Rethinking Permaculture - Rezoning, Mixing and Distorting the Zones

[Grahame]

I'm with you sweetpea.
For me it is too mechanical and controlling and claustrophobic. I will continue to move around as the cat does. That is if I ever get a chance to be still ever again.

That's the thing for me Purple Pear, I can't imagine when I would have the time to sit on one of those. Why not just have Lumbuck's zone 0.1 (the essential thingy) and just be outside for the rest of the time?

I think the concept of 'pods' is a reasonable one. Say a laundry/wet pod, a Kitchen/day pod and a sleeping pod. The only one that should ever need heating or cooling would be the Kitchen/day pod and because it would be compact and secure it would need very little of that.

Basically we are just talking about reducing the size of our gargantuan homes in the west aren't we? Or am I missing something?

[purplepear]

Basically we are just talking about reducing the size of our gargantuan homes in the west aren't we? Or am I missing something?

I think you are on the money Grahame. Bill covers it well in the tape of the PDC 1973 with rooms specifically insulated for their use and a living room especially insulated.
The zone concept is a design tool allowing for some thought into the intensity of use and so the intensity of planning needed. There seems little need to go beyond that and to do so brings unnecessary complications. Zones within zones can be used as the design concentrates on specific areas within the design. This becomes more obvious when you have done the PDC (dare I say?)

[Lumbuck Thornton]

Basically we are just talking about reducing the size of our gargantuan homes in the west aren't we? Or am I missing something?

In a world running out of resources and energy then we are going to need to be smarter.
How small can we make the smallest rooms? How can we best utilise vegetation as a heat and wind shield to save on structural and climate control elements of the shelter?

The obvious thing to do was make it small enough to fit into a shed when it needed to but get it out in the specially laid out garden built around a moving buildings needs.

As is the situation in parts of America first people could not afford huge homes then they found they found nobody else could afford to buy them. If this low cost shelter arrangement takes off then it could end up shifting the market too.

The challenge is to make permaculture comfortable enough to encourage people out of their unenvironmentally friendly boxes and towers. This process will be helped when they realise for their health, finances and food supply it is also linked to accommodation.

These systems don't have to be small - imagine when lots units start moving through a large garden and how large you could make a multi-storey roller coaster type version where each track enters a multi-storey shed but is otherwise a low speed, low cost, low weight structure, probably wooden with fabulous views we can only dream about now.

[Burra Maluca]

How small can we make the smallest rooms?

I never was very good at this 'zone 0' thing. This is a photo of my smallest room...



As you can see, it's not even in the house, and it was built as a dual function toilet and water tower. We also have a shower room which is between the donkey stable and the shed we start off seeds and cutting in the spring. I'm not sure what zone you'd call it, but it's in a place where we can easily get water to as it's downhill from the water tower/toilet.

We're also working on an area with a cob oven for cooking out of doors during hot weather. The house itself is small and rater 'open plan', but all you really need to do in there is sleep, cook (when it's cold) and have a place to get comfy by the stove in winter.

Then there are areas like this, with a little shed for all the 'bee stuff' and a bale of straw for sitting on when you want to chill out and commune with the bees.



I don't really feel the need for anything more hi-tec than that.

[Lumbuck Thornton]

Looks like a nice climate and plenty of space. I guess my other interest is how to make most efficient use of space and productivity. The toilet looks like a pleasant place and at times it might be just the right temperature. Wouldn't it be nice to have another shelter that could be moved in and out of the shed to follow or avoid the sun !

[purplepear]

I love your spaces Burra -beautiful

[Lumbuck Thornton]

When I look and any scenes now with trees, I see sweeping pathways of microclimates for anyone trying to stop for a break, relay, a read or computing. Developing and maintaining a permaculture system and community can be hard work and there is a vulnerability if there are not creative spaces and places to work mentally without distractions but with the stimulation and comfort of a garden. Rising rates and taxes and the drain of large corporations are issues permaculture is going to have to contend with so any improved permaculture productivity and better use of space and resources might help fighting this battle.

[Lumbuck Thornton]

Hello All,

Here is another way of explaining it !

In many buildings you have to turn on a light to see what your are doing. Instead push the room outside into the garden and into a shade tunnel to find just the right amount of light.

Instead of turning on the air conditioning push the room further into the shade tunnel then push up a light tube through the foliage if you still need light.

Instead of turning on the heater, move the room out into the sun and open the reflectors and thermal mass collectors.

If you don't like the view move the room to another part of the garden.

If you feel hungry, reach out the window, floor or roof to pick some of it !

[sweetpea]

Burra, very nice! I love having a good view from the potty shed. I used to have one in an open shed until I found a 2 meter gopher snake up on the top shelf of the shelving unit. That ended my open plan!

[Lumbuck Thornton]

Sweetpea,

You are right about the issue of snakes. The proposed "Micro Climate Chaser" - "Garden Appreciation Platform" is a room small enough to enter a tunnel of vegetation on wheels to get closer to the cool air and shade without the hastles of biting insects and snakes. You get to watch and be facinated by them safely on the other side of the flywire. I'm in the process of designing the doors at the moment - not to lose too much heat in winter when getting in and out. Also have to develop a second emergency escape incase the door jams or you get stuck in the vegetation/shade tunnel.