Permaculture Design Tools(1).pdf

(1969 KB) Pobierz

The Ultimate Permaculture Design Tools

1. Google Earth

This is a free, user-friendly and easy to navigate application that offers many useful

features and, from a permaculture design perspective, it’s a great tool for getting the

maps we need to start our design process. The basis for permaculture design is a

base map, and to make one you’ll need to combine two things; an aerial or satellite

photo of your site and a topographic map of the area. You can get both easily in

Google Earth, as the satellite images are of high resolution and topographic maps

can be conveniently imported into the software. Once you’re done, you can grab a snapshot of

your current view and export the image so you can further work on the plan in your graphic design

software of choice (more on that later) beyond Google Earth.

2. Suncalc

Key to permaculture is good observation. It’s essential to understand the forces

that are inﬂuencing your site so you can adapt your design work accordingly. One

of the most important natural forces you need to consider is the sun and its path

across your site. To ﬁnd this out, you can use the Suncalc web app to obtain a

useful map of the solar exposure that your site will receive throughout the year. The website allows

you to search for your location and, based on the desired date, get a solar access map that you

can later reference when you’re creating a sector map and trying to ﬁnd different microclimates on

the site.

3. Photoshop or GIMP

Since you’ll be handling images in your design work, you’ll need an image-

editing program. As I said before, Google Earth let’s you export the images

but, once they are in their raw form, you might want to retouch the photos or

join together the images you got from taking screenshots in Google Earth.

You can do this in a paid program such as Photoshop or a free one like

GIMP. Photoshop is the most popular image editing apps out there but, for permaculture design

purposes, GIMP should be sufﬁcient for basic image editing (cropping, stitching, adjusting colours),

and then exporting the edited image into graphic design software for the next phase of the design..

4. Illustrator or Inkscape

To draw up your site plan and the actual design, you’ll need graphic design

software. I use Illustrator, but there is also Inkscape, which is free, works on all

computer platforms and is fairly easy to use. Through the graphic design

software of your choice you can import all the images (satellite photos,

topographic maps, solar access maps), use them as a background and then

add other layers of drawings. You can switch these layers on and off to show the individual

components of a design (water, access, structures) or all the components together. You can also

zoom in and go into as much as a detail as you want as well as creating a professional looking

design.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII