Santa Barbara Hosts Greener Living Presentation Today

Santa Barbara’s Faulkner Gallery is hosting a presentation today, August 3, that features speaker Art Ludwig speaking on the need for integrated systems design in the future. The presentation, titled “Santa Barbara’s Deep Green Future,” will focus on issues such as super efficient fixtures, water reuse, rainwater harvesting, and green construction.

Ludwig argues that it is possible for Santa Barbara residents to live better at the cost of 80 percent less resources, but current institutional barriers are hindering the use of more sustainable integrated systems. The presentation will consider the possibility of breaking down the institutional barriers so that homeowners can incorporate more efficient designs into daily life. “Deficiency is stunting, excess is toxic and unbalancing. In most cases, optimal growth arises from just enough resources,” Ludwig said. “In ecological design, you’re best off to choose the most inherently simple solution, then implement it as well as possible.” According to Ludwig, incorporating greener living into Santa Barbara doesn’t have to put strain on pocketbooks either. “This solution will be both the most ecological, healthiest, and, if you take everything into account, the most economical as well.”

The presenter is an ecological systems designer who is one of the foremost experts and proponents of gray water usage. Ludwig has served as a consultant on water reuse policy for California, New York, and New Mexico, and has also authored some of the most popular literature on the topic of water reuse. His presentation will take place at 7pm, at the Faulkner Gallery on 40 E. Anapamu Street.