permaculture

[Zack D <zack@riseup.net>]

Hey- 
 
I've had an idea for turning the "guild" idea into a livelihood and conduit 
for
change for a while. Help me out with this, if you feel so inspired. 

The idea is to unite a group of "generalist specialists", i.e. a builder, a
plaster specialist, an electrician with a focus on renewables, a plumber with 
an
understanding of greywater systems and passive solar heating, a heating
specialist with an understanding of masonry stoves passive solar design, a
permaculture designer/landscaper, and an ecologically oriented architect. Some
individuals could serve multiple roles, or multiple members could serve one
role, but the obvious permaculture consideration would be that they all served
many functions. Use your imagination. Organized either as a for-profit or
non-profit Co-Op, or both depending on which works best. The market (which 
we'd
have to invent to a degree) would be:

- earth/natural building and design/construction, 
- existing home remodel (passive and active solar retrofit of heating and
plumbing, solar and wind electricity, earth plasters, reinsulation and 
sealing,
etc, etc,) 
- affordable housing construction (which I think could be huge, if we sourced
local materials and used earth to build, since costs would be low, and thus,
could be affordable, beautiful, and energy efficient).
- Permaculture site assessment, consultation, landscaping, food forest
installation, contract work
- irrigation systems, waterworks
- City infrastructure work, redesign, repair, and park landscaping.
- any applicable consultation work
- workshops

Lots of overlap, as you can see. Group members could still operate as
individuals, bringing in other guild members as needed. 
The profit system would be designed to pay all employees a good wage, and
redirect surplus into a fund which would subsidize certain projects, donate 
some
services, and allow a sliding scale for homeowners (the upper class paying 
more
than the lower and middle), and thus make it more affordable and enticing for
people. The advantage of a non-profit is that grants would be available from a
wide variety of sources based on the wide variety of discipotential 
applications
(education, affordable housing, community service, etc.).
I've seen an artists guild organized like this, and on their webpage they had 
a
specific page for each member, outlining all of their skills, but with a group
homepage. In this way they were able to open their market to a much wider
audience than if they all worked alone. 

I think the guild convention is useful, because it allows a more organic
networking between members as mutually supportive elements.

Any ideas? Advice, input? 


Peace,
Zack