This picture shows the original
Village Master Plan, with the inset
showing Phase I as
currently being implemented.
Chinese Sustainable Village Prototype Update
- A draft Master Plan for the village that was developed by a design team led by William McDonough + Partners with support from Tongji University and the Benxi Urban Planning, Design and Research Institute. John Miller, AICP - a member of the US Board of Councilors for the China US Center for Sustainable Development provided additional planning expertise. Village leaders, community residents and Benxi government then refined and approved the draft plan to reflect the traditions and lifestyles of the area. The plan called for optimal solar orientation of housing, use of renewable energy, a community water system, closed-loop material and waste flows, and habitat and agricultural enhancements.
- Two demonstration homes were built as prototypes - one based on housing designs and materials developed by the Green Blue Institute, One World Design, Tongji University and the Benxi Architectural and Design Institute, and another design developed by Benxi local entrepreneur Mr. Li. Guangde. Both of these houses were "hybrids" combining both biological and technical nutrients.
- Forty-two homes based on the approved master plan and the information gained in the construction of the two demonstration homes were then built. Phase I housing is nearly complete as of December 2006. When infrastructure is complete, the homes will be outfitted with sustainable materials and systems that include radiant heat, straw gas for cooking and heating, hot and cold running water, flush toilets, wastewater treatment, passive solar heating and cooling, and a small demonstration of grid-connected photovoltaic power in one of the homes.
- US Board members John Miller from Wildwood Mahonia and Brad Zenger of Ecoworks Foundation funded five farmers and Shenyang Agricultural University to design and conduct field trials to evaluate the growing and processing of sweet sorghum as part of a feasibility study for small-scale bio-ethanol production
- An Educational Enhancement project brought twelve students from a U.S. High school to provide cross-cultural experiences, raise environmental awareness, and diversify and enhance the educational experience of Huangbaiyu elementary school students through experiential learning
- An initial assessment of Phase I is being planned to evaluate results to date and identify lessons learned. This initial assessment is a collaborative effort supported by The China-US Center for Sustainable Development, the Benxi government, Tongji University, and the local developer. A third party Expert Panel is being assembled with guidance from the Ministry of Science and Technology to review the assessment materials and to develop a Phase I status report.
Progress updates by the Benxi government and Tongji University were presented at the 2006 China-US Center Board meeting. This information in addition to a site visit by John Miller and Brad Zenger and the observations of the Intel sponsored anthropologist, Shannon May, have identified many opportunities for learning that should be addressed in the assessment.
From a sponsor's point of view, this is a very exciting development in this effort. This learning laboratory can serve to help guide, through local capacity building and standard setting, not only future villages, but even the proposed school project in Huangbaiyu. It will be important that the assessment is thorough and objective.
The other learning that arose out of this effort, from the point of view of John Miller and Brad Zenger was the realization of the fact that much like here in the U.S., the highest priority for the villagers themselves may not be better housing, but better jobs. This realization led to the funding of the early feasibility work on a small scale ethanol production facility. Due to unclear government policy and a lack of support, it was determined that moving forward with a local ethanol production facility was not feasible at this time.
Ecoworks Foundation has teamed up with with John Miller of Wildwood Mahonia, (john@.wildwoodco.com) who has a great deal of experience in planning and agriculture to work with the China-US Center to build upon this initial effort in enterprise development. Leveraging the synergy and collective resources of these two organizations in collaboration with the China-US Center, we will focus on establishing the environment or infrastructure for enterprise development in this village rather than developing a specific enterprise. This new project, to be funded in 2007 is expected to build on the experiences and benefits of connecting key faculty from Shenyang Agricultural University with local farmers.
Standby for more in 2007 - the learning continues!