HERE IS SOME BACKGROUND INFO on a real world project, in Europe, to develop sustainable habitat.

There are all kinds of barriers to this. How would Bucky have got around them? What do other people say?

EXTRACTS FROM INTERVIEW
Domenico Provenzano, the initiator, and now developer of France's first large-scale, multi-housing sustainable construction and development project -- ECOHABITAT -- replies in interview to questions and comments he has received since starting the project.
. . . . . . . . . . .

What are the reasons this ECOHABITAT realty project started, and when did it start?

Domenico Provenzano: This is a long-term project, starting a long while back. We can say that, in Europe, there has always been a feeling for natural materials, forms, shapes, and styles of housing, and public buildings too. But this was all nearly wiped out by 'modernism', the steamroller of Concrete Everything.

With sustainability, we go back to answering these citizen desires, and demands for more natural and stable, reasonable, and rational housing. Of course we now also add the energy crisis, the environment challenge, the need for solidity and sureness -- all of which we addressed in thinking through our current project.

Did you have any problems setting up your current project?

Domenico Provenzano: Plenty ! The study bureau I set up and staffed for this ECOHABITAT project is a hands-on group of engineers working in conventional housing and civil works. They deal with what we can call ordinary or conventional housing and building, but can and will switch to Eco Logis principles when we have the financing for ECOHABITAT.

Our biggest problems have been finding upstream support, and not at all the downstream of finding purchasers of our homes. We already have about one-third of the 115 units we will build placed and spoken for, the public response has been very, very good, and it has come through word-of-mouth and personal contacts. You can imagine how fast things wil go when we have our Web site up, and also set up our house marketing through normal channels.

As the slogan puts it: 'Negawatts are better than Megawatts'.

Where are you regarding start-up?
Like I said, we have the site and my study bureau has all the first layout plans for our 47 individual homes, and 63 apartments to be built in 19 separate buildings. From there on we need a financial partner or partners, to commission and pay the mandatory site studies required for final building permits, to start site works, lay foundations, and move ahead.