Page "Autonomous building" Paragraph 4

In the 1970s, a group of activists and engineers calling themselves the New Alchemists believed the warnings of imminent resource depletion and starvation.

The New Alchemists were famous for the depth of research effort placed in their projects.

Using conventional construction techniques, they designed a series of " bioshelter " projects, the most famous of which was the Ark Bioshelter community for Prince Edward Island.

They published the plans for all of these, with detailed design calculations and blueprints.

The Ark used wind based water pumping and electricity, and was self-contained in food production.

It had living quarters for people, fish tanks raising Tilapia for protein, a greenhouse watered with fish water and a closed loop sewage reclamation system that recycled human waste into sanitized fertilizer for the fish tanks.

As of 2010-01-10, the successor organization to the New Alchemists has a web page up as the " New Alchemy Institute ".

The PEI Ark has been abandoned and partially renovated several times.