Infinite Cycle Sustainable Architecture Model

 

The project is to explore possible design solutions to address fossil fuel consumption in civil sector. The designed model is a modern take of a self-sustained ancient Chinese mulberry dike fish pond model agricultural model.

Usually a sustainable design imposes limitations and reductions, while this model provides and celebrates abundance. The designed model carefully investigated the energy flow and waste flow in a typical human resident, and compared and mimiced nature’s model of energy and waste flow. Under the guidance of the book Cradle to Cradle and The Upcycle by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, the designed model not only have the potential to be self-sustained in energy production and expenditure, it also provided food, jobs, waste management, reduced logistic pressure on perishable food and more. 

This project is a part of one-year research project under Master of Design program in NSCAD University.

 

Fig. 1 Nature's Cradle to Cradle Model

Fig. 2 Current Cradle to Grave Model

Fig. 3 Infinite Cycle Sustainable Model

Fig.4 Infinite Cycle Model Application on Houses

 

Design with Chinese Context

  • China is now the biggest carbon dioxide producer.
  • 56.1% of total population is urbanized, which means total city population is 770 Million.
  • China’s rural-urban inequality, including aspects such like incomes, job opportunities, medical care, education, infrastructures led to urban population surge and discriminations to agriculture workers, since working in agricultures are deemed as inability to work in the city and poverty.
  • The 2011 estimates by property analysts state that there are some 89 million empty properties and apartments in China and that housing development in China is massively oversupplied.
  • Re-building homes for majority of the population is expensive, energy-costly, material-costly and potentially environment damaging, which makes modifying oversupplied residential building to the sustainable model makes more sense over rebuilding housings. 
 

Fig. 5 Infinite Cycle Model Application on Apartments

 
 

In addition to energy self-sustain and reduction of fossil-fuel usage, the design also provides:

  • Food, could be vegetables, fruits or grains, if the vertical farming technology and local climate allows.
  • Reduce use of land, part of agricultural land could be restored to forests, which helps reduce carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, provide habitats for wild animals, etc.
  • Since vertical farming provided more agriculture-related jobs, a great percentage of farmer/peasant population that used to live in rural area could move into urban area and ease rural-urban inequality.
  • Less fuel usage and carbon emission in growing and distribution of produce, since the crops from the vertical farm can be grown, distributed and consumed locally.
  • Maybe an option for Chinese government to reduce financial impact of oversupplied real estate market by transforming its locale of agricultural production.