ReGen Village

Just outside of Amsterdam, a fantastic residential green buildingproject is being developed. Titled ReGen Village, the town will be

entirely self-sufficient in growing its own food, producing its ownelectricity, and even managing its own waste all in one

environmentally friendly loop. Indoor gardens, outside gardens,solar panel energy, and recycled compost are not just a part of daily

life in ReGen Village, they are responsible for it.

Think about it. Literally any and allhousehold waste that can be

composted will be, and it will go onto nourish livestock or soldier flies,which will then go on to feed fish,whose waste will cultivate an in-

house aquatic ecosystem that helpsto grow fruit and vegetables. As forthe livestock’s waste, it will nourishseasonal gardens that are locatedthroughout the neighborhood.

You may be wondering whathappens to the non-

compostable household waste.Well, the town will have/does

have a biogas plant thatconverts any non-compostablehousehold waste into power

and water. Just as well, awater storage system acts inconjunction with the biogas

plant to round up rainwater andgray water, and it then

distributes that collection ofwater to ReGen’s seasonal

gardens and aquaponic system.

While, on the surface, it may seemunrealistic to grow enough food forall the people in the neighborhoodon such little land, the fact is that

ReGen Village has sidestepped thispotential issue by utilizing the mostcutting-edge agricultural practices.Between aeroponics, aquaponics,

permaculture, food forests, and evenhigh-yield organic farming, the

renewable town will grow far, farmore food than traditional farms ona similar parcel of land. For context,aquaponics alone produces literallyten times as much produce as fruit

grown on land, with an astounding90% less water (despite what the

name may superficially imply).

And that’s just food. The residential communitywill also create its own energy by making gooduse of a multitude of alternative energy sourceslike geothermal, solar, solar thermal, wind, andbiomass. By implementing what’s known as a

smart grid, the town will be able to distribute saidenergy as efficiently as is currently possible.

Perhaps the most interesting part to ReGen as a whole is its future.Looking to install these environmentally-friendly communities across theplanet, James Ehrlich (the CEO of ReGen) claims “We’re really looking at a

global scale. We are redefining residential real estate development bycreating these regenerative neighborhoods, looking at first these green-filled pieces of farmland where we can produce more organic food, moreclean water, more clean energy, and mitigate more waste that if we just

left that land to grow organic food or do permaculture there.”

While this is just the first village, itdoes seem that there could be anincredible market for eco-friendlyresidential communities. I can onlyimagine what the future holds.