Acequia
A community-managed irrigation ditch system, originating in Islamic Spain and central to water governance in the American Southwest. Acequias are governed by elected mayordomos and community water-sharing agreements that represent centuries of refined communal resource management.
Adaptive management
A management approach that builds explicit feedback loops and decision points into plans, allowing continuous adjustment based on monitoring and learning rather than rigid adherence to initial designs.
Buildout
The completion of all planned development on a site — the point at which all buildings, infrastructure, and productive landscapes are established.
CC&Rs
Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions — the recorded legal document governing a homeowners association that binds all property owners in a subdivision or planned community to specific standards and rules.
Caliche
A calcium carbonate hardpan layer common in arid southwestern soils, formed by the precipitation of dissolved calcium at the depth of typical moisture penetration. Affects drainage, root penetration, and excavation planning.
CDFI
Community Development Financial Institution — a specialized lending organization that provides financing for community development projects (affordable housing, community facilities, small businesses) that conventional lenders typically avoid.
Climax community
The stable end-state of an ecological succession sequence — the plant and animal community that self-perpetuates in a given climate and soil condition without ongoing disturbance.
Cohousing
A community design model combining private dwellings with extensive shared facilities (common house, shared kitchens, common outdoor spaces) and intentional social design to foster connection and mutual support.
Community land trust (CLT)
A nonprofit organization that holds title to land in perpetuity and provides long-term ground leases to homeowners or tenants, permanently removing land from speculative markets while allowing building ownership.
Consent decision-making
A decision-making process in which a proposal is accepted when no member has a principled objection — distinguished from unanimous agreement by allowing members to “stand aside” (accept without enthusiasm) rather than requiring enthusiastic support from all.
Constructed wetland
An engineered ecosystem of gravel, soil, and wetland plants designed to treat liquid waste through biological, physical, and chemical processes. Constructed wetlands double as productive landscapes and wildlife habitat.
Diversity factor
In electrical load analysis, the factor (typically 0.7–0.8) by which peak individual loads are reduced when summing loads for a community system, reflecting the statistical reality that not all loads peak simultaneously.
Ground lease
A long-term lease (typically 99 years, renewable) of land from a community land trust to a homeowner or business, separating land ownership from building ownership.
Keyline design
A land design system developed by Australian farmer P.A. Yeomans for maximizing water infiltration and soil fertility on sloped land, using contour-based cultivation and irrigation lines.
Limited equity cooperative (LEC)
A cooperative housing structure where members own shares in the cooperative (rather than individual units) and are subject to resale restrictions that limit appreciation while building modest equity.
Microgrid
A localized energy grid that can operate independently from the main grid, typically serving a single community or campus with its own generation, storage, and distribution infrastructure.
Phase planning
The practice of dividing a large development project into sequential phases, each of which creates a functional increment of the full development, managing financial and development risk while allowing learning between phases.
Prior appropriation
The water rights doctrine used in most western US states: “first in time, first in right” — meaning the oldest water right claims have priority during shortages, regardless of land ownership.
Resilience
The capacity of a system to maintain its essential functions through disturbance, adapt to changing conditions, and recover from disruptions. In community design, resilience encompasses physical, ecological, social, and economic dimensions.
Sector analysis
A permaculture design tool that maps directional flows of energy (sun, wind, water, fire, noise, wildlife) entering a site from outside, guiding element placement to harvest beneficial flows and buffer against harmful ones.
Sociocracy
A governance system using semi-autonomous circles, consent decision-making, and double-linking to balance efficiency and equity in group decision-making. Also called dynamic governance or circular organization.
Stewardship endowment
A dedicated financial reserve whose investment returns fund ongoing community stewardship, infrastructure maintenance, and programs in perpetuity without depleting principal.
Subdivision
The legal process of dividing a larger parcel into smaller lots, governed by state and local subdivision regulations that specify minimum lot sizes, road standards, utility provision, and approval processes.
Tenancy in common (TIC)
A shared ownership structure in which multiple parties hold undivided interest in a single property, each with the right to use and occupy the whole, governed by a co-ownership agreement.
Time-banking
A mutual aid economic system in which participants record and exchange hours of service to each other, creating an internal community economy based on time rather than money.
Watershed
The land area from which all precipitation drains to a common outlet point. Watershed analysis identifies how water moves through a landscape and how land use decisions affect downstream water availability and quality.
Zone planning
A permaculture design tool that organizes land use according to frequency of management, placing elements requiring daily attention close to the home center and those requiring minimal management at the periphery.
PANGEA BIOTECTURE TEXTBOOK SERIES
Book 1: Regenerative Design Primer
Book 2: Site, Land & Earthworks
Book 3: Natural Building Materials & Construction
Book 4: Passive Heating & Cooling Systems
Book 5: Water Harvesting & Management
Book 6: Liquid Waste & Constructed Wetlands
Book 7: Off-Grid Energy Systems
Book 8: Food Systems & Integrated Growing
Book 9: Community Design & Land Development
Book 10: Pangea Academy — Teaching Regenerative Design
pangeabuild.com
Taos, New Mexico