CRESTONE – In a two-day event that took place on Sept. 14 and 15, the Crestone Energy Fair brought positive energy and lit up the town.
According to the website, the Crestone Energy Fair is the longest sustainability fair in the nation. The Crestone Energy Fair is a large free event, that provides residents and people from all over with information and education to enrich the perspective of people who may want to build their own houses, in an alternative, non-traditional form. There were many speakers, presentations, workshops, and even tours of houses that have been built, that all took place during the fair. There was also a wellness village that was set up at the fair, that yielded activities such as individual massages, meditation, yoga, and there were also lifestyle workshops in the Wellness Village as well.
On Sunday, Sept. 15, Matt Evers and Pete Van Horn provided an interesting talk about Owner/Builder Information for Crestone. Both Evers and Van Horn explained that building alternatively was a great way to build in Crestone. Both Van Horn and Evers have built Earthship homes using tires.
Evers spoke specifically about the square footage regulations that were allowed in the homes in different areas of Crestone.
“For everybody that is not from here, or from out of state and you're just visiting it was mentioned on the natural building panel yesterday, a lot of people were throwing around square feet. 900 Square feet is how small you can build for the Baca POA and the Chalets, and the Grants. In Casita Park you can build 720 square feet, so it is smaller. Saguache County is 150 square feet (about half the area of a parking space), so if you live in unconsolidated Saguache County and you have 35 acres, you could build a 150 square foot little cabin. In the town of Crestone proper, if you are wanting to build smaller than 900 square feet, you can but in the Baca POA and Chalets, you have to build at least 900 square feet.”
Evers and Van Horn also stated that it was a good idea to build as small as you can at first, and then plan for additions, to keep costs low. They also stated that when buying land there are local realtors in the area that people can talk to about land and purchasing land, such as Nick Nevares with Mountainside Realty. The duo talked about local banks in the area that could help with financing, as financing the project was important in the building process.
There were many different speakers at the fair. The fair included a pancake breakfast on Sunday, and a closing ceremony that night.
Fair organizer Nevares also spoke about another event that will take place after the fair, that will help raise money for it next year.
“In October we are also going to have a celebration event,” he said. Nevares explained that every year they start from ground zero to raise the funds for the energy fair year-round, but this year they are going to hold a seated dinner party in October at the Dune Valley Distillery, to begin raising funds for next year’s Energy Fair.
“I am going to be personally cooking a four-course Indian dinner. We are selling tickets right now on our website. We will be having bands, and things like that for the evening. So, it’s like a nice dinner date night, but also a fundraiser for the Crestone Energy Fair, both as a celebration of what we have done, but also as a fundraiser for the next year, too,” he said.
For more information, visit online Crestoneenergyfair.org.
