The Green RV

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POWERING UP Brian Brawdy is touring the country in a modified Lance Camper to promote energy-efficient travel. He parked in Cherokee Park in Louisville, Ky., to collect sun with his solar panels

By LINDA BAKER

OVER the last few years, Sara and Matt Janssen have been downsizing their life. First, they moved from a 1,600-square-foot home to a small apartment in Montana. Then, wanting to tour the country without harming the planet, they took up residence in a recreational vehicle fueled by used vegetable oil.

They now travel with their 4-year-old daughter, Bella, spreading the word about the sustainable life.

Recreational vehicles, which get about 8 miles a gallon, are often considered the antithesis of low-impact living. But it doesn't have to be that way, said Ms. Janssen, speaking by phone from her home, a 36-foot, 1998 Western Alpine Coach, when it was parked in Des Moines recently.

Their motor home has a hot water capacity of only six gallons, "so I know how long my showers are," said Ms. Janssen, a 31-year old photographer who also works for her father, a developer of franchises for Cold Stone Creamery. The RV's limited space also means "we can't buy anything because it won't fit," she said.

Add to that a comprehensive remodeling, including nontoxic paints, bamboo floors and the waste-grease fueling system, and the Janssen mobile home "is a self-contained lifestyle," Ms. Janssen said.

Amid growing interest in alternative-fuel vehicles and environmentally friendly building methods, a handful of designers and do-it-yourselfers are taking on an unlikely challenge: reinventing the motor home, with a goal of transforming the typical wide-body gas guzzler into a model of compact green construction and fuel efficiency.

These modern-day RV owners are using their retooled motor homes as vehicles, literally, to promote ecological awareness as they travel.

"If you can make an RV sustainable, you can make any industry sustainable," said Ty Adams, a Portland, Ore., resident who spent 2007 visiting 25 states and promoting renewable energy in the BioTrekker, an RV powered by biodiesel, a fuel made from refined vegetable oil. Mr. Adams spent $108,000 for the RV and $12,000 more for the biodiesel upgrade and campaign, which he financed by selling his house.

The trend received a boost a couple of years ago when Willie Nelson began powering his tour bus with biodiesel, which he called BioWillie, and later convinced other musicians to do the same. But regular RV owners say that their tours serve another purpose besides sustainable travel, namely to reflect a desire for a simpler, if not entirely bygone, era of road tripping and nature appreciation.

"When people talk about conservation, they get so bogged down with recycling and living lightly they forget what they are trying to save," said Brian Brawdy, a 47-year-old former police investigator turned wilderness expert. "I want people to get out there and camp, hike, rock climb."

Mr. Brawdy, a spokesman for Gore-Tex, is on a self-described — and self-financed — "Wonder Explore Believe" tour of the United States in a Lance Camper modified to capture rainwater and use wind and solar energy.

Although hybrid and alternative-fuel RV models have yet to find a mass market, the industry is moving toward fuel-economy prototypes and environmental designs, said Kevin Broom, a spokesman for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, which is based in Reston, Va. Individual RV owners are leading the way, he said. An industry survey conducted last year found that about 18 percent of RV owners are already using solar panels, Mr. Broom said.

"As consumers ask for more green elements, manufacturers will definitely respond," he said, adding that some of the luxury RV models are already replacing ubiquitous vinyl interiors with hardwood. "It comes in on the high end, then works its way down. "

Mr. Adams is taking another approach after his BioTrekker experience. An avid mountain climber who grew up in Montana, Mr. Adams, 30, described biofuel as his "gateway drug" but said: "Living in the RV for a year made me realize they are not built well. The focus is on whipped cream and faux finishes."

So last January, Mr. Adams, a former editor for an RV industry publication, sold the BioTrekker and purchased a 37-foot 1994 Safari Trek — "which in RV years is like 1,000," he said — and partnered with Joseph Treiber, a retired farmer, and Allison Hintzmann, a teacher, on a top-to-bottom environmental redesign. The fruit of their labor is called the SolTrekker, which is painted in Tuscan reds and yellows and includes solar-powered water and electrical systems, a composting toilet, rainwater harvesting system, recycled denim insulation, LED lighting and bamboo interiors.

Shortly after the SolTrekker was completed in September, the vehicle was featured as part of an annual tour of green homes in Portland.

"Most RV-ers care a lot about the outdoors," Mr. Adams said. "They just don't want to sleep on the ground; they don't want to backpack."

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Edited August 14, 2010 by El Buscador