case study: Introduction
Our case study looks specifically at the feasibility of a biomass-solar thermal heating system which was installed within Findhorn Ecovillage’s Soillse housing district to serve six houses, with an aim for this retrospective analysis to communicate key findings which may be applied for a more correct implementation of such systems as the Findhorn community looks to expand this their preferred form of heating technology to other housing districts within the village.
Findhorn ecovillage
Findhorn eco village
Findhorn Ecovillage is located in the north of Scotland and has evolved from a spiritually connected community into a real life example of how issues of sustainability may be feasibly integrated into domestic life with buildings compliant with the most modern standards of energy efficiency and an expanding range of onsite renewable technologies including wind, solar thermal, PV and biomass.
Findhorn are can be seen as trailblazers in in terms of UK Sustainability, low carbon footprint and implementation of cutting edge renewable's integrated with both homes and businesses.
The Village is home to a diverse set of green projects such as:
Findhorn are can be seen as trailblazers in in terms of UK Sustainability, low carbon footprint and implementation of cutting edge renewable's integrated with both homes and businesses.
The Village is home to a diverse set of green projects such as:
- A major centre of adult education serving 14,000 visitors a year from over 50 countries
- 61 ecological buildings, including the famous whisky barrel houses
- 4 wind turbines
- A biological Living Machine sewage treatment system
- UK's oldest and largest Community-Supported Agriculture system
- Numerous solar water-heating systems
- Comprehensive recycling scheme
- Publisher of UK's first technical guide to ecological housing
- Own bank and community currency
- Site of Gaia Education - offering cutting edge sustainability education in 33 countries
introduction to ecovillages
Figure 1. Pillars of sustainability.
Ecovillages are intentional communities which aim to live according to the principles of sustainability. They promote peaceful relationships, cooperation with nature, spiritual awareness, and sustainability on all levels. They aim to set an example as an alternative way of living which will help to bring an end to the wasteful consumerist lifestyle led by most in the west and to prevent further environmental degradation and pollution caused by our industrialised lifestyles.
They are considered as "living models of sustainability", and "examples of how action can be taken immediately" to create lifestyles which can be successfully continued into the indefinite future. This resulted in them being listed in the United Nations' top 100 listing of Best Practices as great examples of sustainable living in 1998. They are regarded as an effective way to build upon the three pillars of sustainability (Figure 1) [1].
Ecological
In order to achieve their aim of living ecologically sustainably, ecovillages make great efforts to live in harmony with the natural environment. This means: growing food locally within the community bio-region; protecting biodiversity and nature; ensuring that clean air, water and soil are preserved through proper energy and waste management; and fostering ecological business principles. Homes will often be constructed to the highest standards of energy efficiency from locally sourced, environmentally friendly materials. Much, if not all, of the energy consumed within the village will usually come from renewable sources, limiting the local reliance on fossil fuels. Maximising the portion of energy consumed from renewable sources is key to ecovillages achieving their sustainable objectives [2][3].
Economic
Ecovillages try to keep money within the community to stimulate their local economy. This means that they prefer to buy and sell locally, promoting local business and ensuring that money passes through as many hands as possible. This is a further reason for them to grown at least some of their own food. Some villages have gone as far as creating their own currencies, ensuring that the exchange of goods and services stays within the community. They may even have their own banks in which residents can keep their savings [2] [3].
Social
Ecovillages are typically made up of a smaller number of individuals than would be found in most western communities, often being home to only tens of people. Communities of a few hundred people are not unheard of however, and taking into account individuals from surrounding regions who may participate in village activities can take the number into the thousands. These smaller numbers make it possible to create the strong social bonds that are a fundamental part of sustainable development. By aiming to recognise and relate to others, share common resources, provide mutual aid, promote education and foster cultural expression they ensure that a strong social bond is formed between all members of the community. [2] [3]
Ecovillages recognise that culture is as important to sustainable development as the other three, more well known pillars (Figure 1). They therefore aim to create a community in which “shared creativity, artistic expression, cultural activities, rituals and celebrations” are promoted, with the overall aim of fostering a sense of community unity and mutual support. Spirituality also features strongly in their ethos, but without an emphasis on any particular spiritual practice; rather, they all share “deep green” sentiments and believe in the interdependence and interconnectedness of all life on Earth and the intrinsic value of nature. They are not solely concerned with creating a sustainable world, but a peaceful and loving one, too. [2] [3]
They are considered as "living models of sustainability", and "examples of how action can be taken immediately" to create lifestyles which can be successfully continued into the indefinite future. This resulted in them being listed in the United Nations' top 100 listing of Best Practices as great examples of sustainable living in 1998. They are regarded as an effective way to build upon the three pillars of sustainability (Figure 1) [1].
