Student: Capucine Marie Verbrugge Study:
Findhorn Ecovillage : Environmental-friendly and self-sufficient Keywords:
sustainable community, water, energy The Findhorn Ecovillage is a project initiated in the 1980’s and is maybe one of the best example of a self-sufficient community. It is located at The Park in Moray in the North-East of Scotland. The aim of the village was to develop a community that lived in a sustainable environment. The entirety of the village is self-sufficient, from the houses’ architecture to the treatment of the water and renewable energies. Regarding architecture, the Findhorn Ecovillage has extensive building rules required as they are trying to be environmentally responsible and construct zero carbon homes. Indeed, households necessitate insulation made out of recycle paper and cardboard alongside organic and harmless paints, glues and resins and natural tiles for the roof. Also, to limit waste of energy, inhabitants of the ecovillage are equipped of low-energy light bulbs, “breathing walls” allowing exchange of air and are sharing facilities such as laundry, kitchen, etc. A lot of building in this community are possessing photovoltaic panels supplying enough electricity and heating energy but they are also designed in favor of passive solar radiation. Passive solar radiation is the smart way of placing windows, walls and floors to optimize the reflection, the storage and the distribution of solar energy to either cool or heat the building. Additionally, to provide energy to all households, the
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Findhorn Ecovillage has its own wind park containing four wind turbines that provides a capacity of 750kW and supply more than 100% of the community. On the other hand, the village has an ecological waste water treatment thanks to 1995 Jonathon Porritt’s invention: the first Living Machine or known as Eco-Restorers. The machine is designed to treat sewage from a population up to 500 people who are living in the Findhorn Ecovillage. The whole process of the water filtration is done by a community or bacteria, algae, micro-organisms and many more. One of the Findhorn Ecovillage greatest accomplishment is that they have the lowest ecological footprint of any community in the industrialized world. This is due to all the sustainable inventions and way of living but also due to their food consumption. Indeed, they have built a village that support organic farmers in the area and permaculture.
