Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

Accomplished author, seasoned builder and experienced kibbutzer Jan Martin Bang
provides here a comprehensive checklist for the would-be eco-builder – from the choice
of materials to site-specific ecological considerations. What may be especially helpful,
however, is Jan’s attitude. The developed world could be viewed as a vast dumping ground
of high quality, high embodied-energy materials. To the keen eye, these disposables are
valuable building components. When this attitude is put into practice, we don’t design our
buildings first and then go out and purchase the materials; instead, we gather the materials
first and then design the building around what we’ve got. The French call this ‘bricolage’.
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Building With What You Have
Jan Martin Bang – Camphill Communities, Norway
Context Considerations
Before building we need to know our context:
• The general climatic and environmental context, which will
determine whether we have to concentrate on heating or cooling,
bringing water in or getting rid of it
• The availability of materials, whether they be mud, wood, stone or
recycled
• The social and financial context
Design
Design should reflect spiritual, social, economic and ecological values.
A house designed for a dozen residents does not have to be much larger than
many large family houses in the affluent West today.
• Spiritually we need space for meditation, contemplation and sacred
ritual. Is this a private thing, a group activity or a combination of both?
• Socially it is important for us to decide if we all want to live together
in one big room, or whether each individual or family needs to have
their own house and garden.
• Our ecological aims are also quite specific in their determination of
our design. What kind of heating? What kinds of materials? How do
we deal with toilets and waste water?
Designers should ask site specific questions. Where are the sun and the wind?
Do we want sun in the dining room and kitchen for the morning time?