Ecological
In order to achieve their aim of living ecologically sustainably, ecovillages make great efforts to live in harmony with the natural environment. This means: growing food locally within the community bio-region; protecting biodiversity and nature; ensuring that clean air, water and soil are preserved through proper energy and waste management; and fostering ecological business principles. Homes will often be constructed to the highest standards of energy efficiency from locally sourced, environmentally friendly materials. Much, if not all, of the energy consumed within the village will usually come from renewable sources, limiting the local reliance on fossil fuels. Maximising the portion of energy consumed from renewable sources is key to ecovillages achieving their sustainable objectives [2][3].
Economic
Ecovillages try to keep money within the community to stimulate their local economy. This means that they prefer to buy and sell locally, promoting local business and ensuring that money passes through as many hands as possible. This is a further reason for them to grown at least some of their own food. Some villages have gone as far as creating their own currencies, ensuring that the exchange of goods and services stays within the community. They may even have their own banks in which residents can keep their savings [2] [3].
Social
Ecovillages are typically made up of a smaller number of individuals than would be found in most western communities, often being home to only tens of people. Communities of a few hundred people are not unheard of however, and taking into account individuals from surrounding regions who may participate in village activities can take the number into the thousands. These smaller numbers make it possible to create the strong social bonds that are a fundamental part of sustainable development. By aiming to recognise and relate to others, share common resources, provide mutual aid, promote education and foster cultural expression they ensure that a strong social bond is formed between all members of the community. [2] [3]
Ecovillages recognise that culture is as important to sustainable development as the other three, more well known pillars (Figure 1). They therefore aim to create a community in which “shared creativity, artistic expression, cultural activities, rituals and celebrations” are promoted, with the overall aim of fostering a sense of community unity and mutual support. Spirituality also features strongly in their ethos, but without an emphasis on any particular spiritual practice; rather, they all share “deep green” sentiments and believe in the interdependence and interconnectedness of all life on Earth and the intrinsic value of nature. They are not solely concerned with creating a sustainable world, but a peaceful and loving one, too. [2] [3]
origin project
The Findhorn Foundation are participating in a current EU Energy Efficient Communities project (ORIGIN) and looking for opportunities to further improve their energy autonomy. ORIGIN data assisted our project in the preliminary understanding of operating patterns in a real life biomass - solar thermal system installed within the Soillse housing district of Findhorn Ecovillage, and provided a quantitative means to deliver on key deliverables. But what is it?
The ORIGIN project [4] stems from 8 organisations across Europe, namely Findhorn College, Strathclyde University, Heriot Watt University, Fraunhofer, ITI, ISA, and Solera (in conjuction with the Damanhur community, Italy). The ultimate goal of the project is to create an intelligent energy management system for use in communities; orchestrating the energy demand within a given community with the aim of aligning it better with local renewable generation supply. This will lead to lower levels of imported electricity and the associated benefits from this – i.e. cost savings, lower emissions and enhanced eco-credentials.
The management system works on the principal of scheduling (i.e. orchestrating) tasks of perceived low significance to times of high local renewable energy supply, while maintaining adequate storage capacity to satisfy key loads such as domestic heating. This level of intricacy in demand orchestration requires an innovative research approach, consisting of:
• Algorithms to help map out and predict the pattern of demand within each of the associated communities.
• Appropriately calibrated weather and correlating renewable supply forecasting tools.
• Optimisation of the energy management system – in essence seeing what works best / is most convenient to regulate.
• Continual control of all elements in the system
And follows these outlined activities in the specific following order:
The ORIGIN project [4] stems from 8 organisations across Europe, namely Findhorn College, Strathclyde University, Heriot Watt University, Fraunhofer, ITI, ISA, and Solera (in conjuction with the Damanhur community, Italy). The ultimate goal of the project is to create an intelligent energy management system for use in communities; orchestrating the energy demand within a given community with the aim of aligning it better with local renewable generation supply. This will lead to lower levels of imported electricity and the associated benefits from this – i.e. cost savings, lower emissions and enhanced eco-credentials.
The management system works on the principal of scheduling (i.e. orchestrating) tasks of perceived low significance to times of high local renewable energy supply, while maintaining adequate storage capacity to satisfy key loads such as domestic heating. This level of intricacy in demand orchestration requires an innovative research approach, consisting of:
• Algorithms to help map out and predict the pattern of demand within each of the associated communities.
• Appropriately calibrated weather and correlating renewable supply forecasting tools.
• Optimisation of the energy management system – in essence seeing what works best / is most convenient to regulate.
• Continual control of all elements in the system
And follows these outlined activities in the specific following order:
- To audit the energy network at the three validation communities
- To build numerical models of the three communities, and begin to develop appropriate business models for community-based energy management;
- To develop the various algorithms involved in the ORIGIN architecture, and specify the hardware and communications infrastructure required at each of the three communities;
- To install the ORIGIN system in each community, monitoring mode (before the algorithms are fully developed), and collect 12 months’ energy usage data from each community;
- To install the full ORIGIN architecture at each community, beginning with a brief phase in which the system is installed at a selection of buildings and tested and refined;
- To collect 12 months’ usage data in each community while the system is active, and then perform a full evaluation of the performance of the ORIGIN approach.