2.2.2. Design Assignment

Design Assignment

The chief purpose of the design exercise for the Permaculture Design Course is to give you the opportunity to try out the various tools of permaculture design in a real life situation. Mollison's intent with this course was to create graduates who could and would actually use the information. Thus, we apply information from each section as we go through the course.

In the process, you will explore what differentiates permaculture design from other forms of design, and what principles and tools are used in the creation of a permaculture design. We use tools familiar to other designers, but we use them in different ways. These ways allow us to look more holistically at what we are designing. 

Certain ways of communicating a design are widely accepted in permaculture and other professional fields such as contractors, etc. This includes a base map, drawing overlays, and a design report. Whatever you use to communicate the design is legitimate, as long as it communicates and provides the client with what they need.  

Even if all you want to do is garden, you will get a better result by following as many steps of this design process as possible. We will cover more details for each of these steps in the class, and will focus on gradiently completing the design so you know which steps are next and can pace yourself through the course. 

Design is a non-linear process, but yet there are some aspects that require earlier steps in order to be done well. The below is a suggested linear pathway to complete a design, but realize that you will likely go back and forth, going deeper into each part of the process in a non-linear fashion. Nature is very non-linear in many ways, and so is design work based on the natural world and human nature. These steps can be simple, and we’ll share what we know of how to keep them that way. 

One of the key parts of design that is often neglected is the site assessment and client interview (see appendix in this section to access these tools). These are well worth spending time on - these assessment tools can often save thousands of dollars and years of work, not to mention unintentional harm to ecosystems.

The earlier these are done in the process, the better. These can be reviewed and tweaked or redone periodically if needed, as you gather more info and experience with the site and with your interaction with it. 

We strongly urge designers to spend as much time as needed on these two actions as it can improve your design exponentially and the act of completing them can produce a valuable yield in itself.

This checklist introduces you to what elements the design you do in order to complete the course should have. We will go over these elements in depth in the course, and you will complete many of them through the exercises in the course.

We will also periodically remind you of approximately where you should be in the process to complete on time, though this course is self paced and people approach this exercise in unique ways. So it is ultimately up to you to pace yourself. Keep in mind that we will provide extensions if needed. The important thing is that you feel you can apply the information.

You will hit upon terms in this checklist that you may not be familiar with. We will dive into these terms in this section of the course, and you will also find them in the glossary. Please let us know if you hit upon a term that you would like to see covered but is missing, or unclear, in the glossary! 

WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN YOUR DESIGN PRESENTATION?

A full whole systems design can be a lot of work. One of our mentors would not accept a permaculture design that was less than 100 pages as a legitimate permaculture design to complete his course. He felt it could not include enough assessment or other information to be successful with less work.

Because this is an introductory course, we’re not asking you to do that here - but to familiarize yourselves with the concepts and tools and use them on some level in your design. We are not looking for perfection, but the goal is for you to practice each step in the design process so you're familiar with each aspect.

Keep in mind that we will walk you through the process step by step and that it is a gradient, ever deepening process. A number of exercises in the course will actually be part of the design process, so you'll be completing different elements as you do those exercises.

As a note, my first design was not 100 pages! But having since done a number of designs with 100+ pages, I can say that it made me a much better designer, and would encourage anybody to do at least one design of that depth to experience what you can learn from that.

These are elements that should be included in your design presentation:  

• The goals of the design. What do you (or the client) want to accomplish? What is the overarching goal? Are there specific, smaller goals that will help to achieve that? Your goals provide a channel, focus and context for the design. 
  
  
• A base map. This is an accurate, to scale drawing, with the existing elements drawn onto the map. It is a record of what currently exists on the site. This does not need to be a beautiful artistic rendering. We are looking for a depiction of where things currently are on your site. This can be a google map, or a county site plan, or your own to-scale drawing, or whatever record is available. You will add your design elements to this map when you get to that step.
  
  The process of fitting things on the map can help you see what is physically possible, and where the limitations are. It provides a base to do your design on, which gives installers an accurate guide that they can follow. Some of the data that can be included on a base map (sometimes on separate maps): What is the slope of the land (topographic map)? Where are the underground pipes (electric, water, internet/phone)? Where are buildings, trees, access and paths, fences, wells, springs or swamps, etc?
  
  
• Client interview and site assessment. These are found in the appendix for this section. Some of the exercises in the course will provide info for your site assessment. We don't cover every element in order to keep the course a reasonable length but you're encouraged to continue to explore the elements on the site assessment. 
  
  
• Sector analysis (an analysis of external energies, like wind patterns, that can affect your system) and zone map (moving from intensive interaction to less intensive interaction). We recommend putting these on separate overlays or copies of the base map. These help you determine where to place elements and what elements may be needed in some cases (to address challenges or opportunities from sectors). 
  
  
• Name the elements you’d like in the design that will meet your goals. These are the physical things that will be placed on the site, like plants, buildings, water features, fencing, etc. Include a tentative plant list appropriate to your site’s climate & micro-climates, access routes, any buildings, water catchment, energy, and other elements.
  
  
• This is a good place to do a function analysis. Functional analysis is the act of naming what each element needs and what each element provides and thinking through how you can create beneficial relationships between them by where you place them.
  
  For instance, bananas need water - by placing a banana circle around an outdoor shower you can capture the water runoff from the shower (something the banana needs and shower provides), while giving an exotic feel and some privacy to the shower (the person taking the shower would like and bananas provide).
  
  You have now created a symbiotic relationship between bananas and shower by matching needs with resources. Function analysis helps you increase the yield of each element you have on the site, with less work. This does not need to be presented in your design, but it is a powerful exercise write down the needs and resources of each element.
  
