To household with resources is one of the pillars of ecological building:
To design and construct buildings that use resources efficiently, where heating and cooling needs and electricity use are minimized, and water-saving technologies and waste-recycling technologies are used.”
…..write Varis Bokalder & Maria Block. The whole Building Handbook (Earthscan, 2010)
To get the old farm house resource efficient we had to insulate the attic with cellulose fibre and rebuild trusses and roof coverings. With regard to the new buildings, all have very accurate energy analysis and measurements calculated. This data is fundamental for informing resource efficient solutions, so that the warming needs are minimized through the choice of material and the amount, choice of windows and doors as well as their insulation, foundations, and roofs, etc. Extra to the energy declaration, the airtightness and the thermography of the buildings, are important instruments of resource efficiency. The meeting centre also has receives additional ambient heating from the internal wood fired baking oven when ever we bake. Electricity usage is consistently reduced through increased passive lighting at the angled form of the window bays, choice of energy efficient lamps, light sensors, passive cold storage in earth cellar, and cooled pantry instead of fridges and freezers, as well as energy classified refrigeration (A++), etc. On Ecotopia på Österlen we sort trash for recycling, we compost all organic material, we use recycled materials for many installations, as well as local micro managed and macro managed natural resources. The biggest and most important resource on the farm is ground water, it flows at about 3700 litres of potable drinking water (tested for chemical, microbial, radon activity) per hour at an eleven meter deep borehole. But, even though we are blessed with so much clean and healthy water, water saving techniques, and the search of sustainable solutions for the rainwater harvesting are still always a priority. Could Ecotopia på Österlen share it’s water some day?
