Abundance EcoVillage

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Welcome to Abundance EcoVillage, Iowa’s first and foremost off-grid

Set outside the charming ‘Iowa Great Places’ town of Fairfield, Iowa, Abundance Ecovillage is adjacent to an organic farms and the Sustainable Living Education Coalition campus. Located on 15 acres, the EcoVillage is a living example of the phrase “beyond sustainability.“ The Abundance EcoVillage features cutting-edge sustainable technology, and is one of the first developments of its kind in the United States.

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, resulting in better living conditions for both nature and mankind.

Our homes are carefully designed synergies of highly efficient systems pattered after nature itself.  The majority of our resources are created on-site, and waste systems are recycled or managed on-site.  Our goal is to provide you with a greater living environment that provides all the comfort of modern luxury, while leaving a much lighter footprint on our great planet.

Our sustainable development is designed to provide necessities for living in a way that not only sustains life, but enhances the ability of the earth to clean our air and water, maintain the proper balance of gasses in the atmosphere, and in general provide a beautiful and safe place to live. We are committed to living in dwellings that are good for you and good for the environment!

A Community for Everyone



By design, the Abundance EcoVillage seeks to foster opportunities for informal, positive, interesting and regular interactions between a diversity of residents.   No particular lifestyle is required to live at the Abundance EcoVillage, although many residents experience a deepening in their appreciation for nature, and a more conscious approach to interacting with Nature.   The EcoVillage features a variety of space for outdoor interaction including gardens that speckle the landscape, ponds for swimming, winding trails, and an outdoor amphitheater.  We host films, lectures, and workshops on sustainability, and concerts at our outdoor stage.  We grow vegetables and herbs in our community garden.

Commuting

Although not a requirement, many EcoVillage residents enjoy commuting by bicycle. Our community is located within 3 miles from the town-center of Fairfield, Iowa, making it an ideal location to enjoy the tranquility of country life within biking distance of city amenities. Other common destinations are 1.5 miles south to the Maharishi University campus, .8 miles south to the 17 mile Jefferson County Trail Loop or 2.5 miles northwest to Maharishi Vedic City. Many of these key destinations can be ridden by bicycle more directly on quieter rural and town roads without the need to ride on Highway 1.

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 off-grid infrastructure and greater landscape.  Power, waster, and waste management services are provided to each home much like typical houses, but at no additional 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 use 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!

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 off-grid 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, winding trails, and an outdoor amphitheater.

Source: http://www.abundanceecovillage.com