Growth is good when in accordance with nature’s own time-tested blueprint.

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By Nancy B. Solomon, AIA

The magic of tapping into natural systems is illustrated in a simple but powerful land-restoration project undertaken by architecture-trained permaculture designer Vint Lawrence. In 1991, Lawrence bought a 400-acre ranch called Apache Creek in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico. These mountains have suffered from erosion over the years, causing a dramatic decrease in vegetation.

 

The design team considered the various systems, both broadly (above) and in technical detail (below). The vertical-emissions tower will be clad with photovoltaic solar collectors to generate additional energy. Flowers and farm vegetables grown in the greenhouse will be sold to restaurants and other commercial venues, while indigenous and endangered plants will be cultivated in the natural habitats located on-site and elsewhere in the city. Images © Canon Design

To reestablish the natural flora in the region, Lawrence needed to minimize soil erosion and maximize water absorption. To do so, he had to slow the flow of water over the terrain. So, he installed gabions and check dams— man-made barriers—and ponds at strategic points on his site. The work paid off: Today, even after two years of drought, the raised water table at Apache Creek Ranch supports a lush, green riparian zone.

During the course of his research, Lawrence learned that beavers lived in the Sangre de Cristo mountains until about 1820, at which point they had all been trapped for their furs. He subsequently uncovered numerous black loam deposits—physical evidence that a series of beaver ponds had indeed traversed the land at one time. “They were the water engineers,” says Lawrence. Once the beavers were decimated, their dams eventually collapsed and erosion increased. In this region, there is not yet enough vegetation to support authentic dam-building critters, so Lawrence has intervened as a self-described “analog beaver.”

Regenerative design is not limited to rural settings. A multidisciplinary team led by artist Michael Singer of Wilmington, Vermont, took this integrative approach when developing the conceptual design for a natural-gas power plant in the Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood of Greenpoint. An oil storage depot currently occupies the eight-acre industrial riverfront site. The team, which included architect Marcus Springer, of Cannon Design in Boston, and engineer Calen Colby, of Oest Associates, in South Portland, Maine, began by investigating the existing local systems, from environmental to educational, and by considering how these could be enhanced by the power plant’s available resources—namely waste heat, storm water, and expansive roof and wall surfaces.

Roof and walls became a logical framework for planting. A greenhouse system integrated into the building’s vertical surfaces takes advantage of the waste heat emitted from the power plant. With this recaptured heat, the plants can grow more quickly and all year around. Planting on the roof reestablished a natural habitat in this neighborhood. It also slows down and treats storm-water runoff. Phosphorous removed from this water becomes nutrient for the plants instead of pollution in the adjacent river. The collected storm water is stored in a cistern on-site for future irrigation, eliminating any need to siphon water from New York City’s already overtaxed system. Meanwhile, the large vertical-emissions stack doubles as a support for 65,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels, which will produce enough electricity to operate the school and the greenhouse lights and irrigation pumps, in addition to adding power to the utility grid.

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