Self-organization is a process where some form of overall order or coordination arises out of the local interactions between smaller component parts of an initially disordered system.What's missing from this rudimentary definition is that the rules or triggers of the direction of coordinated change are very simple, yet attuned to the local environment. A classic example would be a school of fish, with each component (individual fish) reacting to the movement of the group as well as to events outside the group without any great sophistication (the fish is a simple creature), yet with a resulting over-all sophistication (the school moves with a stunning agility and fluidity in the face of danger).
The process of self-organization can be spontaneous, and it is not necessarily controlled by any auxiliary agent outside of the system. It is often triggered by random fluctuations that are amplified by positive feedback. The resulting organization is wholly decentralized or distributed over all the components of the system. As such, the organization is typically robust and able to survive and, even, self-repair substantial damage or perturbations. Chaos theory discusses self-organization in terms of islands of predictability in a sea of chaotic unpredictability. Self-organization occurs in a variety of physical, chemical, biological, robotic, social, and cognitive systems. Examples of its realization can be found in crystallization, thermal convection of fluids, chemical oscillation, animal swarming, and neural networks.The article notes how economists like Paul Krugman and Friedrich Hayek utilized the idea of self-organization, but there is no mention of self-organization in relation to urban planning.
But perhaps autonomous buildings, as the smallest of components of the urban fabric, could introduce the question of self-organization into the field.
More specifically, with the dramatic and on-going fall in the price for solar PV, the potential for an autonomous building to be self-reliant and self-contained depends on its capacity to house a functioning septic system.
What is a septic system?
A septic system is an on-site method of treating and disposing of sanitary wastewater. A typical septic system often consists of the following:
A single septic systems can serve more than single household.Septic systems may also have grease traps or other pre-treatment technologies. More sophisticated designs can include several small septic tanks that drain to a dry well, or connections to multiple absorption areas used on a rotating basis.
- Buried tank - removes suspended solids from raw wastewater
- Effluent distribution system
- Soil absorption area – provides for additional effluent treatment and attenuation through the processes of adsorption, dispersion, and biodegradation
Septic systems are commonly found in rural and suburban areas where people often rely on ground water for their drinking water. Septic systems that are properly sited, designed, constructed, operated, and maintained pose little threat to drinking water sources. However, poorly designed, maintained, or operated septic systems can contaminate ground water or surface water.
What is a large-capacity septic system?
A septic system is considered a large capacity septic system (LCSS) if it receives solely sanitary waste either from multiple dwellings or from a non-residential establishment and the system has the capacity to serve 20 or more persons per day.Apartment buildings, for example, can utilize both conventional and alternative septic systems. The conventional systems consist of either basic systems that utilize gravity or the pressure distribution model that distributes wastewater throughout different areas of the drainfield simultaneously. The alternative systems consist of either 1) an aerobic treatment unit uses oxygen to decompose solid waste in the septic tank more efficiently or 2) a mound systems that are suitable for areas where apartment buildings have little or insufficient soil for wastewater treatment.
In general, LCSSs may be found serving the following facilities:
- Apartment buildings
- Trailer parks
- Schools and religious institutions
- Office, industrial, and commercial buildings
- Shopping malls
- State parks and campgrounds
- Recreation or vehicle (RV) parks
- Highway rest areas
- Train and bus stations
- Hotels and restaurants
- Casinos
A sand filter system is similar to a mound system but incorporates a sand filter and pump.The most common aerobic treatment systems use a suspended growth process where oxygen is injected into the septic tank to help bacteria grow and act on wastewater solids. The mound system works in a way similar to a conventional one. However, it incorporates a pump and a small hill above ground level that provides a primary filtering process. This gives the water an extra level of filtering before it reaches groundwater. Sand filter systems integrate an extra sand-filled area that works as a primary filter for wastewater pumped out of the septic tanks before it reaches the drainfield and, subsequently, the groundwater.Bored by all this talk about septic systems?
Theoretically, it is a game changer that apartment buildings can have their own septic systems, and that the technology continues to evolve.
Recall yesterday's post on autonomous buildings and zero net energy buildings. Such buildings would be game changers not only in terms of resource consumption, but the dynamics of urban/suburban sprawl.
Unfortunately, the discourse on sustainability seems to begin and end with the development and distribution of renewable energy sources, and does not broach the issues of water and wastewater inputs and outputs. So the potential for advanced systems of onsite wastewater management is crucial.
But it is also an intriguing topic in terms of the regulation of building size in urban planning.
Building height restriction laws are largely based on aesthetic and symbolic reasons, with only a few practical considerations (e.g., airport air space).
Height restriction laws are laws that restrict the maximum height of structures. There are a variety of reasons for these measures. Some restrictions limit the height of new buildings so as not to block views of an older work decreed to be an important landmark by a government. For example, In the Tsarist Russian capital of Saint Petersburg, buildings could not be taller than the Winter Palace. Other restrictions are because of practical concern, such as around airports to prevent any danger to flight safety.For the most part, there are no practical reasons for height restrictions on buildings. The reasons seem to be primarily emotional and sentimental. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but as a motive it is hidden away behind urban planning rhetoric.
The idea is that height restriction laws would be relaxed or even waived with the condition that a building be autonomous in its resource production, consumption and disposal.
This would not represent the elimination of zoning laws, but their rationalization. Buildings would still be restricted in their height, but not by arbitrary laws. Rather, the capacity for self-reliance and sustainability would be the primary regulating principle, along with market demand. That is, because of the need for buildings to produce much of their own energy and to process their own outputs, building heights (and sizes) would be limited, albeit in a non-random fashion.
This would be a form of self-organization. The urban fabric would evolve organically in response to the capacity to make a building autonomous in relation to the value of real estate (which is, of course, higher in the urban core than in the suburbs). The cost of constructing an autonomous building would place some rational limit on what gets built (as opposed to the ego-driven construction of skyscrapers by corporations).
