a northwestern university (nu) student team prioritized energy conservation with thermally-insulating walls, air-source heat pumps, slanted windows, and led lights in their winning bid for an attractive, cost-effective solar home. 

the team of 12 nu engineering undergraduates won the 2021 solar decathlon design challenge hosted by the u.s. department of energy. the competition asked college students to design efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. the nu team, enginuity, won the competition with its plans for a sustainable, urban single-family home, with 2,326 square feet of living space. in the past, teams would construct real-size models of homes. however, due to covid-19 restrictions, this year’s participants worked virtually and submitted building designs as their final product.  

“our goal with the home was to be net zero, so that meant producing the same amount of energy as we consumed,” said andrea lin, a northwestern senior studying environmental engineering. “our main approach was to reduce the amount of energy that our building consumed, so a lot of our design choices were based on trying to reduce the amount of envelope.”

the size of the dwelling places it outside of the range of tiny houses — usually sized between 100 and 400 square feet. but it is still compact, meant for a narrow 25 x 125 feet plot, making the trend toward smaller, more energy efficient homes. 

“we tried to be financially and socially sustainable by having a separate dwelling unit on the first floor that could be used in a variety of ways to help people age in place,” said saahir ganti-agrawal, a northwestern sophomore studying materials science.

this year’s solar decathlon design challenge exemplifies the growing trend toward sustainable housing and accessible dwellings in the united states. coincidentally in september, northwestern’s home base town of evanston approved flexible zoning regulations, permitting accessory dwelling units (adus). the chicago city council also allowed property owners in five pilot areas to create adus on their property as of may.  

an accessory dwelling unit is an independent housing unit on the same lot or attached to a standard single-family residence. in chicago’s south, southwest, and east zones, the city council set a cap of two adu permits per block per year. the unit can be an apartment over a garage, a basement unit, or even a tiny house in the backyard. they can serve multiple purposes, such as housing for adult children, office spaces for home businesses, rentals for extra income, and age-in-place retirement options. 

although some people may think these smaller housing alternatives represent a fad, recent data shows that many americans look favorably upon tiny houses and would even live in one. 

according to a survey conducted last november by fidelity national financial company, 56% of respondents would live in a tiny house and 84% would consider living in a tiny house as a retirement option. some 86% of non-homeowners surveyed said they would consider purchasing a tiny house as their first home. 

respondents ranked affordability, efficiency, eco-friendliness, and a minimal lifestyle as the most appealing factors for turning to tiny living. the survey also reported that the median price of a tiny home runs between $30,000 and $60,000 with the median price of a traditional starter home at $233,400. however, only 53% of respondents said they could afford a starter home, while 79% said they could afford to buy a tiny home. 

many of these considerations drew haley van bellingham to live in her current mobile tiny house in schenectady, new york: “it definitely had a lot to do with creating a smaller footprint, but we also decided it was a good compromise as full-time caretakers of my grandmother to have our independence and privacy… it’s convenient because we can stay on her property but still get on with our lives,” she said. van bellingham, a writer, lives with her current partner in their tiny house which provides plenty of flexibility. one bonus for the 29-year-old is that, after three years, she has already paid off 50%-60% of her tiny house mortgage. 

it’s no surprise that tiny houses attract a younger consumer considering their affordable prices and easy-maintenance size. 

this is a result that jean-philippe marquis, vice president of minimaliste houses, has seen first-hand. 

founded in quebec in 2015, minimaliste houses is a company involved in the north american housing market that builds tiny houses on wheels. marquis described a large portion of the company’s target market as young professionals and people looking to make long-term investments since their houses are built to last up to 60 years. minimaliste plans to target a younger demographic of americans who enjoy traveling from state to state. 

“we have a new product coming right now that is more of a four season rv, targeting people that want to be nomads and travel no matter the climate or students who want to invest in something at an earlier age and live full-time in it while they’re at school.” 

most notably, minimaliste prides itself on its sustainable development perspective. while the size of their houses — about 200 to 400 square feet — already allows for a smaller carbon footprint, the company designs every aspect of the building and delivery of their units to minimize waste. thanks to emails with customers and zoom calls with design teams, there is almost no travel involved. minimaliste uses a computerized saw to minimize the loss of materials and solar panels on the company’s shop to lower its carbon footprint. the units run on the minimum amount of electricity and heating necessary, with energy conservation integrated into the construction. their houses can even save 12% in energy per year with the use of a mini-split air conditioning system. while traditional new homes usually have 2.1 air changes per hour (ach), minimaliste’s tiny homes allow for 1.12 ach which is airtight for dwellings under 350 square feet. 

