Greenway
(Animated by Lily Ericsson)
There is a world in which humans integrate into the water-nutrient cycle. Welcome to Greenway, an achievable, sustainable vision from Earle Barnhart and Hilde Maingay.
Greenway is a vision of an ecological neighborhood, where basic needs – food, water, shelter, transport, communications – are provided in ecologically sustainable ways with renewable energy. It’s a network of homes, greenhouses, garden, and businesses, connected by sheltered corridors. Housing is integrated with agriculture. Biology is integrated with technology. People are integrated with the cycles of the Earth.
Greenway – then & now
New Alchemy Institute first explored the concept of bioshelters from 1970 to 1990, including design, research and testing of prototypes.
Among our major tasks is the creation of ecologically derived human support systems – renewable energy, agriculture, aquaculture, housing and landscapes. The strategies we research emphasize a minimal reliance on fossil fuels and operate on a scale accessible to individuals, families, and small groups.
– Bulletin of the New Alchemists, Fall 1970
How do we get to Greenway?
The Cape Cod Ark is capable of growing food and fish year-round in a temperate climate, without any fossil fuel inputs. 
In the Greenway, modern life continues in a sustainable, comfortable setting. 
A network of homes connected by sheltered corridors that collect rainwater and grow food. 
Eco-infrastructure provides essential food, water, shelter and utilities. 
Food can be grown year-round in temperate climates with solar energy. 
Outdoor permaculture gardens provide additional crops during warm months. 
Orchards of regionally appropriate nut varieties, such as this Chinese chestnut, provide food energy year-round. 
Fish are grown in solar ponds, which also irrigrate greenhouse crops. 
Condensation from the greenhouse replenishes the ponds, and drip irrigration supplies nutrient-rich water to greenhouse crops. 
Lettuce and other greens can be grown hydroponically on top of the solar fish ponds. 
Chickens eat kitchen wastes and produce eggs and a source of nutrient-rich fertilizer. 
Housing is integrated with food production and community-scale utilities. 
Electric scooters help transport heavier loads. 
Solar energy provides electricity. 
Evaporation and condensation from solar fish ponds provide solar energy, especially when temperatures fall at night. 
Condensation and rainwater collection provides a steady source of pure drinking water. 
Human waste is collected in an advanced eco-toilet system that composts it for future use as fertilizer. 
Solar energy and plants provide light, heat, clean air and happiness to residents.
The Greenway is a blueprint for a next-generation bioshelter. Its eco-architecture includes housing, a close connection to outdoor agriculture, and recycling of food nutrients, designed at a community scale. It is a realizable vision of a sustainable habitat for humans on this planet.
- Safe food is produced locally, efficiently, and organically in greenhouse gardens and fish ponds, as well as outdoor chicken coops and permaculture gardens, fields, and orchards.
- Water for drinking and irrigation comes from capturing, storing and purifying rainwater.
- Shelter is provided by apartments and homes connected by sheltered corridors.
- Nutrient recovery and recycling is enabled by eco-toilets and composting centers.
- Renewable energy provides power for electric vehicles, heating, cooling, and all equipment.
- Communication is by conventional WiFi, Internet and GPS.
Read more about the Greenway vision in a downloadable PDF here.
We are all climate refugees
Environmental refugees will need to be housed in new, well-designed, low-energy inland villages or self-reliant settlements, minimizing transport and fossil fuel uses.
Bill Mollison, Permaculture, 1988
Greenway infrastructure is well-suited to provide housing and basic needs to people displaced by climate change, without adding emissions. The architecture is decentralized, but is also interconnected to facilitate travel and communication. It is modular, to allow for mass-production and rapid assembly.
By integrating housing with food production and community-scale utilities, this eco-infrastructure has the potential to 1) provide humane shelter and security for climate refugees and 2) replace the climate-destroying industrial infrastructure that supports our current society.
Videos
The following videos were produced by The Green Center. Subscribe to the Greenway YouTube channel for updates as more videos are added!
Cape Cod Ark
A real life version of a Greenway, where Green Center founders Earle and Hilde live.
(Produced by Levi Baruch)
Follow the Water
(Animated by Lily Ericsson)
Follow the water through the Greenway to a more sustainable way of life. Rainwater from the roof is collected inside, where it passes through aquaponics ponds, is used to store solar heat, and then is used to irrigate indoor and outdoor gardens. Some rainwater water is purified for drinking and cooking. After multiple uses the water is evaporated back to the sky by plants or is released into the environment as unpolluted groundwater.
Water tubes
(Animated by Lily Ericsson)
The Green Center 