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  • From: Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] NG needs/yields analysis graphic
  • Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:23:03 -0700 (PDT)

In the September 2009 issue of National Geographic, there is an excellent
needs/yields analysis for beaver on pages 134-135, called "Making
Connections."  This would be a great addition to the trusty old chicken
analysis from the Designer's Manual.
 
Actually, the whole article, "Before New York," is a great introduction to
reading the landscape and ecosystem design.  I recommend it to all
permaculturists.
 
Rain



>From raincascadia@yahoo.com Sat Aug 29 15:26:54 2009
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Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:26:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org,
Bill Quirk <BillQuirkForHayward@Comcast.net>
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Subject: [permaculture] rural vs urban design
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The September/October 2009 edition of Sierra magazine has a very telling pair
of images on page 21 that shows greenhouse gas emissions per acre versus
emissions per household for the Phoenix, Arizona area.  The first image shows
the highest density of emissions in the urban cores, as you'd expect. 
However, the second image shows the highest levels of emissions coming from
the rural areas.  The fact is, with current consumption habits, rural
dwellers use way more energy than urban dwellers, an idea that has been
floating around a lot lately as folks start looking at their carbon
footprints.
 
However, the kneejerk reaction is to start supporting "smart growth"
planning, which emphasizes increased density, in addition to integrated
residential/business zoning and good mass transit and bicycle lane systems. 
I would argue that if we are planning to avoid global warming and to
anticipate energy descent, increased density has a limit.  In order to have
enough space for rainwater catchment, greywater distribution, solar and wind
energy harvesting, biomass energy production, food production, and composting
within residential areas, I would guess that most buildings cannot be higher
than 2 or 3 stories and that there needs to be enough open space around these
buildings to grow around 50% of the population's food requirements.  This,
incidentally, is what older neighborhoods and the much-maligned suburbs used
to look like.  Higher density structures also have less access to ventilation
and contain more thermal mass, resulting in more energy
required for cooling.
 
Higher density zoning only outcompetes lower density zoning in energy
efficiency when it comes to building materials, heating needs, consumption
patterns, and transportation, with transportation being the main weak point
of lower density designs.
 
It takes less material to create higher density buildings because of all the
shared walls.  However, the materials must be of a higher quality, and often
more massive, due to the taller designs.  This results in a trade-off in
energy savings.  In smaller and shorter structures, on-site and more basic
materials may be utilized to a greater extent, possibly resulting in less
embedded energy overall.
 
As for heating requirements, higher density structures require less heating
overall due to the insulating effects of shared walls, floors, and ceilings. 
However, it is harder to include passive solar design in structures that are
deeper than one room north to south, and taller structures block solar access
to the buildings next to them. 
 
Consumption patterns are probably more sensitive to culture than the other
factors mentioned here, but there is a potential for less consumption of
goods in denser areas than in rural areas.  The ability to share laundry
facilities, food processing equipment, energy technology, farming and
landscaping equipment, entertainment, etc., is greater where the population
density is highest.  However, an individualist culture prevents this to a
large extent.  Regardless, as prices go up, we should expect more sharing,
and designs should encourage this.
 
Transportation is the Achilles' heal of low density zoning.  Since personal
transportation accounts for over 40% of the energy currently used by the
average person in the US (see www.coolcalifornia.org), it is easy to see how
smart growth got its name.  However, this will have to change (and already
is) as energy prices go up.  As an example of what personal behavior and
technology improvements can do, my partner and I use 87% less energy for
transportation than the average US household of two, and our transportation
sector is only 22% of our total.  This is true even though we live about six
miles out of town and our closest neighbors are half a mile away.  We are
able to do this through personal restraint and the use of a Prius and
electric bicycle.  However, I realize that few will be this committed to
energy conservation in the near future and this is why I believe that no
settlement designs will be successful without a serious consideration
of transportation needs.  Siting work areas next to housing and providing
abundant opportunities for walking, bicycling, and mass transit are essential
for a low energy future.  Permaculture homesteads spread out over rural land
are definitely not a sustainable design.  (Unfortunately, the price of land,
current zoning and building rules, and idiotic cultural practices make it
very difficult to live a permaculture lifestyle in most urban areas, today.)
 
All this is to say that sustainable settlement designs are likely to look
more like a neighborhood or village than a big city or rural country.  City
councils and planning departments that focus on increasing density, rather
than on encouraging things like local rainwater and energy harvesting and
conservation, biomass and food production, and composting are creating
communities that will continue to be dependent on vast hinterlands and
massive energy inputs.  There may be some economies of scale realized in
centralized projects outside of the urban zones, but I believe that cities
will need to be more self-reliant in the future, as has happened in Cuba. 
Beyond this, the quality of life is much better where there is open space
integrated into the places where we live, and where our needs are being met
within the local community.
 
 



>From sramspare@bigfoot.com Sat Aug 29 16:44:07 2009
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Subject: [permaculture] Passive Solar Home, Lorton, VA
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  • [permaculture] NG needs/yields analysis graphic, Rain Tenaqiya, 08/29/2009

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