while sustainability is not central to the missions of all tiny home companies, builders recognize that it is a priority for many of their customers. “when it makes the most sense financially and feasibility-wise, we do try to pay attention to the materials that we use,” said byron denhart, the owner of switchgrass tiny homes, based in urbana, illinois. “we are down to one planet, let’s not screw it up (… ) some of our customers really take that to heart when they are choosing the materials and choose something very specific and sustainable.” 

kol peterson started caravan, the tiny house hotel, in 2013 with his ex-wife before the trend of tiny houses took off and before hgtv even aired shows about tiny houses. the idea for the portland, oregon, hotel, which swaps traditional rooms for individual mobile tiny homes, stemmed from peterson’s interest in small, environmentally friendly housing and his ex-wife’s interest in traveling. peterson’s watched the adu market expand since caravan’s inception and has recently seen it pick up steam in portland. 

“we just passed the first legislation anywhere in the united states two weeks ago,” for tiny mobile homes, said peterson. “august 1st, it allows people legally to live in tiny houses on wheels and rvs anywhere in portland, so there is a pretty robust market now where people are thinking more legitimately about tiny houses because there is a legitimate regulatory pathway.” 

while many cities and states, including illinois, are starting to pass more flexible regulations, allowing for the creation of adus and tiny houses, the momentum across the united states is gradual due to strict guidelines for what legally constitutes a habitable dwelling.

“they (tiny houses) are becoming more popular, and younger people are more environmentally conscious,” said van bellingham. “we are running out of space, so there is nowhere to go but small.” 

although farmer steve stierwalt grows crops in the tiny town of sadorus, illinois — with a population of barely 350 — the agricultural practices he employs have environmental implications that stretch from midwestern cornfields to central american seas. 

fertilizer-polluted waterways in champaign county, where stierwalt farms, converge into the mississippi river, emptying toxins into the gulf of mexico — where a 2,000-square-mile, pollutant-induced hypoxic zone makes aquatic life nearly impossible.   

one cause of deoxygenated water in the gulf? water that falls from the sky. 

“it’s pretty amazing the amount of energy each single raindrop has,” stierwalt said. “when it hits bare soil, it’s like a miniature explosion. it displaces soil particles. anytime that soil gets into surface water, it’s carrying nutrients with it. the nutrients, as we know, contribute to the hypoxic zone.” 

to reduce soil erosion that illinois rivers carry to the gulf, stierwalt has decreased fertilizer use and adopted conservation practices, like nutrient management tools that measure cost-effective and environmentally conscious amounts of nitrogen to apply to corn. 

sustainable agriculture practices — like rotating crops, planting cover crops, and eliminating tillage — allow stierwalt to adapt to heavy rainfall, a form of extreme weather intensifying in illinois. indeed, science confirms stierwalt’s observations: a major assessment released by the nature conservancy in april outlines how climate change will escalate periods of extreme heat, increased precipitation, and more intense storms in illinois. 

on farms, for instance, heavy rain and conventional tillage — ploughing, harrowing, and removing plant residue to prepare seedbeds — can trigger a chain reaction of climatic damage, contributing to soil erosion, and phosphate- and nitrate-infested run-off, resulting in pollution of the gulf. these processes are already transforming illinois, and no domain — from urban infrastructure to human health to plant biodiversity — will remain unaffected. 

the report drew on the expertise of 45 researchers, scientists, climatologists, and policy-makers in illinois, all of whom contributed to its stark findings.  

“climate change can seem like an overall threat that we don’t have any ability to change,” said michelle carr, illinois state director at the nature conservancy. “when we look at state-specific data, and how it affects different industries that are prominent in our state, it allows those players to do more, because they’re seeing the specificity to their own geography.”  

