Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education
Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education
Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education
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172 <strong>Designing</strong> ecological <strong>Habitats</strong><br />
The Common House<br />
at Sirius Community<br />
in Shutesbury,<br />
Massachusetts, USA<br />
employs a passive<br />
solar greenhouse,<br />
solar hot water, as<br />
well as triangular<br />
solar electric modules<br />
on the octagon roof.<br />
wind, hydro and/or Stirling power from any<br />
building or location directly into the mini-grid,<br />
thus allowing for a centralized battery pack and<br />
generator. In this way, any one renewable input<br />
is available to the whole community. For more<br />
information on this “ultimate” solution, see the<br />
Sunny Island/Sunny Boy system from SMA.<br />
Other inverter companies are working on similar<br />
mini-grid systems.<br />
Summary<br />
<strong>Designing</strong> an ecovillage-wide energy or electrical<br />
system is no small task. You will need to give<br />
it just as much attention and passion as you do<br />
your consensus process or child-rearing practices,<br />
your food production or green building practices, in order to achieve true<br />
sustainability. Energy systems design is a major piece that needs significant<br />
community input and process as well as professional consultation and<br />
design. It can suffer from the ill-effects of incremental design as much as any<br />
aspect of ecovillage living. If facilitated well, it can be an integral part of the<br />
very fulfilling endeavor that ecovillages represent and can become a shining<br />
example for the new world we are creating. Welcome to Civilization 2!<br />
Notes<br />
1 For more on the Stirling engine, see Gunnar Olesen’s article in this Module.<br />
Jeff Clearwater has enjoyed a 32-year career in the renewable energy field as engineer,<br />
designer, contractor, consultant, advocate, and teacher. Jeff received a degree in Solar<br />
Engineering in 1979 and has owned six renewable energy businesses and served on<br />
the Board of seven energy related non-profits. Jeff has provided consulting, design<br />
and installation of solar, wind, microhydro, integrated systems, and electric vehicles<br />
for businesses, governments and organizations all over the world from North America<br />
to Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. Jeff helped<br />
found the Ecovillage Network of the Americas and his real love is working and playing in<br />
community and working toward a peaceful, ecologically sustainable, and culturally creative<br />
world. Jeff can be reached at jeffc@ic.org and his work and play seen at http://www.<br />
visionarycommons.org
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