Earth Matters

Ecological Design

Ecological design is our attempt to fashion human settlements that cooperate with nature. This means we draw our energy from renewable sources like the sun, we only take our share of the nutrient flows, we clean up after ourselves, and we allow evolution to continue its creation of new species.

Ecological design is the practical consequence of the story “We are made for the earth.” It finds ways for six billion people to coexist within, not against, natural systems.

How?

The short answer is that it designs a way of life in which all human settlements and artifacts are part of the cyclical flows of nature. All our materials are non-toxic or “green” and either they are completely recovered and reused, i.e. TVs and aluminum in planes, or they are completely decomposed and reconstituted, i.e. carpets and containers. It’s as simple and complex as that!

This is such a departure from how we presently live that it often seems too speculative or romantic. Yet it is possible, even practical, and it is possible now.

At present we have organized our modern societies around a set of linear systems. We can picture these systems as below, according to John Lyle in Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development:

“Throughput” is the operative principle of this system: lots of energy and materials, assembled and used quickly, and then thrown away. This is true of plastic bags, used once and thrown away, or of oil--millions of years in the making, sold more cheaply than bottled water, rapidly burned up, and its fumes let go into the atmosphere.

Gasoline and cars is a good example of non-ecological design because it is vastly inefficient—using a two ton vehicle to move a fraction of a ton passenger. And it is vastly ineffective—using up a non-renewable resource and degrading the landscape with toxic exhaust. Even back in the 1940s Ford had a car using only one gallon for 100 miles and before that in the 30s Buckminster Fuller had an aerodynamic car that ran on a large lawn mower motor!

Buckminster Fuller also invented a Dymaxium home that weighed only two tons, gathered its own energy and water, minimized its waste, and was completely recyclable. At that time few people understood how it worked and fewer agreed that we needed to go down the path of ecological design. Hmm, seems like there is something going on that’s more than just a lack of know-how. Perhaps ecological design challenges the principles of our economic and political systems.

Ecological design turns all linear flows into cyclical ones. The next diagram illustrates how this would happen:

Now the waste of one transaction becomes the food for other organisms and uses. Also, huge quantities of nutrients and materials are stored. And the sun and its allies run our energy grid. Such a system actually needs fewer materials, very little if any non-renewable energy, produces zero waste and less residual heat, and insures biodiversity. It can be reproduced on any scale and thus it benefits many small countries, communities, and individuals. A new branch of economics, ecological economics, maintains that many more jobs with greater rewards are generated.

In ecological design the notion of connectedness replaces the notion of growth or progress. Surely natural systems grow, but they don’t grow disproportionately. They don’t exceed the carrying capacity, the limits, of their living world (otherwise they die). If they sprawl, they exhaust themselves. Rather we think of an interconnected web in which wealth and success are measured by the quality of our connections. There is growth, but moderate, sustainable growth, and progress is measured by the health of the whole system.

Permaculture is one of the best examples of ecological design. The term couples two notions: permanent or stable, and agriculture or culture. We could say “sustainable agriculture” or better “sustainable human settlements.” Two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren put together a set of principles that had roots in tribal cultures and modern ecology and appropriate technologies. The principles are surprisingly adaptable to diverse topographies and climates as well as various scales, from an entire village to one’s backyard.

Several groups are designing whole villages, called Eco-Villages, that integrate natural flows and forms into all aspects of the built structures, economics, food supply, energy and social and cultural affairs. They experiment with building materials such as hay bales, rammed earth, local wood, bamboo, and cobb and practice peaceful means of settling disputes and creating community. Earthaven, near Asheville, North Carolina, is also a learning center where hundreds come each year to learn Permaculture design.

In time, ecological design will be a necessity. Old buildings, like the Audobon Building in New York City, will be retrofitted and new ones, like the Environmental Studies building at Catawba College in Statesville, North Carolina, will rest harmoniously in the land. Municipal wastes will be cleansed by constructed wetlands or Living Machines like those in Burlington, Vermont.

Even large industries will get on board. Ford Motor Company is working with William McDonough to develop a clean and green production plant that will make cars and clean up the surrounding river while being a haven for migratory birds. Ray Anderson of Interface, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, set of goal of a completely reusable carpet system and a zero waste policy. The city of Chicago has mandated new environmental standards for public buildings.

It’s an idea whose time has come.