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03 - Holistic housing, gardening and landscaping at Vacratot, Hungary |
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Project name
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Living Together
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Keywords
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Habitat restoration, nature friendly landscape architecture, sustainable house building with reused building materials, green roof, composting toilet and constructed wetland for greywater-cleaning in Vacratot, Hungary (NE of Budapest) on a piece of land of 1 ha..
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Fig. 1: An impression of the project site at Vacratot, Hungary |
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Start of the project
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Habitat restoration project: 1995
House: 2001.
Garden: 2003
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End of the project
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House I.
phase 2003
Habitat
restoration and garden: continuous projects
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Contact person
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Dr.
Balog, Agnes
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Short
project description/ project
function
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Before
the start of the project the land had a very
intensive agricultural landuse system. The potential of the site when
buying the land : diverse topography and groundwater
level, fragmented remains of the native habitats in
the site and in the neighbourhood.
The
objective of the project:
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to create a mosaic of semi-natural
habitats,
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to
put into practice several nature friendly or environmentally less harmful
methods and materials
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to make experiments of how a family could create
harmony between the place of living and the different habitats.
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Fig. 2: Vacratot, Hungary - "close-cut" walking route near the house
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Summary of experiences
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Creation
of a special zoning of the site by setting different land-use and management
techniques. Extensive zones serve mainly habitat restoration, intensive zones
serve mainly residential use.
Creation
of a diverse hedge-system by planting native species.
Transformation
of the plough land into semi-natural grassland and woody areas (ongoing
process with regular hay-making and plantations)
The
nature friendly landscape architecture in the intensive zone (green roof on
the house) with semi-natural grassland types, re-using building materials as
built elements in the garden, plantation with native plants common in the surroundings of the area.
The
nature friendly or ecologically less harmful architecture and engineering in
and around the house with a heating system contains solar cells, a composting
toilet and a greywater-treating system (reed-root beds), recycled and reused
building materials (brick, wood, stone, roof-tile).
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Project
benefits
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Although
ten years is a short period for habitat restoration but the project indicates
that in a relatively small size of land the used methods show interesting
results, like
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different types of developing semi-natural habitats (hedges, woody areas, grasslands,
special wetlands with protected plant species),
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properly working natural systems as the part of the residential use (eg. reed-bed
clearing system or extensive green roof, native plant communities as
ornamental garden elements),
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the visible outcomes and results and the tested techniques and methods (by a
single family) make the experiment worthy of interpreting it to other interested people and experiences
also can be exchanged.
The project shows that "living together"( in the meaning of the connection house and garden, and hose-garden and
surrounding semi-natural habitats)is a great possibility for helping
nature to restore herself in residential areas and show the possibility (and some different possible ways) of creating a
needful harmony between men and nature.
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Project
level
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Mature
knowledge
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Financial scale
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Construction costs:
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house: around an average (not nature friendly) type with less expensive issues (e.g.
reused materials) and more expensive techniques (eg. solar cells+connected
engineering)
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garden: much lower costs as a well constructed average ornamental garden
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habitats: continuous "construction" (mainly plantations) and maintenance
Maintenance costs/year:
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habitats. Grasslands: approx: 50. 000 HUF/year
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plantations: approx: 30. 000 HUF/year
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watering: approx. : 10. 000 HUF/year
Note: both construction and mainly maintenance require a lot of own work (family
members and friends).
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Fig. 3: The extensive grassland on the roof, developing hedge and grassland habitat in the background
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Environmental conditions
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Continental
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Altitude
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140 m above sea-level
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Description of special local conditions
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The area
is situated near a relatively large stream with woodlands and grasslands
under extensive land-use and gardens and family houses with intensive land-use.
The place is 40 km from Budapest.
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| Why this is ecological engineering
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The project shows the possibility how a family can contribute to sustainable land-use integrating ecology, economy and social life.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 December 2007 )
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