Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

Design witH tHe flow 267
Some of these flows we cannot do anything about; others we can. Once we
start seeing the connections, we have the responsibility to channel these flows
for the best of health and mind for the next generation. Two areas come to
my mind: the bedroom and the school. Little babies spend more than half of
their early life in a cradle sleeping their time away, building up those unique
systems that will give personality and body. It is absolutely necessary that we
start thinking in terms of the flows through these rooms where the infants
are growing, so that we can give them the best possible start in life. If the
room is full of formaldehyde (glue in the particle-board, carpet flooring, wall
paper), heavy metals (bright colors, bactericides and fungicides), brominated
fire retardants (mattress, bedding), and heavily chlorinated water, then we
know the flows in the room will not permit the healthiest evolution for the
child. Katherina Tiddens, the pioneer founder of the Terra Verde store in
Soho, New York, gave up her store of healthy ecological products to dedicate
all her time and energy to the design of cribs and interiors that are free of
chemicals, where the air is fresh and the children can build up their immune
systems without the risk of allergies and respiratory ailments which affect
today up to 30 percent of the children in cities.
Imagine a school building where over 100 core concepts of physics,
biology and chemistry are visibly included in the layout and structure of
the place. This is not a demo in a lab; this is actually using the laws of
physics in good design. One law states that hot air-rises and cold air-drops;
this understanding can be used to maintain a comfortable temperature
in a room, especially if it is combined with wind flow in the case of low
and high pressure zones being equalized. Basically, the building combines
meteorology with the basic principles of airflows to maintain constant
temperature and humidity amid changing pressures. Imagine a school
building where the highly efficient light bulbs shine day and night onto
100 varieties of plants (what a lesson in biodiversity of plants!) which are
automatically sprinkled every 15 minutes with evaporated rainwater that
was collected off the roof. The level of dust particles and air pollutants
flowing in from outside, or generated inside, is kept very low. The inner
walls, which are usually just filled with air and some insulation material,
are now filled with shredded seashells and dried seaweed. This not only
serves as a wonderful sound barrier, dried seaweed absorbs up to ten times
its own weight in moisture while being highly alkaline. There is no risk of
fungus attacking this building, and no need to have chemicals sprayed to
chase mites from the carpets. Why? Because the air flows in the building
combined with the materials turn the humidity stable and the pH alkaline.
Imagine human habitation systems of structures that accommodate and
encourage flows of air, light, sound, energy, matter, and people! That is
designing with the flow!
Gunter Pauli is an entrepreneur whose initiatives span business, science, culture and
education. He is the founder of ZERI and the author of numerous books, including: The Blue
Economy: 100 Innovations. At present, he publishes a series of one hundred innovative
business models at a rate of one per week on www.blueeconomy.de