Introduction

Whole Systems Approach to Ecological Design

Appropriate Technology: Water

Organic Agriculture and Local Food

Appropriate Technology: Energy

Green Building & Retrofitting
1.Whole Systems Approach to Ecological Design
Ecological Designs Master Planning Climate Change & Peak Oil

Climate Change and Peak Oil

Peak Oil is the crisis of getting off petroleum; climate change is the almost-irreversible legacy of two hundred years of fossil fuel pollution.  A 'powerdown plus renewables' strategy could mitigate both problems, help us cope and actually increase our 'well being' in the process.

Climate Change is summarised in the following partial statement from sixteen major international academies of science:

Quote
“The work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) represents the consensus of the international scientific community on climate change science.  IPCC's conclusion is that the average global surface temperature is projected to increase by between 1.4ºC and 5.8ºC above 1990 levels by 2100.  The balance of the scientific evidence demands effective steps now to avert damaging changes to the earth's climate.”

Peak Oil describes the situation when global oil supplies reach a peak.  Following this peak, oil supplies decrease and never rise again.  Leading geophysicists predict that peak is either currently occuring, or will occur by 2015 (see picture aside).

These two major world issues are happening at the same time and greatly inform our ecological designs, leading to:

  1. Conservation and efficient use of materials and energy in all phases of construction and operations; 
  2. Carbon neutral design of operations for all new building projects.  This means no use of fossil fuels and obtaining electricity from a carbon neutral supply such as wind or solar;
  3. Designing for the use of low embedded-energy building materials;
  4. Off-setting any unavoidable carbon emissions with a responsible scheme, such as exporting carbon neutral electricity or planting and maintaining a new stand of trees.

The ideal is to get to a situation rapidly where fossil fuels (mainly oil, natural gas and coal) are substantially left in the ground. 

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