Go back to 1972 or so when the first big "oil crisis" hit. Gasoline jumped from 30 cents a gallon to over a dollar overnight, and there was panic. The Federal Government assisted in funding alternative energy projects - wind-powered generators, solar panels, battery technology, thermal storage, and the like. In tandem with this, time-tested "passive architecture" principles (as distinguished from "active" systems) were introduced and became the vogue. The idea even then was to reduce the need for fossil fuels. (Too bad these efforts tapered off as people got used to paying more for oil! or we'd be much further along and not into a Global Warming crisis.)

• *Community-owned cars

• *Community-owned bicycles

• *Growing food

• *Sharing rides

• *Rain barrels for irrigation

• *Composting

• *Water conservation

• *Guest rooms in Common House

• *Education/Outreach to larger community [not suggested to tie into money]

Assessment Questionnaire for a Forming Community:

Altair Ecovillage, Kimberton, Pennsylvania

1. Is there a group of members? How big is your membership? How do you define membership? Are there different categories of membership ?

We have five Investing Member families who have put in over $400K and are managing members of the LLC. We have two “regular” members who have paid $1000 non-refundable fee. All these members contribute $25/month toward the expenses of the non-profit Membership entity. We also have several “Friends” who contribute $25/year to stay on the mailing list…

See the website for details about the timeline and regular member escrows…

Contact: 610-220-6172