Building Systems

Overview

Building Systems is a fundamental component of regenerative village development. This guide synthesizes knowledge from re:build gatherings to provide practical insights for implementing building systems in community projects.

Methods and Approaches

Industrialized approaches: Taking regenerative villages to the next level involves creating industrialized approaches that can scale the right kind of infrastructure around the world. This requires balancing standardization with context-specific adaptation.

Infrastructure development: Building systems require comprehensive infrastructure development that supports all aspects of community life, from basic utilities to specialized facilities.

Off-grid systems: Some projects develop totally off-grid infrastructure that can support business operations, demonstrating independence from conventional systems while maintaining functionality.

Benefits

• Community functionality: Comprehensive building systems enable communities to function effectively and meet resident needs
• Transformation support: When you have the whole infrastructure to support it, you can focus on making immersive transformation experiences that reconnect humans with themselves, community, and nature—not just in theory, but in practice
• Independence: Off-grid infrastructure enables communities to operate independently from conventional systems
• Scalability: Well-designed building systems can scale from small projects to large infrastructure including hospitals and major facilities
• Neighborhood scale: Building systems can create neighborhood-scale infrastructure that supports community life

Key Insights

Infrastructure reality: There's infrastructure that exists regardless of whether people want it there—understanding and working with existing infrastructure is essential.

Infrastructure choices: What if we chose to live as if we had infrastructure that was regenerative rather than destructive? This question reframes how we think about infrastructure.

Big picture and details: To achieve the bigger picture, we need to figure out the particular things—the infrastructure, demand side, and all the components that make systems work.

Off-grid capability: Some projects have totally off-grid infrastructure that can support business operations, demonstrating independence from conventional systems.

Infrastructure development timeline: It can take years (e.g., two years) to get all infrastructure to a really good place—patience and persistence are required.

Infrastructure enables transformation: When you have the whole infrastructure to support it, you can focus on making immersive transformation experiences that reconnect humans with themselves, community, and nature—not just in theory, but in practice.

Trust is foundational: All infrastructure is important, but if trust breaks, none of that matters—the community fails. Trust is more fundamental than infrastructure.

Scale of infrastructure: Some projects involve huge infrastructure like hospitals and other major facilities, requiring significant planning and resources.

Examples and Case Studies

Comprehensive infrastructure projects: Projects that develop whole infrastructure systems demonstrate how building systems enable communities to focus on transformation experiences and reconnection with self, community, and nature—not just in theory, but in practice.

Off-grid infrastructure: Projects with totally off-grid infrastructure that can support business operations show how building systems can enable independence from conventional systems.

Neighborhood-scale systems: Projects that create neighborhood-scale infrastructure demonstrate how building systems can support community life at appropriate scales.

Large-scale infrastructure: Projects involving huge infrastructure like hospitals and other major facilities show how building systems can scale to support comprehensive community needs.

Best Practices

• Plan comprehensively: Develop comprehensive plans for all building systems from the beginning
• Prioritize trust: Recognize that trust is more fundamental than infrastructure—build both technical and social systems
• Think neighborhood scale: Design building systems at neighborhood scale that support community life
• Plan for timeline: Understand that comprehensive infrastructure development takes time—plan for years, not months
• Integrate systems: Design building systems to integrate with each other, creating cohesive infrastructure
• Balance scale: Consider both small-scale and large-scale infrastructure needs
• Enable transformation: Design infrastructure that enables transformation experiences and community reconnection
• Maintain flexibility: Build systems that can adapt and evolve as community needs change

Implementation Guide

To implement building systems in your regenerative village project, consider the following approach:

Phase 1: Planning and Design (Months 1-6)

• Assess all infrastructure needs (water, energy, waste, structures, etc.)
• Design comprehensive building systems integrated with each other
• Plan for both technical and social infrastructure
• Engage experts in various building system disciplines
• Create timeline recognizing infrastructure development takes years

Phase 2: Foundation Systems (Months 6-18)

• Develop basic infrastructure (access, utilities, basic facilities)
• Establish foundational systems that support all other development
• Build trust and social infrastructure alongside technical systems
• Test and validate system designs
• Begin integration of different systems

Phase 3: System Expansion (Months 18-36)

• Expand infrastructure to support growing community
• Add specialized facilities as needed
• Continue system integration and optimization
• Build neighborhood-scale infrastructure
• Monitor and maintain existing systems

Phase 4: Optimization and Enhancement (Ongoing)

• Continue optimizing systems based on performance
• Expand successful approaches
• Maintain and upgrade infrastructure
• Support transformation experiences through infrastructure
• Plan for long-term system evolution

Challenges and Considerations

Development timeline: It can take years (e.g., two years) to get all infrastructure to a really good place—patience and persistence are required for comprehensive building system development.

Trust is foundational: All infrastructure is important, but if trust breaks, none of that matters—the community fails. Trust is more fundamental than infrastructure, requiring attention to both technical and social systems.

Complexity: Building comprehensive systems requires understanding and coordinating multiple systems (water, energy, waste, structures, etc.), which can be complex.

Resource requirements: Large-scale infrastructure requires significant resources, planning, and coordination.

Integration challenges: Integrating multiple building systems into cohesive whole requires careful planning and coordination.