  
• Place the design elements on the map. This can be done with a bubble diagram at first (this depicts the general areas where you would put things like the food forest, buildings, garden, rain catchment, etc. It can be done with circles drawn on a base map). Don’t be afraid to move anything, throw it out completely and play around with it.
  
  We highly recommend doing more than one version of this bubble diagram, to see how things might flow if placed in different places. This is where you really dig in to apply all of the permaculture principles.
  
  Once you have a general idea of flow, relationships, and access, start adding details of where specific elements will go. Again, don't be afraid to move them around at first. On a complex design, we'll create correct sizes of trees and other elements, cut them out, and move them around on the site. That gives us a great visual and helps us determine things like where trees once fully grown, will fit.
  
  This is where you really dig in to apply all of the permaculture principles, and get to be wildly creative. So splurge on this step, have fun, explore the possibilities!
  
  

• Stage the installation of the design – i.e. phase 1, phase 2, phase 3 - and approximate order and priority within each stage. We do not expect a step by step detailed program, but a general strategy plan in sequential order that would be appropriate. What structures need to go in first, so you don't have to dig plants up or you don't cut off machinery access, etc? Some exposed or degraded/compacted sites will need soil work or windbreaks before installing fruit trees, for instance. If you're using machinery to dig swales / ponds / dams, or to retrofit or build a home, when will that happen?
  
  For instance:
    First phase: Dig foundation for barn, install irrigation, plant fruit trees.
    Second phase: Install barn, build and plant veggie garden
    Third phase: Add animals, install pond
  
  
• Create a budget estimate. To start with this can be a rough ballpark estimate. This helps determine phases and also how realistic the design is. 
  
  Example:
    Barn - $25K
    Plants - $3K
    Irrigation - $2K
    Chicken coop - $300
  
  
• Evaluation – what is the feedback loop and how will progress be measured?  This should measure what is important to you. What do you want to improve?
  
  Example:
    Yields of individual types of crops (we tend to count our first crop of things like persimmons and avocados and celebrate!
     How many plants do you now know how to take care of? What do your children now know?    
     Knowledge is a great yield!
    Grocery bill per month (easy way to measure how much of your own food you're growing).
    Utility bill (if you're adding passive cooling or solar, etc).
    Time off to play in the garden or elsewhere.
  
  
• Include an explanation of how you are using the permaculture principles in your design. This indicates you have learned the key tools of permaculture design (as opposed to other types of design) and can use them in an actual design.
  
  Especially important are capturing and storing energy, increasing energy efficiency, multiple functions for resiliency, integration and beneficial connection between elements, ensuring there is more than one element to meet vital functions (like water), use of renewable resources, capturing waste.
  
  How is this design going to create a site that produces more than it consumes? Writing down how you’re using each principle deepens your skill at incorporating them into your thinking. This does not have to be in depth; simply noting an element or two that incorporates a principle works, for instance.
  
  
• The design should include something from each petal of the permaculture flower. The flower is a design tool to ensure you are addressing the full scope of what is possible with permaculture design.
  
  Don't forget to include the invisible structures!  For example, you could include the physical elements of invisible structures such as a meeting room in the house or a separate structure for community related activity on the property on the map, and you would make sure to include a description of invisible structures in your written report/presentation.
  
  Omitting financial or social elements of the design can cause the design to fail, while including them can cause yields to increase substantially.
  
  
• The design presentation will be in writing. The main part of your design will be the drawing. This is where you communicate the location of your elements - what you are adding to the site. You can weave other aspects of this list into the drawing, or present them separately. In addition to the drawing, people have used an outline, written report, powerpoint, and/or other visuals to communicate the different aspects of the design.
  
  You can choose to share this with other students (which is always appreciated by students), or submit privately. We have included examples of designs in different parts of the course, including later in this section. We go through each of these steps when we do designs for clients.
  
  We don't present everything to the client, but we still find each of these steps useful to creating a better design. And remember, everything you do in life is designed - when decisions are made, you are designing your life. Having actual tools to design your life regeneratively can have all sorts of impact down the road. 

INCLUDE THESE SECTIONS IN THE DESIGN PRESENTATION: 

• Base map
• Zones (mapped)
• Sectors (mapped)
• List of elements to be included in design
• Plant list
• Drawing showing placement of elements on the base map
• Staging of installation (rough)
• Rough budget
• How you will measure design success (feedback loops)

How have you incorporated the design principles?

How have you incorporated the permaculture flower?

Working through each of these points may reveal areas that you don't fully understand. We take that as a feedback loop and continue to strive to make the material as accessible as possible, so we really value that feedback. Instructors will be available throughout the course to help you one on one or in group meetings through any section you may have questions about.

This is included in the price of the course, so don't hesitate to reach out. Almost no one gets through this course without questions. We strive to answer them in the course itself as they come up but it's just the nature of the topic that people will have questions related to your personal site, or the design process, etc. We're happy to help! 

Client Reports

This is what our client reports generally look like:

Client goals and priorities
Summary of what exists on the site - challenges and opportunities
Design recommendations
     List of elements
     Explanations of why we're doing certain things

Drawing of site with:

    Placement of elements including plants
    Zones (we recommend this is on its own map/overlay)
    Sectors (we recommend this is on its own map/overlay)

Plant list and care
Phases/Staging for installation
Budget and materials

Appendices:
     Client interview
     Site survey
     (optional for client) Needs and resources survey
     (optional for client) Site analysis (includes Scale of Permanence)