How to Go Green Like a Wizard: Ten Lessons That We Can Learn From Hogwarts
Posted: Thursday, December 10, 2009
by Dan Bossenbroek
Just Green Homes
If you have ever read or watched the Harry Potter series you may think that it is all about the forces of good battling the forces of evil. Or you might think it's just the entertaining chronicles of three young kids growing up in the magical world created by the brilliant mind of J. K. Rowling. Those may be true, but if you look at it from a little different angle you can learn some valuable lessons on how to tread a little more lightly on the earth and save energy at the same time.
- Energy Conservation: Hogwarts is a big old English castle that's cold and drafty in the winter, and not that comfortable during the long rainy fall and spring. Lucky for all of the students, at least those in Griffindor house that they are provided with a four poster bed, complete with canopy and curtains. Get one for yourself (and your kids) and you can turn your thermostat down another two to four degrees at night and still stay cozy.
- Earth Sheltering: The Slytherin and Hufflepuff Common Rooms and Dorms are located in the lower regions and dungeons of the castle. They are not the most welcoming and light filled places, but they sure do take advantage of the temperature regulating benefits of earth sheltering. It's not likely that you could pile earth up against your house, or bury it completely. However, you might consider one of those options, a vegetative roof, or at least a full walkout basement when you plan a major renovation, addition or a new house.
- Self-sufficiency: On the grounds of Hogwarts are at least three greenhouses. They are primarily used to grow magical plants that can then be used in various potions or for Madame Pomfrey's remedies. Growing your own crop that has magical properties is not recommended. But greenhouses are great for extending the growing season for your vegetables, herbs and fruit. Homegrown tomatoes in October anyone?
- Localized Heat Strategy 1: Fireplaces are located all over Hogwart castle, providing heat when and where it is needed. Instead of heating your entire castle, you can use fireplaces, electric space heaters, pellet stoves and/or solar air heaters to warm up just the rooms that you use, when you use them while keeping the rest of the house several degrees cooler.
- Localized Heat Strategy 2: Dorm Rooms are shared by several students. This arrangement drastically reduced the number of heat sources required to keep them warm at night. Instead of having a separate room for each kid, have two or three kids sleep in one room and then use the other bedroom as a play room. Then you can heat/cool the former at night and the latter when needed.
- Daylighting: The common room for Ravenclaw house that is filled with bookcases, tables and chairs has a high domed ceiling and numerous arched windows in the walls that provide spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Of the four common rooms in the castle, this is the one I would choose to spend my time in. What an ideal place to hang out and study for your O.W.L.s. It has been proven that daylighting will increase test scores, improve your mood and lower your energy bills. Let the sun shine in. Open the drapes. Add a skylight, solar tube or an extra window. Cheer yourself up, and save some energy.
- Alternative Transportation: Harry and his friends use numerous forms of alternative transportation.
The most eco-friendly would be old fashioned walking. Wizards do a lot of walking. Something that we should all do more of. Why is it that in today's world we consider walking "alternative transportation"?
Traveling by the flue network, broom and apparition rank right up there too, but they rely almost exclusively on the use of magic. Aside from the fact that we have not yet developed this types of technologies, if we ever do, it will inevitably be very energy intensive. So they will never be an eco-friendly option. However, one could argue that broom riding is similar to bicycle riding, and then it would be a very eco-friendly option.
Now, determining whether or not flying on a Thestral or Hypogryph is an earth friendly option is a bit tricky. Keeping a horse, the closest non-magical equivalent, for personal intercity use these days is a bit impractical, but if we could just genetically alter them so that they sprouted wings, then they might be worth the trouble.
Finally we have the Hogwarts Express. We all know that rail transportation is one of the most efficient ways to move things, right? But how eco-friendly is a coal burning, four car passenger train that travels non-stop from London to Hogsmeade and back about four hundred miles just three times a year? It doesn't even stop at the halfway point for the kids from northern England and Ireland . Instead, on September 1 st every student must make their way from all over the UK to platform 9 at Kings Cross station.
Alternative Transportation: some forms are great, some live in the land of myth and science fiction, some are impractical or would cause public outrage, and some are still up for debate.
- Multi-use Spaces: Talk about the ultimate multipurpose room! Need a place to hide something for centuries? The Room of Requirement. Need a place to secretly study Defense Against the Dark Arts? The Room of Requirement. Need a place for your girlfriend to sleep off a night of butterbeer overindulgence? The Room of Requirement. Need a place to hide from the bad guys and smuggle all of your friends into the castle? The Room of Requirement. Including rooms in your house that can serve multiple purposes can save you space, time and lots of money.
- Native Habitat: Creating a diverse, natural habitat with indigenous plants on your property can reduce your water use, your time maintaining your property, and it can attract wildlife. The Forbidden Forest has no irrigation system. One gamekeeper for hundreds of acres you do the math. A herd of Centaurs, a colony of Acromantula, Unicorns, Thestrals, Werewolves, Trolls, and Bowtruckles - now that's wildlife!
- Off Grid: Hogwarts is so off the grid that there is no grid. Ok, they use torches, candles, lamps and a bit of magic for light. But can you imagine what your electricity bill would look like if you didn't have any TVs, VCRs, DVDs, DVRs, computers, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, microwave ovens, cell phone chargers, ..!!?
Dan Bossenbroek is a registered architect and has been incorporating energy conservation design strategies into his projects for over seventeen years. He has extensive experience in residential design, is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP) and his area of expertise is high performance buildings and sustainable design. Furthermore, he is an avid do-it-yourselfer having renovated several older homes. For energy saving products and home improvement advice he recommends www.justgreenhomes.net
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Hi Dan. I love articles like the one you just wrote. The going "green" concept can help us save a lot in term of energy consumption to name a few. Very informative and well-written piece. Thank you for sharing your knowledge to us. Happy Holidays. ~Nenita~
Thanks Nenita. Glad that you enjoyed it. Happy Holidays. Dan
Hi Dan,Good ideas-now hopefully people could participate. I know that personally I need to walk everyday even if it is short just to feel alive. Thanks for the article.Blessings,MichelleMichelle, Another thing that you can do that they do at Hogwarts is to take the stairs - no elevators. Merry Christmas! DanThanks Dan,And I have stairs in my house and church that I take everyday. Maybe I should go to Hogwarts! HeheheBlessings,Michelle
Very interesting article. I liked how you wrote on a topic that is often done in a dry factual manner and made it entertaining and fun. Mixing reality and fantasy made a very serious real world topic a joy to read and imparted some excellent information. Well done.Colin, Thanks for the comment. It's difficult to make saving energy interesting and fun. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Dan
Dan - An interesting perspective on things. Maybe the books could be used to educate the younger generations on being green.Peter, Thanks for the comment! Glad you liked the article.
What an entertaining look at this topic, Dan! Thanks for the info and a chuckle.Lorrie, Glad you liked it.
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