January 2010 was the coldest in Dublin for 45 years. The snow brought transport, pedestrians and businesses to a halt, the threat of low gas supplies and then water shortages with the thaw – one snap of bad weather and we are all reminded of how reliant we are on our infrastructure systems and networks to live our lives in comfort and how vulnerable we are when they break down.

For me, this past month brought into sharp focus everything I’d learned whilst participating in the ‘Community Powerdown’ course run by the Cultivate Centre in Dublin, last year – an exploration of the challenges we all face as the supply of carbon-based fuels like oil and gas run out.

From 'Energy & Power' - a 1971 oil use projection

The phenomenon is known as  ‘Peak Oil’, coined by M. King Hubbert in the 1950′s as he investigated the rate of oil production over time – the bell-shaped graph above is a typical projection of how oil production will fall off sharply, as resources become exhausted. Since Hubbert’s time, world population has grown; technology is more advanced and prevalent and, as a result, our energy demands have more than doubled.

Schools of thought vary on the timing of Peak Oil but whether it is in our near future or our near past, we have reached a turning point where the resources we are reliant upon for our current way of life will steadily become more scarce:

• more difficult to access,
• more likely to cause friction and aggression as competition to find and control dwindling resources increases and, of course,
• more expensive as supply drops and demand increases.

To put this into perspective – in 2008, 80-90% of total worldwide energy consumption came from burning fossil fuels.

As part of the ‘Community Powerdown’ workshops, each week a dozen of us, from different age groups, backgrounds, interests and awareness of environmental issues sat down to look at how Peak Oil would affect us and what measures we could put in place to make our lives more resilient to this kind of change.

Reading this,  you may think changing your heating to something more sustainable like wind power, a couple of solar panels or a wood-chip boiler, in the future, will take care of the problem – as I did before I embarked on the course – but the impact of Peak Oil goes far beyond the question of how we heat our homes.

'Leavin' on a jet plane... don't know if I'll be back again'

Without oil, how do we travel? Cars, buses, motorbikes, mopeds, trains and planes all rely on carbon-fuels and the impetus isn’t there to develop alternatives whilst these fuels are perceived to be in plentiful supply.

Who made your lunch today?

What will we eat? It takes ploughs, tractors, sowers, reapers to tend the land in this time of large scale industrial farming. Ingredients have to be transported to factories, which have to be heated and whose machines have to be powered and whose products then have to be transported around the country and the world.

One of the facts I found most startling is that our current food chain is only 3 meals deep – if anything were to disrupt the flow of supply and demand, we have only enough food to last 3 days before serious problems occur. Think about the lorry drivers strike in the UK a few years back or the snow we’ve just experienced – this is how easy it is to disrupt the systems we rely on.

'Life in the fast lane...'

Where and how will we work? In their book, ‘Microtrends – Surprising Tales of the Way we Live Today’, Mark J. Penn & E. Kinney Zalsne identify not one but two trends around the commuter lifestyle – Commuter Couples whose jobs dictate almost separate lives and who are reliant on travel just to spend time together and Extreme Commuters who travel at least 90 minutes each way daily to get to work. There’s even a Mega-Commuter trend, especially in Europe, where people are reliant on flying to and from work.

Without cheap independent transport, the long-distance work commute, a reality for many in Ireland who could not afford to buy boom-time housing in locations where they worked, becomes completely unsustainable.

'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo...'

Where and how do we live?  The construction industry is one of the largest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions in the world and that’s before we move into our homes and face the challenges of heating, lighting, powering TVs, DVDs, X-Boxes, computers, printers, washing machines, dryers, fridges, cookers, dishwashers etc.

Here today, gone tomorrow?

What kind of communities will we have to create? These are huge problems and whilst each of us can change our behaviour as individuals, there is also a need for us to come together and agree changes that will work at a larger scale – sharing of resources, reduction of waste, sustainable living systems.

At a time when we prize our independence so highly, these are frightening prospects. But it is much more frightening to have change thrust upon us than to look ahead, anticipate a new set of circumstances and start planning for it ourselves.

If you’re interested in learning about these issues, Cultivate are running the course again as ‘Community Resilience – 10 Active Learning Lessons’, on Tuesday evenings from 16th February to 27th April at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew’s Street. To book or find out more, contact Cultivate at 01 674 5773 or on the web-site – it costs €180.00 for 10 weeks and there are 2 free places available to those who are passionate about or active in sustainability or resilience development.

In the past 2 years, we’ve seen all too clearly what comes of short-term thinking – there is always a price to pay. Our current thoughts and actions create the world we live in tomorrow – so take a moment and ask yourself, what kind of future am I making today?

If you enjoyed this post, you may also be interested in:

The DIY Energy Efficient Home

Dublin Open House: A-Rated House by FKL Architects

Is Your Home BER Ready?

Do you have any any pet peeves about housing or home design? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on this subject or any other home improvement or design issues you’d like to read more about.

Well, 2010 is off to a rollicking start here at Chez living:room! We’re in the latest issue of Munster Interiors – their regular ‘Blog Watch’ feature, written by the lovely Lorna Sixsmith of Garrendenny Lane Interiors, highlights the on-line movers, shakers and dreamers of dreams in the world of home design. Needless to say, we are honoured and privileged to have made the cut!

