Design Philosophy

Our community is a leading example of successful sustainable design.

The ABUNDANCE ECOVILLAGE is a place where neighborhood design, energy, water, waste recycling, and landscaping are all designed to work in tune with nature. This means that the systems we use to obtain living necessities are both socially and environmentally responsible, promoting health and prosperity for both the inhabitant and the greater environment.

Performance & Ease

We believe that sustainable living should be easy, so we’ve designed our systems so that perform with no effort to the resident.  Homeowners pay a monthly fee, which covers the cost of maintaining our sustainable infrastructure and greater landscape.  Power, water, and waste management services are provided to each home much like typical houses, but at very low cost!  Who wouldn’t want to live this way?

Sustainable Design

We have incorporated alternative resource management such as solar hot water, photovoltaic, wind turbines, rain catchment, and constructed wetland waste treatment into our 15 acre site design. In home construction, we are extremely conscious about the materials we use, promoting use of healthier, renewable resources, and recycling waste generated from construction whenever possible. We carefully design our energy systems to use as little power possible, and make use of clean, renewable energy sources. During construction, EcoVillage home envelopes are heavily inspected and sealed against any air infiltration, and boast superior insulation values for better efficiency. In addition, we build our homes according to passive solar design, utilizing the sun’s energy to heat or cool the home according to the appropriate season. In short, the Abundance EcoVillage dwellings are dream homes that nourish both your soul and your ecosystem!

For details on all the sustainable components built into the EcoVillage, please explore Village Features.

Maharishi Vastu

The Abundance EcoVillage homes are designed and constructed according to the principles of Maharishi Vastu, or Vastu, a building system with roots in ancient Vedic India, which was brought to the western world in the mid 90’s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Vastu is the science of building in harmony with nature, and emphasizes three key principles: right direction, right placement of rooms, and right proportion. These principles are largely based on the energy of the sun and the effect it has on the human physiology. For example, as the sun moves across the sky, it radiates different qualities of energy at different times of the day, which trigger a specific response in the body. By properly dimensioning rooms and allowing for the appropriate quality of sunlight according to the rooms purpose, we are able to enhance health, mental clarity, and creativity. For more information, please visit: www.maharishivastu.org

A hallmark of Maharishi Vastu is the ornamental Kalash, located on the roof of each house. This specifically dimensioned ornament is thought to bring peace, stillness, and good health to the residents of the home.

Community

The Abundance EcoVillage was designed to be accommodating to individuals from all walks of life. We want to prove that living more sustainably is achievable for any individual, without making modern day sacrifices. We ask that residents follow specific guidelines during construction to ensure proper functioning with our sustainable design, but going forward no particular lifestyle is required to live at the Abundance EcoVillage. Many residents have experienced a more conscious approach to interacting with Nature, by virtue of overall design of the EcoVillage.

Should residents wish to engage in community activity, ample common grounds are available. The EcoVillage features a variety of space for optional outdoor community interaction including gardens that speckle the landscape, ponds for swimming, and winding trails.

After six years of living in our lovely timber-frame-style Sthapatya-Ved home, we have noticed improved emotional and mental well being along with fewer health problems compared to the many places we have lived previously. Our friends always love attending our movies and parties since they experience a subtle but heightened spiritual awareness inside and they frequently comment about how more fortunate they would be if they could only live in such a house. -John Salerno, Resident