Living the American Green

The beginnings of a Business Plan. What else do we need in our opening statement?

Our project, called "Living the American Green" (LtAG), will critically evaluate the green movement in the united states with the goal of shifting people's perceptions about "living green." Americans still view Green energy as a fringe part of everyday life, as something that does not apply to the suburban commuter or the small town Mom and Pop store. While they may be wrong about this, the proponents of green energy also overstate their claims of energy savings and environmental goodwill. We will create an internet media channel dedicated to unpacking these issues by documenting our own attempts to "Green" an energy inefficient average American suburban home. We hope to convey our successes, our failures, and our thoughts throughout the project, while creating a human example of the amounts of effort and money that would go into installing alternative energy sources in your home.

Regardless of the personal sentiments of the participants, it is our stated goal to approach the project with skepticism. This, combined with a sense of humor and a general spirit of exploration, will make the show palatable to an audience who are not currently convinced that Alternative Energy applies to them.

Central to our efforts of reaching a large audience will be creating fun, entertaining, and humorous documentation of our efforts for distribution through our website. "Living the American Green" will not be shrill or lecture at the audience. While straight forward lecturing might be effective for some, we believe that it misses a very large and very important part of the American population. In lieu of lecturing to our audience from a conclusive standpoint, we invite viewers to learn and laugh with us as we apply various "green" living solutions to our own living situation. Part product review, part myth-busting, part reality TV, we plan to expose, confirm, and appreciate the green movement as it applies to American suburbia.

The Project Plan: LtAG will begin when we move into an unmodified suburban house picked out for its size and general energy inefficiency. We will try and find a house that fits the classic definition of a “McMansion.” We will first live in the house for a month or two to get a basic control reading of the amount of energy the house uses.

We will then begin modifying the house along two basic green lines:

A) Energy Types: Wind, Solar, Hydro (if at all possible) and Biomass power in a series of head to head comparisons. In this branch of the project, we will try and isolate exactly how much energy production each of these energy types is capable of producing in an environment not specifically cultured for their success. We will also try and experiment with different models and options commercially available within each energy source.

B) Energy Efficiency: Insulation, moderation, more efficient devices, etc. In the second Branch of LtAG, we will try and come to grips with the different ways you can improve on the energy you are already using, as well as get a hands on idea of what it means to use a little more or a little less Wattage per Hour. After we have been in the house for a few months, we will be completely removing ourselves from the grid to dramatize the situation a little and raise the hypothetical stakes of the project.

These hands on demonstrations both make our project something that many home owners will easily identify with, as well as help them parse through some of the different options available by seeing how much work they are and what they actually realize.

For the Project, we will have 6 people living full time in the house: 3 as permanent staff and 3 as live in commuters and support staff. The Three permanent members will be: a researcher/writer, A technology/engineer (for the installation and maintenance of the different energy sources) and a web support/video editing person. The three support staff will all keep personal track of their energy use, as well as write down thoughts and tribulations around living a green life. Potentially on of the three commuters could also be a live in person in charge of publicity/community/financial issues. All of these rolls are subject to crossover as needed, and all 6 of our staff will also be doubling as the subjects for our documentary work.