Permaculture & Building Design

Permaculture is a way of thinking about and approaching design. Below are some examples of how permaculture principles can be applied to building design.

Principles & Building Desgin

1. Observation
   Protracted and thoughtful observation rather than prolonged and thoughtless action. Observe existing elements throughout all the seasons. We design for specific sites, clients and climates.
   
   Building: Observe the site over the seasons for solar exposure, wind direction, flooding, etc. Also pay attention to what is changeable (eg. trees) and what may not be (flooding in certain areas).
   
   
   
2. Relative Location
   Components are viewed not in isolation, but relative to the functional relationships and timesaving connections among all parts. What is important are the functional relationships among elements, not the number of elements used.
   
   Building:
   • Locate building away from frost pockets and areas exposed to high winds
   • Shade building with decidious trees in south and west (shade in summer, sun in winter)
   • Vegetation and gardens walls used to reduce wind and noise
   • Attached greenhouse (heat collection in winter, reduced distance to food production area)
   • Bathroom water used to heat greenhouse soil
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3. Each element performs multiple functions
   Each element in a system is chosen and placed so it performs as many functions as possible. Increasing beneficial connections between diverse components creates stability.
   
   Building:
   • Roof: shelter, water collection and/or growing plants, solar collectors
   • Masonry stove: heat house, bake food, heat sleeping bench, store solar heat
   • Attached greenhouse: food production, passive heating and cooling (draws out warm air with cross ventilation) of main building
   
   
   
4. Each function is supported by multiple elements
   Important functions are achieved via several methods, to insure against failure of one or more elements.
   
   Building:
   • Heat: from solar design, wood/masonry stove, stored via thermal mass
   • Cooling: shade trees, external window shade, cross ventilation
   • Water: municipal water, roof runoff, stream
   
   
   
5. Make the least change for the greatest effect
   Find the "leverage points" in the system and intervene there, where the least work accomplishes the most change.
   
   Building:
   • Use shade trees, external blinds and cross ventilation for cooling, rather than (energy intensive) air conditioning
   
   
   
6. Diversity
   The functional connections between different elements leads to sustainable systems, creating guilds that work together. As cooperative species mature, abundance and stability increase.
   
   Building:
   
   
   
7. Biological resources
   Use on-site resources, such as plants and animals that reproduce and build up over time and interact with other elements. A resource is an energy storage that assist yields.
   
   Building:
   • Use local materials, such as wood, stones, clay (cob, earthen floors and plaster)
   
   
   
8. Energy cycling
   Yields from the system supply on-site needs and/or needs of the local region, and are reused as many times as possible.
   
   Building:
   • Bathroom water used to heat attached greenhouse soil
   • Greywater used for irrigation and/or pond water (after cleaned in a biological system)
   • Food Composting
   • Composting toilets
   
   
   
9. Appropriate technology
   Consider the impact: apply sustainable practices for cooking, lighting, transport, heating, sewage treatment, water, and other utilities.
   
   Building:
   • Masonry stoves
   • Combined PV panels and solar collectors
   • Living machines for biological water treatment
   • Flow forms for oxygenizing water
   • Heat from solar collectors seasonally stored in floor (stored in fall, used during the winter)
   
   
   
10. Natural succession
    Natural ecosystems develop and change over time, and the plants and animals within them change. Plan for the long term.
    
    Building:
    • Plan for change over time of the use of the building: different family sizes, part or all as office space, etc.
    
    
    
11. Edge effect
    The edge - the intersection of two environments - is the most diverse place in a system, and where the energies and materials accumulate. Optimize the amount of edge.
    
    Building:
    • Window seats and alcoves
    • Kitchen space opening up to living space
    
    
    
12. The problem is the solution
    Turn constraints into resources. We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.
    
    Building:
    • Difficult to remove rocks on the site incorporated into the building for thermal mass and aesthetics
    
    
    
13. Get a yield
    Get some immediate returns from your efforts. "You can't work on an empty stomach."
    
    Building:
    • Start small, maybe one room with kitchen and bathroom, and expand from there as time and resources allows
    
    
    
14. Limits to yield
    The yield of a system is theoretically unlimited, limited only by information and imagination.
    
    Building:
    • The yield of energy and food from your house can always increase, with creativity, experience, experimentation and persistence
    
    
    
15. Mistakes are tools for learning
    Plan to evaluate your trials - making mistakes is a sign you're trying to do things better.
    
    Building:
    • Document your innovations and experiences, and share with others

Compiled by Per Kielland-Lund


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