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Sustainable Building
The buildings at the farm are as much as possible made from rammed earth, salvaged wood and stones, or other materials from near our farm. The farm has its own water source, which is purified with a bio-sand filter. Waste water is treated and re-used as irrigation water at the farm. The lodge has solar powered hot water, and the whole farm has solar electricity.
Rammed earth, bamboo and salvaged stones and wood
The lodge at the farm is made of rammed earth. Rammed earth is a technique in which a mix of earth, crushed stones, stone dust, 4% of cement and a tiny bit of water are packed into a frame, and layer for layer made into the wall of a building. The red earth was dug up in Panchkal, less than 15 kilometers away, and the crushed stones and stone dust in quarries in the neighbourhood. Only the cement and iron rods came from further away. The inner walls are made from bamboo with mud plaster. The wood used was as much as possible from the old building - beams and flooring -, new wood for the roofs and interior came from pine trees in the West of Nepal.
Drinking water, washing water and waste water treatment
The drinking water at our farm is from our own source and filtered through a bio-sand filter. The water is then cleaned for use in the kitchen and bathrooms. We filter it once more for drinking. The black water (toilets) and grey water (kitchen and showers) is gathered in our own water treatment system. The water runs through a horizontal reed bed and a vertical filter and is re-used as irrigation water on our fields.
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Hot water and solar electricity
Our hot water in the showers of the lodge is generated by hot water solar panels. Almost all electricity at the farm is generated through solar panels on the veranda of the new farm house and the panels on the cycle shed. As both buildings face South, the panels generate power between 9am and 5pm, every day.
The Lodge
