People's vision of what is possible in the world, individually and collectively, is shaped primarily by the society around them. Most cultures and eras have narratives that speak to the challenges of imagining what can be from within the confines of what is, from Plato's cave to the Hindu concept of Maya to Hollywood's the Matrix.

Common Fire helps to create and nurture model living spaces that are devoted to giving as full an expression as possible to healthy and sustainable living in solidarity with other people and the planet. Common Fire does not pretend there is one way to do this. Rather each Common Fire co-op and community, while adopting some norms on which there is strong consensus, offers a rich diversity of perspectives and strategies regarding what it means to lead such a good life.

The first Common Fire housing co-op opened in the Village of Tivoli, a rural part of New York's Hudson Valley, in June of 2006. It garnered significant attention not only for the co-op itself and the amazing people coming together to live there, but also because the building was constructed with such a high degree of environmental responsiblity. The co-op was the first building in New York State to earn the Platinum Certification from the US Green Building Council and is the "Greenest Building in the Eastern US."

Click here to learn more about the Tivoli Housing Co-op.

Or click here to learn more about the green building.

The second Common Fire housing co-op will open in the fall of 2008 in the City of Kingston, 25 minutes from the first co-op. An beautiful 1890's Victorian, we are renovating it to make it super energy- and water-efficient. It will also be certified by the US Green Building Council and is on track to actually surpass our first co-op. That would make it the Greenest Building in the Eastern US and possibly the highest-scoring in the country, and make the two co-ops the only two Platinum-certified buildings in New York.

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Housing Co-op.

Eventually we will have a special section of our Green Building Overview that focuses on affordable ways to green existing buildings.

Common Fire’s next major endeavor will be the creation of a hybrid retreat center/community.

Most retreat centers are little more than a shell for people to come in and do their business and then move on, at their best providing beauty and comfort, but with the center largely divorced from the nature of the work being done.

Our vision is a retreat center that is a powerful reflection of the diversity, commitment, and vibrancy of the people and programs being hosted there, where there is a synergy between the space and the people and work being done there. Fundamentally the goal is that the center itself be part of helping people transcend their limited sense of what the world is and connect with powerful visions of what they and the world can be.

Consistent with the purpose of all Common Fire spaces, the retreat center is intended to be:

• Inspiring - Stirring people’s hearts, connecting them more deeply with their compassion, and leaving them feeling empowered.
• Challenging - Raising the bar in terms of people’s sense of what is possible in their lives and in the world.
• Supportive - Helping people live much more powerfully into their potential to help make the world more just and sustainable while living more joyful and healthy lives themselves.