Designing self-sufficient housing for temperate climate

To assess the probable results of worldwide energy shortages media reports are listed & evaluated. In England, housing is estimated to consume approximately 40% of the total national energy output, so that acute energy shortages would cause the greatest problems in that field. Therefore it is essential that houses are built which require no energy inputs other than those they can produce for themselves. The project which seems nearest to the complete answer to the problem is Ecolodge, an experimental housing unit built in Macclesfield, England, by R. Maddock. Ecolodge supplies its own heating via a solar roof plus heat-pumps, with an immersion heater as standby. Electricity is generated by windmills. Drinking water is supplied from roof-mounted solar stills, & other domestic water from rain-catchment & storage. Sewage & vegetal waste are disposed of by a methane digester, which produces methtane gas for cooking purposes, plus fertilizer for growing crops. No sewers or other communal services are required. This project shows that self-sufficient houses are feasible & that large-scale development of them would substantially minimize the effects of an impending energy shortage. 3 Figures. Modified AA.