Designed to be completely self-sustaining, Regen Villages are a proposed solution to a growing number of global concerns.
ReGen Villages: ‘The Tesla of eco-villages’
Described by James Ehrlich, CEO of ReGen Villages, as the ‘Tesla of eco-villages’, these self-sustaining communities fuse modern science and technology with gorgeous Scandinavian architecture. They have been designed in collaboration with Danish architectural firm, EFFEKT, and are set to be the future of eco-friendly and sustainable living.
ReGen stands for regenerative, where the outputs of one system are the inputs of another. The concept has a holistic approach and combines a variety of innovative technologies, such as energy positive homes, renewable energy, energy storage, door-step high-yield organic food production, vertical farming aquaponics/aeroponics, water management and waste-to-resource systems – www.effekt.dk/work#/regenvillages/
Key Features
ReGen Villages will be completely self-sustainable, meaning they are capable of existing completely off the grid. Each building will have a greenhouse with vertical farming systems, which will grow produce year-round, even during the notoriously cold winter months. Solar panels will provide hot water and enough power to make each home energy positive. Homes will also fitted with natural ventilation, and an organic waste management system.
Outside of individual homes, public spaces will include community and learning centres, playgrounds, and even electric car charging stations.
The Benefits
It is hoped that these regenerative neighbourhoods will offer a solution to a number of increasing problems that are arising from the unsustainable way of modern life. Food and water security, climate change, global warming, and waste management are all targeted through a system that provides clean and sustainable living.
A combination of organic farming and agriculture with the application of modern technology ensures that the eco-friendly community will be energy-positive. ReGen’s communities will also reduce the burden on local and national governments through their ability to exist off the grid and sustain themselves.
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The independence of the neighbourhoods will also help to drive down the cost of living, creating an affordable alternative to the increasingly damaging ways of modern living.
The first community is planned for the Netherlands, and is set to be complete in 2017. If successful, Ehrlich plans to expand across northern Europe and eventually to the Middle East. Citing overpopulation as an impending global problem, Ehrlich sees this kind of sustainable community as something that could benefit living situations in rural India, sub-Saharan Africa, and many other places on a global scale.
