(1) Renewable energy – passive and active
Green building: How can passive and active systems work together?
The debating chamber building for the National Assembly of Wales - the
Senedd - was officially inaugurated in March 2006. The design approach
is an interesting example of how to create a building that naturally
responds to the dynamics of the local environment on the one hand; while
ensuring it's possible to use a selection of renewables - geothermal
and biomass in this case - on the other.
(2) Gray water and rainwater catchment
Graywater reuse may not be a permissible use of water under a domestic well permit or a community water supply system.
Rainwater harvesting is the process of intercepting storm-water runoff and putting it to beneficial use.
In most areas of Colorado, the most common way to use rainwater is to direct roof gutter downspouts to landscape areas you wish to water.
The state of Colorado allows limited collection and use of precipitation from residential property rooftops in cases where the landowner uses or is entitled to only certain types of well permits to use well water for their domestic nonpotable water supply.
(3) Soil regeneration and land restoration
Land Regeneration Techniques
Environmental Issues
Mechanical degradation of the soil is a consequence of movement and visit of animals, either directly by trampling (surface compacting of the soil), or indirectly as a result of partial or total disappearance of plant cover (wind and water erosion). Mechanical degradation of the soil is produced in areas much frequented by livestock, but is particularly worrying in areas subject to major climatic constraints, especially sub-arid areas. This is one of the causes of desertification.
Objectives
One is attempting to restore or increase the water
content of soils, and thus watering of plants by improving the structure
of these soils and reduction of rain water run-off. Several means are
adopted:
-Breaking up the surface of the soil.
-Creation of a certain roughness of the soil, thus creating micro-reliefs.
-Establishment or maintenance of plant cover.
-Control of animal load.
It goes without saying that the causes of degradation should be reduced or eliminated, i.e. manage and control the animal load.
This technique enables regeneration of natural grass and tree vegetation, in all their botanic diversity. This vegetation should be considered part of the biological activity of the soil, as a mechanical protector of that soil and a provider of biomass and forage
-Breaking up the surface of the soil.
-Creation of a certain roughness of the soil, thus creating micro-reliefs.
-Establishment or maintenance of plant cover.
-Control of animal load.
It goes without saying that the causes of degradation should be reduced or eliminated, i.e. manage and control the animal load.
This technique enables regeneration of natural grass and tree vegetation, in all their botanic diversity. This vegetation should be considered part of the biological activity of the soil, as a mechanical protector of that soil and a provider of biomass and forage
(4) Food forest, trees and garden design
Let's explore the edible forest gardening idea in some detail. The
forest gardening vision leads us to explore forest ecology. Forest
ecology is the basis for effective design and practice. This synopsis
not only explains the fundamentals of forest gardening, but its
structure parallels the contents of the two-volume book Edible Forest
Gardens by Dave Jacke with Eric Toensmeier.
(5) Urban apartment permaculture and more !
Capture the energy of sunlight. Do you have windows with decent sun
exposure? Then look into window gardening! For example, this neat
hydroponic window farms initiative, developed through open-source
collaboration, requires minimum space and no soil. Or you can experiment
with other kinds of DIY designs using plastic bottles.