45 authors, one report

co-led by climatologist donald wuebbles, former illinois state climatologist james angel, climate change project manager at the nature conservancy karen petersen and director of conservation science at the nature conservancy maria lemke, the 197-page report contains contributions from 45 specialists and covers the impacts of climate change on illinois hydrology, agriculture, public health, and ecosystems. the statistics alone illustrate the projected scope of environmental transformation.

accompanied by longer growing seasons and less severe extreme cold, temperatures will likely warm by 4 to 9 degrees f under a lower scenario and 8 to 14 degrees f under a higher scenario by the end of the 21st century. longer growing seasons may sound like a bonus — but extremely long seasons can devastate, limiting crop diversity, encouraging invasive plant growth and straining water supplies. 

the report also projects more rainy days and fewer snowy days by the century’s end, trends on the heels of a 5% to 20% increase in mean precipitation over the past 120 years. according to projections, severe weather will contribute to short-term droughts, as well as intense rain and flooding. far from functioning as a minor inconvenience, flooding can delay planting, wash away fields of seedlings and destroy exposed crops. 

illinois residents can expect extreme heat by the century’s close, too. in southern illinois, for instance, scientists project the annual hottest 5-day maximum temperature to increase from 96 degrees to 100-107 degrees f under a lower scenario and 102 to 114 degrees f under a higher scenario.

“you see reports about fires in california or sea level rise in florida, and you think it’s more of a coastal problem,” petersen said. “we hope this report will help make some of those future impacts tangible, and for people to realize that climate change will have serious impacts in illinois, and we can still do something about it.”

wuebbles said land use and greenhouse gas emissions have remained the most significant contributors to climate change since the mid-1900s. heavy emissions, he added, are unsustainable: the report projects that continued fossil fuel use will produce the most dramatic transformations, while a switch to renewable energy will net less extreme changes. a third scenario — which wuebbles called “negative emissions” — will require scientists to harness technology to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. 

regardless of the scenario, human activity will drive transformations in northern, central, and southern illinois, said wuebbles, a university of illinois at urbana-champaign professor who has contributed to several united nations intergovernmental panel on climate change reports.

“illinois’ climate is expected to continue to change over the century, with significant impacts on urban and rural communities and sectors,” he said.

from farming to flooding 

consistent with the report’s predictions, stierwalt has observed — and adapted to — extreme weather events. to protect soil, waterways, and farmland, stierwalt practices no-till, strip-till, and cover crop farming — practices that sequester carbon in his soil while reducing nutrient pollution and soil erosion. 

currently the president of the association of illinois soil and water conservation districts, stierwalt also serves on the steering committee for s.t.a.r., a nationwide program dedicated to “saving tomorrow’s agriculture resources” by helping farmers adopt conservation-based practices. 

“healthy soils are more armored against these extreme weather events,” stierwalt said. “(without adapting), the danger is losing this asset that we can’t afford to lose. we lose that soil for future generations.”  

in conventional tillage, farmers use an implement to turn over soil, passing over the field multiple times and leaving barren soil behind. in no-till farming, farmers use planters or drills to cut a v-slot in the remains of previous crops, planting seeds within. benefits of no-till include increased infiltration and soil fertility, and decreased labor costs and soil erosion. 

adopting sustainable agricultural practices, like no-till and drought-resistant crops, will determine the extent to which “future generations” of farmers face smaller crop yields, increased livestock illnesses, and increased crop diseases. bill miller, a northwestern university engineering professor who contributed to the report, said “natural climate solutions” present promising ways to mitigate extreme weather. cover crops, for instance, prevent soil erosion while strengthening soil’s biological properties. “it can help build up the richness of the soil,” miller said. 

farming, though, is far from the only affected sector. changing precipitation patterns are causing flooding events in the majority of illinois’ gaged rivers and streams, exacerbating stress on urban drainage systems and increasing the incidence of combined sewer outflows. northwestern engineering professor aaron packman, who also serves as director of northwestern’s center for water research, worked on the report’s hydrology team. 

packman said chicago’s low-lying inland areas, particularly neighborhoods on the south and southwest side, are especially flood-prone. there, stormwater damage and inadequate infrastructure deplete property values, and chronic flooding carries waterborne illnesses. across the city, extreme weather exacerbates geographical inequalities.  

“the loop has more than a hundred years of engineering to keep everything from flooding,” packman said. “the lower-lying areas were settled later because they’re naturally more flood-prone, and they’re not as well protected by that centralized infrastructure.” 

the metropolitan water reclamation district of greater chicago treats wastewater and provides stormwater management for 5.25 million people in cook county, as well as a commercial and industrial equivalent of 4.5 million people. to mitigate the impacts of urban flooding and stormwater damage, mwrd has crafted stormwater management regulations for new developments, partnered with communities to better manage water and supported local green infrastructure projects. 

still, “policies, planning, tunnels and reservoirs cannot eliminate flooding alone,” mwrd public affairs staffer patrick thomas said. the report presents similar conclusions: packman said a combination of sustainable water management in agricultural sectors, flood-control measures in municipalities, state-wide policies and consistent data collection might mitigate the harm climate change poses to illinois’ water resources. 

