Kevin Coughlin has published a thoughtful article on MorristownGreen.com:
After the charrettes: Now the real work begins for the Morristown EcoCenter More…
One piece that I felt was missing was the explicit application of permaculture design principles to the project, so I thought I would review them briefly here, and point out where they seem especially relevant. While permaculture is a very broad discipline, there is a quite thorough overview on Wikipedia; this discussion is based on David Holmgren’s twelve principles, beautifully laid out at http://permacultureprinciples.com/.
What we learned from the Design Charrette held this past week has significantly altered our vision of what’s possible for the building and for the site. Perhaps the most dramatic change is the idea of relocating the restaurant to what is now the roof, and locating the greenhouses above that. Equally important, however, is a better understanding of the phasing of different elements, and of the overall development process. If we apply the principles of sustainability to our own process and structure, we need to design them so as to maximize success at all levels, including the financial.
