imagining the multi-directional grid

System diagram outlining the transition from a single direction, top down, fossil fuel heavy grid to a multi-directional, locally generated, mostly solar, smart grid.

design guidelines

The following is a list of design guidelines, compiled from the collection of case studies brought in the previous posting. These are similarly divided into three categories: Water, Energy and Controlled Environments.

WATER-

1. Use existing topography and gravity forces.

2. Provide basins to capture runoff water from expansive catchment areas

3. Provide auxiliary reservoirs for water needs (both domestic and agricultural) for minimum 2 rain seasons.

4. Allow interconnectivity between reservoirs to optimize water availability (communicating vessels).

5. Take advantage of air born moisture (dew), rain collected from rooftops and reclaimed wastewater.

6. Invest in long term aquifer recharge- enhance water table by releasing cleansed water back to the wadi.

ENERGY-

1. Plan a system compatible with existing electrical grid, ready for incremental deployment

2. Select energy production technology according to site context, orientation, topography, community size, solar radiation available, climate data etc.

3. Allow for two way transmission- the inverted grid

4. Plan adequate storage for down times

5. Enable system modularity for future upgrades

6. Integrate smart grid capabilities: web communication, networking, monitoring and responsive feedback loops

CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS-

1. Study the physical and cultural context, in multiple scales

2. Acknowledge the limitations of the closed system- plan imports and exports to be in healthy equilibrium

3. Work with the site conditions and natural processes of the system

4. Encourage self organization and emergence patterns

5. Synthesize effective water, energy and agricultural systems with urban place making.

systems catalogue

The following is an overview of strategies, systems and projects. These are used as precedents to inspire a compilation of design guidelines, for the synthesizing of water and solar infrastructures with controlled environments. This will form the bulk of chapter 3.

Potential mapping

The 3 systems layered, overlapping with existing roads and borders.
(not sure why this uploads so strangely)

Water opportunities

Energy opportunities

Soil opportunities

In the next few weeks I will be compiling information on rainwater collection systems in arid zones, to be used as a precedent and basis for the water system design. This seems to be the limiting factor of this hybrid system, and so needs to be resolved to establish the foundations or basic assumptions of the project. Later on the same approach will be applied to overlay the energy systems and the greenhouse agriculture. Hopefully the effective hybridization and appropriate form will then emerge...

hot, flat and crowded

What better day than today to be reading 'Hot, flat and crowded' by Thomas L.Friedman... Summer is upon us in full fierce, and even if only for 3 days, in Canada too we comprehend, by the pores of our skin, what difference only a few degrees make. Now imagine this as a daily average for 4-5 months of the year. Imagine 10 degrees more during reoccurring heatwaves. Imagine very little shade, no air conditioning and depleting water resources. For many this is the current state of reality. For many more (estimated by Friedman at about 5 billion) it will become so by 2050. The good news are that Canada, North America and parts of Europe will likely not take much of the heat. The bad news is that we should still care. According to Friedman population is growing mostly in underdeveloped countries, which are also surprisingly close to the equator. The world is flattened by the internet and communication revolution, and all these billions of people who are soon to be born will want to turn on the light, drive a car and post on their blogs. So we then realize global growth is something we need to manage, since it can not be avoided. However, the effects of its carbon footprint, at its current emission rate, on global climate change may be well beyond our ability to set things right, once the process is beyond a certain tipping point. "Avoid the unmanageable and manage the unavoidable", in Friedman's own words. Friedman's green revolution is not a revolution of feel good recycling and efficient light bulbs. It is an infrastructural revolution of global magnitudes. The goal is to avoid doubling CO2 emissions by 2050, while still supporting growth. One of the strategies suggested, as a part of a global solution, is to increase solar power seven-hundred fold and eliminate all coal fired power. Our 5 billion friends by the equator might be able to help with that.