by Melinda
Pillsbury-Foster
Ashtabula can reframe itself for
economic renewal and prosperity.
Twenty years ago Nathan MacPherson
toured law schools in San Diego, where he was living at the time, and
found himself inundated by real estate agents who advised him to buy
a downtown condo, finessing on his income, so he could live there
while in school – and leave school as a millionaire on the
appreciation of the condo. Many of these same condos are now in
foreclosure.
Skeptical, Nathan, instead chose law
school in Des Moines, Iowa, where he purchased three distressed
single-family residences and one distressed six-unit multifamily
building. Doing much of the work himself, he improved these, with the
usual paint, flooring, bathroom remodeling, kitchen remodeling. But
he also added insulation in the walls and ceilings, replacing the
windows with Energy Star-rated windows, replaced the HVAC units with
the highest efficiency units available, and installed Energy
Star-rated appliances.
After graduating
from law school in 2007 Nathan took a job offer in Frankfurt,
Germany, in the Baking and Finance Practice Group of a global law
firm and sold his Iowa properties.
The market for real
estate in America was crashing. Despite this he was able to sell them
all at a profit because the upgrades made were not just cosmetic,
but actually lowered the operating costs by as much as 70% while
improving comfort.
Nathan's Iowa
properties had gone fast, even in the dying market. But he was
always looking for better ways to build.
In Germany, he
toured construction sites and spoke with the local builders about
techniques they were using. The Austrians and Germans were beginning
to superinsulate their structures, including the use of triple-pane
windows, and employing concrete and stone building materials as
thermal mass. They were building according to the German Passive
House Standard.
His own home in Germany, which he
designed and built, complied with the Passive German Standard. When
his first son was born the baby was able to play on a floor which was
never cold, just wearing a diaper, in the middle of a winter snow
storm.
Passive homes cost nearly nothing to
heat. In the middle of winter, turn on a light bulb, it is enough.
Contrary to what you probably believe, these cost less to build than
conventional housing. These innovative, and clean, technologies need
to be built in the US, too. Why not Ashtabula?
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