A low energy community? A comparative study of Eco-Villages around the world

This paper investigates what is being done to produce sustainable community developments to minimize ecological footprint. Five international case studies were compared with the Govardhan Eco Village in Maharashtra, India. The study describes each case study and then looks at how various sustainable principles have been integrated into the community. Each case study was compared to an appropriate set of sustainability indicators to see which parameters were addressed. In order to establish the fundamental sustainable design focus of each case study, whether technology or human behaviour, the analysis looked at the types of parameters governing each project. Results showed the parameters incorporated in the case studies did not obviously change with time. Further scrutiny of the parameter matrix for all case studies suggested two distinctly different trends in the 'eastern' and 'western' examples. The Indian example appears to show true sustainable development, relying less on technology and more on human capital.