Featured this month, along with yours truly, is one of living:room’s fave on-line home boutiques, Mabel & Violet, which you may have seen recently in House & Home‘s Irish Hot 100 and if not – where have you been? Written by M&V owner, Paula Asple, the blog covers a miscellany of home design, vintage, furnishing and lifestyle topics, including her own home renovation projects.

Of the ‘Blog Watch’ picks, I was delighted to discover ‘Nestled In‘ for the very first time – a Finnish interior blog featuring twenty-somethings Katja & Minna and their home renovation along with DIY projects and interior, art and design faves. Having visited Helsinki many years back, I’m a sucker for Scandinavian design – and not just the stuff that comes in a flat pack – so this blog is destined to become one of my regular reads!

And, of course,  Lorna knows a thing or two about blogging… In addition to scribing for Munster Interiors, managing her interior design business and on-line shop, being a mother-of-two and mucking in on the hubbie’s dairy farm (phew!) – she also finds time to write a regular interior design blog over at Garrendenny Lane. For specific decor or furnishing quandries, Lorna does a Friday Fix-It post where she answers specific reader queries like choosing light fittings for a double-height hallway or decorating a girl’s bedroom – if you’re in need of help, just drop her a line.

If you found this article of interest, you may also like:

The Hidden Potential in your Home

It’s Not About Looks – Good Design Works

Dublin Open House: A-Rated House by FKL Architects (and 5 Ideas to Steal…)

Do you have any any pet peeves about housing or home design? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on this subject or any other home improvement or design issues you’d like to see featured.

Wishing you all a very

Happy Christmas

&

Best Wishes for 2010!

It’s been a very busy month for living:room as word about the blog has spread across the country and beyond!

Firstly, we were featured in the ‘Around the Block’ section of the Irish Times’ Property Supplement, where  our ‘good design is good value’ message was emphasised along with our use of social media and the free advice offered on the blog, to help homeowners make better use of their space.

Living:room then took to the road with the Denny Home Is campaign – offering free home design and planning advice in their Pop Up Homes in Galway, Letterkenny & Dublin, all in aid of the Simon Community to help the homeless. Denny are asking what home means to you and contributing €1 for every comment, picture or video received – here I am at the Galway house, doing my bit:

Today’s the last day to contribute as Denny will be handing a cheque over to the Simon Community tomorrow – so there’s still time to add your tuppence worth on what home means to you on the Home Is Facebook page.

The living:room blog was also featured in a presentation to the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, as an excellent example of how architects can use social media to communicate about their work with clients and the public at large.

The presentation was given by Su Butcher – Practice Manager at Barefoot & Gilles Architects and one of the most prolific architectural voices using social media in the UK. Su was so taken with the living:room story and how I came to set up living:room & start blogging, tweeting et al, she even featured it in her blog, ‘Just Practising’, to inspire other architects to make the leap. How did it all come about? Simply by chatting one day on Twitter…

And last week, Silicone Republic included living:room in a feature on blogs offering useful tips for a leaner lifestyle in these recession weary times, with our articles ‘The DIY Energy Efficient Home’ & ‘It’s Not About Looks – Good Design Works’, being highlighted.

Thanks to everyone for reading and supporting the living:room blog – it’s very much appreciated and there’s lots more good stuff to come! As ever, if there is anything you’d like to see featured here, just drop me a line…

If you found this article of interest, you may also like:

Looking for Home Design Inspiration?

The Hidden Potential in your Home

What Does Home Mean to You?

Is it reading the newspaper and the smell of freshly brewed coffee on a Sunday morning?

Is it crisp winter evenings in front of a roaring fire, with the family at Christmas?

Or is it just the place where you kick of your shoes at the end of a long day and escape from the world?

Denny is taking to the road in Ireland’s first ever search to find out what home means to you…

Their ‘Home on Wheels’ and specially created ‘Pop-Up Homes’ will be appearing around the country on main retail streets, where you can call in, have a cuppa and a chat with the resident ‘mammy and son’ and for every person who shares their thoughts on home, Denny is donating €1/85p to the Simon Community, who provide care, accommodation and support to almost 10,000 people every year throughout Ireland, who experience – or are at risk of homelessness.  You can comment on-line, by text or in person by uploading photos, videos or comments to www.homeis.ie, texting 51444 (ROI) or 81515 (NI) or by popping into one of Denny’s homes.

Tricia Burke of Denny says: “We realise the importance of home and how something small can really make people feel “at home” – your favourite cup, a special spot on the sofa or even a song that reminds you of home.”

And we’re delighted to say living:room will be there too! I’ll be dropping in to the Denny ‘Pop-Up Home’ at various locations over the coming weeks to offer advice and answer questions, helping you deal with home design dilemmas and fall back in love with your home!

First stop is Galway City tomorrow afternoon, so if you have any questions about renovating, extending, planning permission or just making the space in your home work harder, then come on down to the ‘Pop Up Home’  at 2-3 Dominick Street from 3 – 4.30pm for a chat. The Home Is.. team will be in Galway until Sunday when they will move on to Waterford followed by Letterkenny, Belfast and Dublin in the coming weeks.

To make a comment, keep up-to-date with the ‘Home on Wheels’ and ‘Pop Up Home’ locations and dates or even volunteer your home to be filmed as part of the campaign, go to the Home Is.. web-site, check out the Facebook page or follow Denny Home Is on Twitter.

Please do leave a comment and support this very good cause.