W h a t   I s   E c o t e c t u r e ® ? Two Decades ago, designer and builder Philip S. Wenz realized that to create a sustainable society we must build in a way that is compatible with nature. He formed the company ECOTECTURE® Design and Construction (now ECOTECTURE® Publication and Design) to create human habitation systems that are integrated, functionally and aesthetically, with natural ecosystems. Human habitation systems on all scales, from houses to neighborhoods to cities can be designed using the principles by which natural ecosystems are "designed." Driven by solar energy and supremely efficient due to the continuous recycling of life's chemical building blocks, natural ecosystems evolved the means of sustaining themselves billions of years ago. The fact that life still survives, indeed thrives on this earthly outpost in the vastness of space is proof that sustainable systems can be designed. In his one-day course "Creating Your Ecological House" offered four times a year at Berkeley's Building Education Center, Mr. Wenz explains how an ecological house is analogous to a ecosystem. Like it’s natural counterpart, an ecological house can make the most of the free energy (sun and wind) available on it’s site and the material goods which are cycled through it. The house can also be a producer of something useful for the larger system of which it is a part. Just as photosynthesis in a pond ecosystem creates biomass (food) and releases oxygen into the larger atmosphere, the production of surplus energy from a home solar system can return power to the grid, a garden of native plants can encourage biodiversity while producing supplemental income and a home office can provide economic or intellectual benefits to the larger community while reducing problems related to commuting. A house does not have to be radically shaped or built of unusual materials to be such a "net ecological producer." Ordinary houses can be revamped so as to greatly reduce their drain on and increase their value to the planet's life support systems. Insulation, good recycling facilities, add-on solar greenhouses, organic gardens--any and all of these upgrades will make the house more pleasant and better for the environment. Such ideas can be easily incorporated into typical remodels and additions. New houses, of course, can be designed from the outset to incorporate ecological features. Site use, solar orientation, minimization of footprint (foundation in contact with the ground), water control and other environmentally beneficial components can be considered in the early planning stages. All things considered, however, a new house, no matter how well endowed with "green" features, is not necessarily a better ecological performer than a revamped existing house. New houses require new infrastructure--roads, power and water lines, nearby shopping malls--and occupy land that could be used for farming or natural habitat. Ecological designers must always consider the big picture when undertaking a project. Ideally, an ecological house will mimic a natural ecosystem in that its sub systems are connected--its material loops are complete. In an ecosystem producer organisms, mostly green plants, use sunlight to drive chemical reactions that build their own tissue (photosynthesis). Consumers then eat that tissue, are often eaten in turn by larger consumers. Both produce metabolic wastes and eventually die and become organic debris. Decomposers break down metabolic waste and organic debris and turn it into plant food--the basic chemicals that plants use to build tissue--thus completing the material loop within the system. The material loops of an ecological house can be completed in a similar manner. Using nature’s own decomposers, worms and bacteria, kitchen scraps can be turned into compost used to grow plants. Those plants, then, can be eaten and a certain portion of them returned to the garden as composted scraps. Also, the same water that is used to wash and prepare the vegetables can be recycled into the garden, completing another loop. Energy for pumping that water, if needed, can be provided by small solar cells. Living in an ecological house, then, is possible for everyone, and is truly independent of the house's style or outward appearance. Of course good design, design that blends with nature, has its own function. It is a source of joy, while it reminds it inhabitants that they are of the earth and need to take care of it by dwelling lightly within their ecological house. Connecting the interior with its outdoor environment, even if that is a small yard in a city, remains a fundamental principal of ecological design. back to top