The plan

A sustainable community uses its resources to meet current needs while ensuring that adequate resources are available for future generations. A sustainable community seeks a better quality of life for all it’s

residents while maintaining nature’s ability to function over time by minimizing waste, preventing

pollution, promoting efficiency and developing local resources to revitalize the local economy. Decision making in a sustainable community stems from a rich civic life and shared information among community

members. A sustainable community resembles a living system in which human, natural and economic

elements are interdependent and draw strength from each other.

We envision that the village would consist of 10-30 homes initially, which will be 800-1200 sqft and clustered to promote sharing of centralized resources and enhancing the social aspects. The homes would be very well insulated using standard building materials. There would also be a common house that would be used for gatherings and shared meals, and this would also serve as a resource center for sharing sustainable living concepts with the community and surrounding area.

            This would be an off-grid development, with solar and wind electricity and battery storage with biodiesel generator backup. We would utilize rainwater catchment along with greywater recycling. We would utilize a constructed wetland for septic processing. Centralized radiant heating system will utilize solar thermal and biomass along with thermal storage and a backup propane boiler.

            Growing our own food and hopefully growing extra for sale to the community would be an important part of sustainability. We would expect to have some greenhouse space to extend the growing season. Ideally the village would consist of a diverse population, both in age and skills. My hope is that we can provide affordable housing since we will be sharing resources.