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Imagine living in a place
that is blended into the natural environment. Your home is not only naturally
heated and cooled, but is elegant and affordable. Integrated into the surrounding
landscape are natural water systems where food is being grown safe from harmful
chemicals, and waste is managed for productivity. A place where the neighbors,
young and old, routinely help one another. There is less traffic, less pollution
and more open space. Leisure time becomes abundant and recreational opportunities
are close at hand. Also imagine, that as a result of its design, this place saves
you money and, most importantly, it saves the Earth its precious resources...
Through
the simple and practical strategies offered by Permaculture Design, a village
lifestyle like this is not a dream. Permaculture mimics nature -where total resource
efficiency is accomplished by managing waste for productivity and balancing its
consumption with contributions from each of the elements in the system. Permaculture
brings to home owners and design professionals an innovative approach to planning,
landscaping, building and retrofitting.
Coined
by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, "Permaculture"
is a contraction of the words "permanent and culture". It is a highly
developed Art, Science and Philosophy. Regional groups and colleges teach Permaculture
Design, and design firms throughout the country are now offering Permaculture
services. Permaculture Design sciences are now used by homeowners, architects,
land use planners, landscape designers, farmers and community service organizations
world wide. Permaculture
courses train designers in simple techniques to "read the patterns of the
landscape" and methods that turn problems into resources. Permaculture designers
consider that every property has a unique pattern of natural characteristics.
Proper alignment with these natural patterns is the basis of the permaculture
process. Using Permaculture Design, human ecosystems (development) can model nature's
patterns of multi-functionality and inter-connectivity, making it as sustainable
and resilient as a forest system.
Instead of the "one size fits all"
approach, Nature is allowed to direct the land use plan. By skillfully using permaculture
methods of site analysis and evaluation, elements -such as buildings and roads
and practices -such as farming and forestry are established only in areas with
optimum conditions - working with nature in an efficient and economical way. Elements
are placed not in isolation, but in relation to the dynamics of the total site.
Proper placement is achieved when an element or a practice is designed to interact
efficiently with all of the influencing elements. To do this, permaculture designers
use simple physics and biology, as well as specific observation skills. The
permaculture designer treats the built environment and the natural environment
as a whole. Houses are designed not only for optimum solar advantage but are carefully
sited away from sensitive areas. Prime agricultural land and wildlands are protected.
Precautions are taken for the predictable threats of fire, flood, wind, and cold
air drainage. One of the primary objectives in permaculture is for designers to
develop simple biological alternatives to reduce the need for the expensive and
resource consuming demands of high technology. (Proper shading alone can reduced
cooling costs even in desert areas by 20% or more.) Permaculture
designers also learn to observe and research naturally occurring plant and animal
assemblies (guilds). This information is translated for use in sustainable farming.
Perennial fruit trees, shrubs, and vines, together with livestock and commercial
crops, are selected to mimic natural assemblies - each plant and animal benefits
the other, providing a permanent and maintenance free resource system. Comprehensive
water and soil conservation planning are integral to any sustainable design. For
water conservation and flood controls, permaculture designers use roofs of buildings,
parking lots, roadways and landscapes for harvesting run-off water. Basin and
berm structures (swales) and cisterns are constructed to collect this run-off
water and convert flooding problems into helpful resources of drinking water and
low cost irrigation. For
economic development, Nature's model of resource efficiency is used again. Creating
community development plans is probably Permaculture Design's best application.
In this process an inventory is meticulously prepared, examining a community's
basic needs and cross-referenced with its renewable resources. Needs that are
not met by local resources are considered job opportunities for the community.
Only those resources surplus to local needs are made available as sustainable
commodities for sale and trade - thus creating a stable economy based on real
need and renewable resources. "Mixed
use" zoning closely mimics natural systems and is highly recommended for
community land use plans. Designing residential and commercial zones as clusters
allows large areas of open and wild spaces to remain intact. This creates an access-by-proximity
design allowing people to live, shop, work and recreate in the same general area.
Transportation and traffic problems are greatly reduced. Suburban and urban consumers
can also help conserve resources and link directly with nearby farms and other
rural enterprise.
Permaculture Design offers a natural, practical and inherently
economical way to model our homes and communities. Permaculture also offers hope
-as it effectively bridges the gap between development needs and true ecological
sensitivity.
L.Santoyo,
Director, EarthFlow Design Works
L.Santoyo, an ecological designer,
land use planner and business consultant. He is among the most experienced Permaculture
Designers and Educators in the US and has taught environmental design at colleges
and universities nationwide including UC Berkeley and California State PolyTechnic
University. For over twenty years, L.Santoyo has assisted private individuals
in the design and construction of "Home Ecosystems" and has assisted
companies in developing industrial ecologies and sustainable business practices.
www.earthflow.com
L.
Santoyo Designs [santoyo@earthflow.com]
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