no turning back 

prominent report contributors, including wuebbles, participated in a may 17 panel to discuss the report’s results. during the panel, elena grossman, the program manager of illinois’ building resilience against climate effects program, reminded audiences that projected extreme weather will significantly harm our physical and mental health. 

contaminated drinking water, tick- and mosquito-borne diseases and respiratory illnesses will all increase amid intensifying weather — so, too, will psychological and financial challenges.  

in the case of flooding, “there’s both the trauma of watching your home being flooded, of losing personal items, and then the financial stress of having to rebuild it or fix it,” grossman said. 

at its core, she added, the report is “about humans.” 

in the month since the report’s release, miller said authors have begun to discuss writing analyses that specifically address mitigation measures. as climate change continues to create extreme weather conditions in illinois, reimagining the state’s infrastructure, policies and economic practices becomes increasingly urgent, packman added. 

“climate change is a long-term process,” packman said. “but in the last four years, we’ve seen unprecedented things, things that historically never happened. so it’s not something far off in the future. it’s something happening now.”

***

q&a: farmer joe rothermel talks soil health, sustainability 

joe rothermel is a farmer who grew up in broadlands, illinois. he farms corn and soybeans on 1,000-acres in champaign county. in 1992, his father, also a farmer, switched from conventional tillage to conservation-driven no-till farming. 

conventional tillage requires farmers use an implement to turn over soil, leaving barren soil behind. in no-till farming, farmers use planters or drills to cut a v-slot in the remains of previous crops, planting seeds within. rothermel adopted no-till in 1995, and began supplementing this practice with cover crops in 2010. 

q: what are some of the advantages of farming with no-till and cover crops like alfalfa, rye, and clovers? 

a: one of the reasons we plant cover crops is to help increase our soil health. one of the things you’ll notice is soil structure is improved. the ground is firmer. you can drive on it sooner. we have a lot of heavy equipment nowadays, and in a conventional program it’s easy to compact the soil. conservation practices lend themselves to improving soil structure and holding up equipment so we don’t have as much compaction. 

one of the main reasons to plant cover crops or to no-till is to reduce soil erosion. through tillage, we’ve already lost half the organic matter that was originally in the prairie. other potential benefits are nutrient recycling. the more biological activity we have, the more nutrient recycling. the idea is to use less synthetic fertilizer, less inputs. if we can maintain the same output with reduced inputs, that’s more efficient for the farmer. 

and then the big thing is carbon sequestration. by not tilling the soil and using cover crops, through photosynthesis that will put carbon into the soil. hopefully someday, that’ll be a source of revenue for farmers to help offset some of the costs of these conservation practices.

q: how have extreme weather events impacted soil erosion and health?

a: it seems to rain a lot. we used to get a half inch [in a single rainfall]. now, if we’re unlucky, we can get a two- or three-inch rain in a couple hours. i think we’ve cut down on some erosion; we still get some gullies. but compared to some of the other fields in the area, it’s significantly less. some of the other conventionally tilled fields will have a cascade of soil coming off the field into the ditch. we don’t have that anymore. 

it’s not perfect — but it does reduce erosion, especially if you have covers growing. we want the water to go down into the ground instead of running off, because when it runs off it takes topsoil with it. and then it takes nutrients with it. and then we have the hypoxia issue in the gulf of mexico. and so that’s another issue. another reason to reduce tillage and grow covers.

q: what percentage of illinois farmers are practicing conservation agriculture? 

a: in illinois, less than 6% of farmers are growing cover crops, so there’s a long way to go. 

farmers are very independent. older populations don’t like change. there’s peer pressure. there’s a risk of failure. there’s a whole host of reasons, but i’d say the number one is economics. 

q: how can conservation farming become more economically viable? 

a: conservation is not free. initially, somebody’s got to pay for it, and i’m not sure it should all be on the farmer. if we would get paid for carbon sequestration that would certainly help.

but until then, there’s cost share programs from places like the (u.s. department of agriculture) and (natural resources conservation service). there’s several other places that will offer cost share. a lot of the big food companies now are getting on board, because they want to be able to tell their customers that their food supply is grown sustainably, so they’re offering some incentives to farmers. 

so there are some sources of revenue, but it’s not a huge amount of money. over the long run, i think this way of farming will eventually be self-sufficient. in other words, the benefits will outweigh the costs, and there won’t be a cost to it. hopefully, it will become the mainstream way of farming.

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