Regenerative Design Philosophy

Course competency

On completing this course you can explain what distinguishes regenerative design from sustainable design and why the difference matters; read a place — its climate, sun, water, wind and soil — as the starting point of a design rather than a constraint on one; calculate the sun's position at your own latitude and use it to orient a building; describe the six systems of a regenerative building and, more importantly, the connections between them; and judge for yourself whether this way of building is something you want to pursue further.

This course is free, and it is not a trailer

Everything here is real. If you take this course and nothing else, you should come away able to look at a building — any building, including the one you are in — and see things you could not see before. That is the whole intention. Where the paid courses go further, this course says so plainly and tells you which one takes it up. It does not withhold the good part.

The reason is simple enough to state. This knowledge is old, most of it is not proprietary, and a great deal of it is needed most by people who cannot pay for it. Earth construction, rainwater harvesting, passive solar design and biological waste treatment are low-technology, high-knowledge practices. They can be built with local labor and local materials in almost any climate on earth. The knowledge belongs to everyone, and the Academy's job is to teach it well, not to ration it.

Who this is for

All four of these people, at once, and the course is written to serve each without patronising any of them:

• Someone who wants to build their own home, with land or looking for it
• A building professional — architect, builder, engineer — deciding whether there is anything real here
• Someone with no construction background at all, who found this and was curious
• A prospective student weighing the full course track or a field session

The method that serves all four is the same: say exactly what is true, in plain words, with real numbers. A beginner is not helped by vagueness and a professional is not impressed by it.

What you will need

Nothing. No tools, no site, no prior study. A compass or a phone, and a willingness to go outside and look at where the sun actually is, will make Part B considerably better — but the course works without it.

Course structure