Living Systems Design:
What if our buildings expressed the fact that human activity could be "100% good", an asset to the living systems surrounding us? What would it feel like if, when one entered a human habitation, one felt as if one were entering a living being? How might living systems design impact people, and our capacity to imagine and innovate further?

The primary design goal for the Teal Farm buildings is to mimic and mesh with (even enhance) the living systems that surround them, essentially transforming the built environment into a living system: making its own energy from the sun, using bacteria and plants to purify water, creating food for a host of other organisms, using gravity to flow water through the system, and developing the capacity to self-regenerate from the extended "body" of the site. It is a lofty design goal, and an ultimate experiment in living.

Farmhouse:
The farmhouse is under renovation to demonstrate innovative, durable, and aesthetically beautiful design using simple, high-quality materials. For instance, the wood used in the project is predominantly from the property or has been locally sourced or salvaged. A goal of this remodel is to combine the natural elements found on the site with a level of craftsmanship that enhances the simplicity of the materials and creates a contemporary expression of traditional practices.

Features:
Some of the building's features include: R40 walls and R60 roof insulation, rooms designed for flexible use, a composting toilette, passively cooled refrigeration, a root cellar, a reclaimed steel greenhouse, the absence of polyvinyl chloride in plumbing or wiring, super sound insulation between rooms to facilitate creative work, non-toxic materials, radiant adobe floors using local sand and clay, full manual backup systems, masonry heaters in each section of the house, a hand well pump, special electrical wiring that eliminates electro-magnetic fields, exterior redwood clapboard siding reclaimed from old wine casks, exterior cypress siding reclaimed from old sunken logs, a biological water-treatment system (constructed wetland) that purifies grey and black water, low-flush toilettes, a wood cook stove with plans to convert propane stoves to run on home-produced methane. Photo Gallery

Energy Barn:
The energy barn is a timber frame barn constructed from old Douglas fir beams salvaged from industrial buildings in the Northeast. Much like hay lofts and animal storage barns on other farms, the energy barn will gather and store energy from the site to be "fed" to the buildings. The Energy Barn will also be used in making value-added food products from what is grown on the property and to stand as an example of how buildings might some day become energy-collectors and "givers" as well as energy consumers. The energy barn will house a canning kitchen for converting our produce into storable foods. It will house all the components of the renewable energy system, including our battery bank, biodiesel backup generator, wood gasification boilers, hot water tank, solar thermal tubing and photovoltaic panels. It will also contain a small apartment for a farm manager, as well as extensive food and seed storage space. More information about our renewable system will be posted on this website, as will the extensive monitoring data we will gather. Photo Gallery

photo by Birdseye Building Company