our homes, we often focus on physical elements like paints, carpets, and finishes, but lighting is just as vital. Natural light is so integral to our health that the World Health Organization includes access to adequate lighting as part of the human right to adequate housing. Without it, our physical and mental health can suffer.

Natural Light: A Key to Wellness

For our ancestors, exposure to sunlight was effortless, but in today’s built environments, adequate lighting requires thoughtful design. Biophilic design principles aim to reconnect us with nature, making natural light a central element of a healthy home.

To maximize natural light:

• Window Placement: North-facing windows provide consistent, indirect light throughout the day. East, west, and south-facing windows may require blinds or drapes to manage heat and glare.
• Skylights and Atriums: These are great options for brightening darker spaces but should be designed to avoid excessive heat or discomfort.

Artificial Light: Enhancing Our Built Environments

Since the days of cave dwellers and firelight, humans have sought ways to extend the day. Artificial lighting is essential for modern living, but it can disrupt our natural rhythms if not used thoughtfully. For instance, blue light from screens can interfere with sleep, and using bright lights in the evening may reset your circadian clock.

Lighting Tips for Different Spaces

• Bedrooms:

  • Use bright, daylight-spectrum lights for activities like reading or homework.
  • Dim lighting in the evening to mimic sunset and create a calming atmosphere.
  • Incorporate bedside lamps for softer, focused light.

• Living and Dining Areas:

  • Install dimmable lights to adjust for various moods—bright for gatherings and soft for relaxation.
  • Use pendant lights in dining areas to encourage slower, more enjoyable meals.

• Kitchens:

  • Include task lighting (e.g., under-cabinet lights) for cooking and food prep.
  • Match overhead and task lighting in color temperature.
  • Use dimmers to transition the space from functional to ambient for dining or entertaining.

• Bathrooms:

  • Prioritize bright, even lighting for safety and grooming.
  • Add decorative sconces or pendants for visual interest.
  • Consider night lights for convenience without disrupting sleep.

A Thoughtfully Lit Home

The foundation of a healthy lighting plan begins with abundant natural light, supplemented by adaptable artificial lighting to meet your needs throughout the day and across seasons. A well-lit home supports work, rest, play, and overall well-being—lighting the way to a healthier lifestyle.

Is it enough to build sustainably or do we need to adopt a regenerative approach?  Where sustainability focuses on reducing negative impacts, a regenerative approach broadens the paradigm to include repair. 

Clearly thoughtful design that reduces environmental impact when we build is critical but can we also, must we also, include repairs to the harm to the natural world that has already been incurred?  Is this possible?  Yes.  Repair is not only possible but is important to restore the health of the planet and our own family’s health as well.

Consider the common hemp plant.  First spun into a usable product at least 50,000 years ago, 40,000 years before the Mesopotamian or Egyptian civilizations.  Hemp is an immensely versatile plant that has been used in everything from clothing, rope and paper to food and biofuel.  It is one of the fastest growing plants.  Needs less land to grow, uses less water than cotton, and requires no pesticides.  Not only that, but hemp also rehabilitates the soil where it grows, draws out toxins, and has been used for environmental cleanup. 

Hemp is not only easy to grow, takes less resources, is environmentally friendly, but it also improves the lives of the farmers through reduced chemical and pesticide use, leading to healthier communities and a healthier environment.  Hemp products, clothing, textiles, food, are not only non-toxic, but when hemp enters the waste stream it biodegrades naturally, returning nutrients to the soil.

When talking hemp it’s important to differentiate between industrial hemp and medicinal hemp.  They are the same plant, but they are farmed in completely different ways.  Hemp produced for fabric and other industrial products uses the stalk.  Hemp for medicinal purposes uses the flowers.  Industrial hemp grows like a weed, uses very little water and is very disease resistant.  Industrial hemp can have 800,000 plants per acre whereas for medicinal it can be as low as 1600 plants per acre.  Further medicinal hemp consumes a lot of water and is fed a high chemical diet in hydroponic situations. 

Industrial hemp is not only extremely productive and environmentally safe but it repairs the environment at the same time.

So, what if we designed and built using the hemp plant as a model?  What if we built by prioritizing natural materials which were more environmentally friendly to produce, which reduced toxicity in our homes, created a healthier environment to live in as well as repairing the natural world around us?  What would those homes look like?

CarbonShack’s recently completed, Paraiso De Rocas Antiguas, employes these features of regenerative design.  The structure first and foremost works with the found landscape and natural features rather than altering them.  The home was partially built into the hillside to take advantage of the passive cooling qualities of the earth.  It was oriented to the North to take advantage of consistent natural light and was situated under an existing Live Oak tree in order to benefit from the shade the canopy offers.  This well-insulated structure was designed to reduce the need for energy and when energy is needed, this all-electric structure is powered by a solar array and battery to produce its own energy while removing the use of climate destructive fossil fuels. 

The building was designed and outfitted with natural materials to reduce indoor air pollution as well as the pollution that is a result of manufactured products.  Wood cabinets and furniture, hemp drapery and textiles, natural plaster which eliminated the need for off-gassing paints.  Water use was reduced by using low flow water fixtures.  Gray water allowed wastewater from shower and laundry to be distributed back into the landscape, recycling the water, reducing the need for municipal wastewater processing, and allowing the water to percolate naturally into the ground where it would refresh ground water and aquifers.  Composting is another regenerative strategy to reduce municipal waste processing and landfills while restoring nutrients to the landscape.  The site has raised vegetable beds powered by compost, and is planted with natives, a critical approach to restoring natural environments by providing seeds and nectar for native species who cannot survive on invasive plantings. 

Can we design and build homes that are comfortable and beautiful while regenerating and repairing the environment and our family’s health?  Yes, we can and we are doing that at CarbonShack.