This is for the unconference on urban permaculture on 28th Jan 2012 CEPT/OIKOS meet Ahmedabad

1. Urban Permaculture
Some ideas from Bangalore India
S.Vishwanath
www.biome-solutions.com
www.rainwaterclub.org
You-tube, Twitter, Slide-share, Face-book :
zenrainman
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2. What is permaculture ?
• One definition (there are many )
• CREATING SUSTAINABLE HUMAN HABITATS BY
FOLLOWING NATURE'S PATTERNS
• Comes from permanent agriculture and then
permanent culture
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3. Who is it for ?
• It is for everyone wishing to live sustainable
and tread more lightly on the Earth.
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4. Ethics
• Earth care
respecting the earth the source of life
• People care Fair share
Helping each other to live using the earths resource
sustainably equitably
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5. Permaculture principles
• Work with nature not against
• See solutions not problems
• Seek diversity not monoculture
• Every element should serve many functions
• Yield is limited only by imagination
• Work in cycles and zones
– Source Permaculture a beginners guide –G.Burnett
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6. Earth
• Every site has earth
• In the design of the building incorporate earth
• Remove the top soil and keep it
• Design a basement to excavate earth
• Use this to make earth blocks /cob/rammed
earth for construction
• The material for walls can come from the site
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7. A basement provides earth for the house
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8. Making Earth Blocks at site
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9. RAMMED EARTH WALLING

10. 09/15/09

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12. Water
• Use rainwater falling on the site wisely
• Capture it as high as possible and store
• With the excess recharge groundwater
• Recycle and reuse all water
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14. We need to return to the culture
of the open well
Where the well talks to us daily
Where water can be drawn without electricity
Where water can be recharged
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15. Collect rooftop rainwater
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16. A rain barrel to collect water from the
stair-case roof
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17. A simple cloth filter to clean rainwater
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18. Checking rainwater for bacteria
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19. Using the sun to kill bacteria
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20. Keeping the roof clean is important
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21. Simple rainwater harvesting
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daouoJiB4
uw
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22. Energy
• Use solar energy for
– water purification
– Cooking
– Water heating
– Lighting
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23. Solar cooking
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24. Solar water heating
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25. Solar lighting
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26. Nutrients
• Compost kitchen waste
• Use Eco-san and recycle nutrients
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27. Kitchen organics composter
www.dailydump.org
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28. Treating kitchen wastewater
http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=joVL70wtLAs
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29. Use ‘Ecological Sanitation’ generated
fertilizer
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31. Eco-san
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32. • COMPOSTING TOILET (SQUATTING PAN)
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33. COLLECTORS 33

34. BATHROOM LAYOUT 34

35. The use of Ecosan
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=SqpIt1e2FDM
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36. BEFORE AND AFTER ECOSAN
CONSUMPTION (ltrs of water/day)
• DRINKING 3 • 3
• COOKING 4 • 4
• BATHING 15 • 15
• CLOTHES 23 • 20 ECOSAN
• UTENSILS 25 • 25 saving
• GARDEN 25 • 0 67.5
• FLUSHING 40 • 0.5
• TOTAL 135 • 67.5
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37. Roof-scape Bengaluru...........
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38. Roofs are
• Sterile,
• Uninteresting
and
• Heat sinks
• Yet they
receive almost
all of the
rain, sun, win
d and life
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40. Can roofs be smarter ?
Since they receive
– maximum
– Can they solve a city’s
– water,
– storm-water,
– energy,
– wastewater,
– Food and
– bio-diversity problem ?
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41. How about?
A roof that grows rice
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44. http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=9FSuWorTInw
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45. Uses only treated grey water to grow
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46. Harvests rain
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47. RAINWATER AND ECOSAN
BANGALORE’S SCENARIO
100 SQ MT OF ROOF
OUTCOME:
PRODUCES:
• 325 DAYS OF WATER
• 97,000 LITRES RAIN DEMAND SUPPLIED
• 88,000 LITRES FROM RAIN
HARVESTED • ZERO SEWAGE RUNOFF
DEMAND:
• NUTRIENTS USED
67.5 Ltrs/day X 4 pers X 365
= 98,550 LITRES
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48. Uses the Sun
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49. PROVIDES FOR BIODIVERSITY
Biome Environmental Solutions Pvt
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Ltd

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54. Roof produces and takes care of
• 100 sq. mt. 100,000 litres of water
• 100 sq. mt 200 kgs of rice and vegetables
• 100 sq. mt. All the grey water –100 ltrs/day
• 100 sq.mt All the urine 1500 litres / year
• 100 sq. mt All the solid waste generated
• 100 sq mt 32 different species of birds
• 100 SQ mt heat 100 litres daily
• Light 12 bulbs
• Cook for 4 people lunch and dinner
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55. So what can a smart roof do?
• Provide
– Food security… and grow rice, banana, vegetables
– Water security .. and treat waste water
– Energy security… and keep the house cool
– Ecological security… and help save the sparrow
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59. The future then…
60% of built Bangalore or any metropolis is roofs.
What do we do about them?
Heat sinks
or
Designed Ecological spaces
The choice is ours.
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