Monday, April 12, 2010

Homes are Complex systems

Too often we are too focused on just a single part of the whole picture. While reading "The Age of the Unthinkable" I am seeing that westerners tend to think linearly and one thing at a time. But we often get bored before we finish it all the way through. 
A home is a complex system, there are several interlocking and interdependent systems working together but they are never designed that way. Usually a house is designed by a builder for ease of construction and lowest cost of construction. 

For example in permaculture  the zones are all outside the home are 1-5 in the permaculture way from 1-workaday kitchen garden to 5-wildland + Stacking – Plants incorporated into a permaculture landscape are “stacked” both in space and in time. Plants will be chosen to occupy the following 7 layers; below ground (i.e root crops), ground cover, herbaceous plants, shrubs, small trees, tall trees, and vines. Similarly, thought should be given into the long term development of the landscape over time, ensuring that the system will be thriving many years from now. There also needs to be a zone 0 that is deep underground where the well is
Should also include firescaping.
Level 0 is deep ground where water and oil wells go and other mineral sources.

What about zones inside the home which can include:
A: safe room (can double duty as  a bathroom or pantry)
B: bedrooms, kitchen, pantry, laundry and bathroom aka essential services
C: living room, dining room, library, workshop, &etc. aka useful services
D: attic, garage &etc. aka the shell of the building: foundation, outer walls, outer doors, windows and roof
E: would be outbuildings like a shed, barn or springhouse.
Also need to include utilities and HVAC and sensors in this somewhere.
This is a long way from a complete idea but it needs to start somewhere.