Because Sustainability is not enough.
Sustaining the system as it is today, is no longer an option. Change can be exciting and creative, designing for a regenerative culture that can restore balance and help us all thrive. Thats why for over 20 years we have been working with people from around the world experimenting, learning and unlearning, and implementing creative outside the box problem solving. We focus on using bioregionally appropriate and regenerative solutions with a systems thinking approach and permaculture ethics, “Care for the Earth, Care for the people, and fair share of the abundance”. If you are looking for design solutions for your living or work space, land or garden, or integrating how you think about shelter, food, energy, it is time to go beyond. Let’s create synergy!
Services
What We Do
Consulting is the first step and we can bring fresh perspective to your solution search and develop creative designs for your vision. Observation is one of the core principles of Permaculture and key to our consultation services. (Permaculture is an approach to land management and philosophy that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole systems thinking. It uses these principles in fields such as regenerative agriculture, rewilding, community resilience and constructing shelter and integrated structures.) Lets get started together.
Regenerative Design and Construction: This is the concept to completion side of our services. You may have a plan already in mind but want to integrate a more systems thinking approach to shelter, water, sun, food. Maybe you want to know how your space could be more efficient, capture and store energy, be more functional, beautiful and regenerative (like recycled or reused materials, long lasting and recyclable options, carbon negative materials, or natural and local resources). We can take your concept to a digital rendering, plans and engineering , all the way to the finished on the ground project that goes beyond building for a more regenerative world.
Education is a critical part of making the world more livable, equitable, and for all life on the planet to thrive. With years of experience leading workshops with both young and old, creating education opportunities is key to regenerative culture. It may be the client who want to learn how their systems can function, or want to get their hands dirty learning a natural building technique. Or you may want to let us host a workshop to share the opportunity and skill building with youth or your larger community. Bioregionally appropriate projects need to be pollinated so people can see and spread new ways of doing and being. REAL learning, (Realational, Experiential, Authentic, and Local/Global) is key to our project based education focus.
We need to go Beyond Sustainability
40%
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions come from buildings. Currently the vast majority of energy used in buildings is from non-renewable, fossil fuel resources. On the other hand, the building sector also has the highest potential for energy efficiency and carbon sequestration. The built environment can be the next great carbon sink. We can move beyond.
40%
Buildings use about 40% of global energy, 25% of global water, 40% of global resources, and they emit approximately 1/3 of GHG emissions.
Why Beyond Building
Any successful climate protection strategy must consider residential and commercial buildings, which are responsible for almost 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.
Buildings need integration into the habitat that surrounds them. They can use permaculture design principles to achieve this.
Use low carbon materials and solutions
The techniques and strategies used to apply these principles vary widely depending on the location, climatic conditions and resources that are available. The methods may differ, but the foundations to this wholistic approach remain constant. By learning these principles you can acquire valuable thinking tools that help you become more resilient in an era of change.
- Natural products or those with low energy manufacturing processes. For example, timber or materials with natural fibers come from renewable sources and can be used with low processing.
- Materials with recycled content.
- Reuse materials, upcycling, and repurposing.
- Reducing virgin materials demand by design.
- Reducing fossil energy demand.
- Reducing need for material replacements during building life-cycle.
“a true renaissance man“
Jason is a true renaissance man, … on a multitude of topics, including design, building, sustainability, visual and performing arts – often combining all of these elements in his projects…
Glenn Chickering, Head of Faculty Green School Bali
“transformative.”
His work with the renewable
energy hub, known as the OROS (Operation Rain or Shine) project, was transformative. From designing
and building with bamboo and other sustainable materials to incorporating hydro and solar technology…
Kyle King, Head of High School
Green School Bali
“remarkable”
When ten different builders will tell you ten different ways something cannot be done, Jason finds 100 ways it can be done. He has a remarkable level not only for creativity, but for construction that is as sustainable as it is beautiful.
Robert Rivers, Owner and founder of Imagine Nation Brewing
dig deeper
Permaculture Ethics
Earth care
The Earth is a living, breathing entity. Without ongoing care and nurturing there will be consequences too big to ignore.
Earth Care can be taken to mean caring for the living soil. The state of the soil is often the best measure for the health and well-being of society. There are many different techniques for looking after soil, but the easiest method to tell if soil is healthy is to see how much life exists there.Our forests and rivers are the lungs and veins of our planet, that help the Earth live and breathe, supporting many diverse life forms. All life forms have their own intrinsic value, and need to be respected for the functions that they perform – even if we don’t see them as useful to our needs.
By reducing our consumption of ‘stuff’, we reduce our impact on the environment, which is the best way to care for all living things.
People Care
If people’s needs are met in compassionate and simple ways, the environment surrounding them will prosper.
People Care begins with ourselves and expands to include our families, neighbours and wider communities. The challenge is to grow through self-reliance and personal responsibility. Self-reliance becomes more feasible when we focus on non-material well-being, taking care of ourselves and others without producing or consuming unnecessary material resources.By accepting personal responsibility for our situation as far as possible, rather than blaming others, we empower ourselves. If we can recognise that a greater wisdom lies within a group of people, we can work with others to bring about the best outcomes for all involved.
The permaculture approach is to focus on the positives, the opportunities that exist rather than the obstacles, even in the most desperate situations.
Fair Share
We are provided with times of abundance which enables us to share with others.
Established fruiting trees are likely to produce more than one person can eat. It takes time to pick and preserve the harvest, and there are limits to how much fruit we can use. There are many ways that we benefit from giving a fair share of the bounty to others in our community.
The growth in human consumption and the accelerating extinction of species make clear the impossibility of continuous growth. Sometimes we need to make hard decisions and consider what enough is.
We need to focus on what is appropriate for us to do, rather than what others should do. By finding the right balance in our own lives we provide positive examples for others, so that they can find their own balance.
Large or small, regenerative design systems can be integrated into any space, garden, business, school, or home.
Building integrated food systems and natural cooling, season extension and reimagined spaces, reengineering and restoring irreplaceable historic structures, working with natural materials, designing for passive solar, recycled materials, super insulated and healthy wall systems, and creative spaces that inspire. Go beyond building.
beyond-building.org 