Architecture

Self-sustaining eco-communities aimed at regenerating the world one village at a time

Self-sustaining eco-communities aimed at regenerating the world one village at a time
ReGen Villages describes itself as a "tech-integrated real estate development company"
ReGen Villages describes itself as a "tech-integrated real estate development company"
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ReGen Villages describes itself as a "tech-integrated real estate development company"
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ReGen Villages describes itself as a "tech-integrated real estate development company"
Among the technologies employed at the villages are renewable energy vertical farming aquaponics and aeroponics
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Among the technologies employed at the villages are renewable energy vertical farming aquaponics and aeroponics
There will be renewable energy generation and energy storage systems, as well as water management and waste-to-resource systems
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There will be renewable energy generation and energy storage systems, as well as water management and waste-to-resource systems
The ReGen Village is designed to be self-sustaining
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The ReGen Village is designed to be self-sustaining
The first ReGen Village pilot community is to be developed in Almere in Netherlands
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The first ReGen Village pilot community is to be developed in Almere in Netherlands
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If humanity is to tackle the problems of a growing global population, increased urbanization, scarcity of resources and climate change, we have to rethink the way we live. The ReGen Village is aimed at doing this, by being built to be self-sustaining from the ground up.

There are newly conceived community concepts around the world that are designed to help people live more sustainably. Bicester in the UK, for example, is using solar power in a bid to become the country's first true zero carbon community, while the Cannery in California, US, has its own farm with which it feeds its community.

The ReGen Village concept takes a holistic approach. The five "pillars" upon which it based are the provision of energy-positive homes, doorstep high-yield organic food production, mixed renewable energy and storage, water and waste recycling, and empowerment of local communities. ReGen itself stands for "regenerative," which reference the intention to use the outputs of one system as the inputs of another.

ReGen Villages describes itself as a "tech-integrated real estate development company." It enlisted Danish architects EFFEKT to work with it in designing the blueprint for its planned self-sustaining eco-communities, which can be accommodated within 15,450 sq m (166,300 sq ft).

Among the technologies employed at the villages are renewable energy vertical farming aquaponics and aeroponics
Among the technologies employed at the villages are renewable energy vertical farming aquaponics and aeroponics

Financial backing for the villages is being sourced from wealth funds that are looking to divest from fossil fuels into impact and knowledge-based investments. ReGen uses the money raised to acquire suitable areas of land and works with national and local municipalities that are supportive of the approach.

Its blueprint model is adapted to suit a site's local conditions by ReGen's team of "regenerative platform technologists," working with local architecture, construction and engineering firms. Once a village is up and running, ReGen continues to manage it, providing services to residents and monitoring performance so as to make improvements.

Among the technologies employed at the villages are renewable energy generation, energy storage, vertical farming aquaponics and aeroponics, water management and waste-to-resource systems. Food is also grown organically and there is a focus on maintaining a high biodiversity in surrounding areas.

The first ReGen Village pilot community is to be developed in Almere in Netherlands, with work on the first 100 homes due to break ground later this year. Other villages in the pipeline include sites in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany.

Sources: ReGen Villages, Effekt

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6 comments
6 comments
Buellrider
I notice that the ground in all the pictures seems to be covered in concrete. What is wrong with letting nature cover the ground also. People are getting further and further from what nature is in its rawest form.
Helios
Another "solution" working at the wrong end of the problem. We are an overconsumptive, overweight, overpopulated parasite on this planet. Until we start educating people of the need for discipline, conservation, constraint and rational behavior, we are doomed to fail at every effort to find sustainable solutions for existence.
The marketing and advertising of this project is all hype and trademarkable buzzwords. It is in itself an example of a consumer mentality. "All you need is this fancy new gizmo and your problems will be solved". The problem is not in the physical realm, it is in the psychological.
Houses integrated into a greenhouse certainly look futuristic but are not functional from a building science perspective. The designers have apparently never learned what diminishing returns means.
They also have not learned what economies of scale means.
The first order of business is to begin Net Zero Population education. We reach that objective and we never need to construct another building except for replacement or efficiency gains.
The solution to housing is high density, low complexity buildings that are essentially hotel rooms or dorms. Food processing is large scale as in a cafeteria.

Lbrewer42
Considering its basic high school science that carbon emissions (CO2)cannot chemically hold in heat since holding/increasing heat is NOT a chemical property of CO2 despite media and political hype, the concept they are developing is simply one of alternative energy sources.
Check the chemical science. Divorce emotion from science.
No greenhouse has to, or does, add CO2 inside its walls to raise the temperature. The temperature is raised b/c of photosynthesis. The plants take in CO2 and sunlight and produce food for themselves while giving of O2 and water vapor. The water vapor (humidity) inside is what holds in the heat. The nightly news gives a heat index for this reason - to tell what humid air (not CO2 saturated air) around us makes the actual temperature feel like.
Global warming is a media/political ploy that has been used to steal billions for unnecessary things such as making you pay for vehicle emissions testing etc. Why CO2?
B/c people associate it with greenhouses. So people forget the facts of high school science classes and believe the lie that CO2 holds in heat. Repeat something often enough and the masses will believe it as fact.
Lumen
Well said Lbrewer42,
In addition, the idea of overpopulation, as expressed by Helios, is yet another power ploy. 30 billion people, standing next to each other, could fit into a land area the size the size of Melbourne, with room to spare. There is plenty of area, plenty of energy, plenty of means for food production, and plenty of sustainable solutions for great population growth for great environmental improvement rather than detriment, without nuclear energy or fossil fuel production. Your education is possibly the key. Are you willing to learn, discover, create, and apply?
Grainpaw
Lbrewer42, nobody but you bends over backwards to misinterpret and misapply facts to interpret CO2 heating in this way. CO2 reflects infrared radiation, as greenhouse glass or plastic does. The use of the term "greenhouse effect" is a metaphor to make it easier for non-scientifically trained people to understand. It is not meant to be taken literally. Humidity and air circulation only affect the evaporation of sweat from your skin, affecting a person's perception of temperature, but not the actual air temperature. I have a B.S. in Horticulture and work in a greenhouse. Co2 is used to enrich the atmosphere for certain high-value crops, but has nothing to do with heating a greenhouse, unless an open gas burner is used as a CO2 source. Rising CO2 in the atmosphere has irregular and not always beneficial effects on food crops.
AntonioSempronio
I don't see enough daily calories to sustain that number of people. I see a lot of lettuce. Humans cannot live on lettuce and tomatoes. This place needs to lose the concrete and plant staple grains wherever possible: wheat, rye, corn, oats, sorghum, etc.