planned ecovillage description including design/planning principles. If you are interested in participating in planning an ecovillage, please visit to http://www.scoop.it/eco-village

1. Mariposa EcoVillage
Phil Hawes, Architect/Planner
Natural Systems Developers, LLC
Amarillo, Texas
www.naturalsystemsdevelopers.com

2. INTRODUCTION
Natural Systems Developers
Informed by nature’s systems, we
design and build economically and
ecologically sustainable villages.
- For something to be sustainable it must
be capable of being maintained without
interruption, without weakening or losing
power or quality. It must endure without
failure in a prolonged, unflagging manner.
Webster’s Dictionaries

3. INTRODUCTION
Mariposa EcoVillage site
near Amarillo, Texas

4. INTRODUCTION
Mariposa EcoVillage Process
• * Planning and preliminary design
• * Restore damaged ecosystem using principles from
nature and permaculture
• * Design and develop infrastructure systems
• * Establish educational base to train workforce and
impart skills
• * Start building homes and public buildings using this
trained and established workforce
• * Develop industrial and commercial base
• * Sell homes to workforce and others

5. PLANNING AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN
Design Models
Small European villages are the historic models
for the community’s physical form, with the
addition of modern amenities.
We are currently in the preliminary design
phase of master planning.

6. PLANNING AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN
EcoVillage Site Plan
One Square Mile
5,100 residents
2,040 homes
16 mixed-use neighborhoods:
- Commercial
- Industrial
- Parks, Plazas, Trails,
- Education
- Restaurants
- Entertainment

7. PLANNING AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN
Preliminary EcoVillage Plan

8. PLANNING AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN
EcoVillage S i t e
We are developing 630 acres
to create Mariposa
EcoVillage, an ecologically
and economically
sustainable community.
The site is an old gravel mine
on a High Plains grassland.

9. ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION
Land Restoration
Scarred land will be restored through permaculture,
composting and soil building techniques.

10. INFRASTRUCTURE
C o m m u n it y -O w n e d
U t ilit ie s
Residents in the community will
own their own utilities:
• Electricity & Gas
• Water
• Sewage Bioremediation
• Telecommunications
• Bio-Mass Composting
• Solid Waste Management
• Transportation

11. INFRASTRUCTURE
Renewable Energy
All energy needs will be met by
renewable sources:
Wind – Annual average 14 mph
Sun – Over 260 days /yr
Hydrogen from water
Methane from waste
biomass

12. INFRASTRUCTURE
Water
Water will be drawn from an aquifer
and recharged by runoff water
injection to balance withdrawal.
The purification process will use
ozone or hydrogen peroxide and
ultraviolet light.

13. INFRASTRUCTURE
Water Cycle Recycled
organics &
foodwaste
Drinking
CHP
Water supply
Cooking Bathing Laundry
Biogas
Water Reclaim
System Biogas
System
Rainwater UV &
H2O2
Liquids Solids
Compost
Underground water Settling Pathogen kill
clarification
Sludge Composting
Harvested grasses
Nutrient rich water

14. INFRASTRUCTURE
Waste Water Remediation
The community sewage treatment system will use
principles of bioremediation that rely on living systems to
purify waste water.
by Torben Gade

15. INFRASTRUCTURE
Transportation
Electric rapid-transit system for local needs
No cars or trucks in the interior of the community
Non-fossil fueled rental vehicles available to reduce the need
for individual car ownership.
Skyweb Express

16. INFRASTRUCTURE
The compactness of the EcoVillage
encourages walking, bicycling or even
your personal horse-drawn SUV!

17. EDUCATION
Earth-built Buildings
In the Americas for over 800 years
In Europe for over 500 years
In the Middle East and North Africa
for over 3000 years
Taos Pueblo
Morocco Yemen

18. BUILDING
Natural Materials
Rammed earth,
adobe, light-
clay, strawbale,
earthen & lime
plasters, lime
mortar, bamboo,
wood and stone

19. BUILDING
Materials & Methods of Construction
Where possible, highly refined materials are limited to those
with very long lifetimes, such as ceramic tile, copper, Corten,
cast iron and bronze.
High embodied-energy materials are sparingly used, as in
efficient ferrocement thin shell and tensile structures.
by Frei Otto by Felix Candela

20. BUILDING
Art in t h e E c o -V illa g e
Public art will enliven the EcoVillage’s buildings -
sculpture, stained glass, mosaics, street theater and
other artistic expressions.

21. COMMERCIAL BASE
Local Food Production
Water, sewage purification and food production are inter-
related and are addressed as a synergistic whole.
Food is locally grown to provide the caloric and nutritional
requirements for residents.

22. COMMERCIAL BASE
For every 85 people, a
half-acre climate
controlled green house
will produce four
vegetable crops per year.
Protein production will
focus primarily on agro-
forestry, which studies
have shown to be more
efficient than an equal
area of annual grains.

23. COMMERCIAL BASE
A food processing center will serve community needs for
drying, canning, pickling and preserving.
Harmful insects will be controlled through integrated pest
management. No pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or
chemical fertilizers will be used.

24. COMMERCIAL BASE
Community Manufacturing
In addition to earthen materials, building components
will be manufactured on-site in small factories and
workshops to promote economic independence.
Ferro-cement roofing
Doors & windows
Cabinets & furniture
Solar heaters
Ceramics
Machine shop
Foundry
Sheet-metal shop
Welding

25. HOME PURCHASE
Money, Health and Education
• A community credit union will offer no-
interest home loans.
• Community health, home and auto
insurance will be negotiated for bulk rates.
• A community clinic will provide inexpensive
health care for residents.
• Education will encompass kindergarten to
post-graduate studies.

26. HOME PURCHASE
Eco-Village Diversity
The community will promote diversity of
language, religion, culture, economic and
social strata, and ethnicity.

27. SUMMARY
Contribution to Natural Ecology
All Eco-Village functions are designed to emulate
the cyclic processes of natural ecosystems.
We will use principles of restoration ecology to
increase biodiversity and preserve endangered
species habitat.

28. SUMMARY
Global Warming
Sustainable community paradigms are needed to meet
the challenges of global climate change, pollution and
diminishing fossil fuels.

29. SUMMARY
Prototypical Neighborhood
A population of 500 with bio-remediation of waste
water that demonstrates the cyclic flow of the sun’s
energy through living systems to convert sewage and
organic waste to fertilizer, and then to food.
by Phil Hawes

30. SUMMARY
Model of EcoVillage Prototype
Mariposa is a full service
EcoVillage for 5,000
residents on 630 acres.
Truly ecologically and
economically sustainable
EcoVillages are a critical
step on the path to bring
life back into balance and
build a sustainable world.
Mariposa will be one of the
first of the modern
prototypes.