so to add up a bit on the Israeli perspective, since 1992 (lesson learned from the first gulf war) every new living/working unit has to include a "safe room" that has to resist the direct impact of artillery/rocket ordnance, be airtight and equipped with NBC filtering systems allowing for the dwellers/workers to be relatively protected from any type of attack, conventional or not.
Older buildings often have to rely on collective/area shelters that have shown in the past their limitations, such as lack of comfort, exposure time to reach, poor maintenance etc...
As of the use of solar power, it is a mixed bag, having just completed the construction of my home, I am kind of familiar with the process, not because it is mandatory but because it makes sense, we "enjoy" more than 280 sunny days a year typically, most water heaters are on a bi-energy model, solar and electric.
As of solar electricity, even though the prices for the panels have dropped significantly since Shaul's post, they are still prohibitive, and unfortunately tied to a "deal" with the monopolistic electric company that buys back the energy generated.
A law is somewhere in the tube to allow electric autonomy, but I am afraid that, just lack in the case of individual grey-water re-use, we are still stuck in some kind of a legal limbo.
BTW, Israel recycles no less than 75% to 80% of it's water, but we are still lagging when it comes to the individual freedom of doing so.
On an other subject, still related to our local particularities, while any visitor will notice the large amount of personal firearms visible (especially those young soldiers hanging around with their M16's and tavors), there is no, unfortunately, the equivalent of a second amendment here, meaning that possession and carrying (CCW or OCW) of even a pistol is not a "right" per law, but a derogation given by the state to those living in areas deemed to be more exposed than others by the minister of the moment. Since I live very close from the border with Syria, I am allowed to carry a pistol (Glock 19 gen III) and do occasionally carry a AR15 (M16a1 carbine) that is allocated to me due to my membership in the local intervention group.
Still on one more "exotism" maybe helping to comprehend our particular challenges, due to our history, land ownership of anything more than 10000 sq ft is kind of rare, we are a small country, 60% desert, with a large proportion of this desert being either nature preserves or military grounds, which means that most Israelis (92% urbanites) don't even know what acreage means.
I hope I haven't been to boring for one of those first posts, best regards to all
