A zero-carbon zero waste strategy for a high-density residential development in Korea (2009).

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The Korean Institute of Construction Technology commissioned ZEDfactory to carry out a study on the infrastructure needed to create this project. The strategy addressed solutions at different scales: the city, the district, the urban block and the building. Different solutions worked best at different scales.

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By re-diverting organic waste into clever bio-digester machines, we can producegas for cooking, and produce electricity and heat, whilst at the same time reducing carbon emissions from rotting organic matter.

 

As well as the standard photovoltaics on every building, each district has it’s own bio waste treatment plant. Our research found that all the organic waste (sewage and food waste) from homes can be diverted into producing bio gas for cooking and power generation, with no harmful emissions or chemicals produced. Sewage and food waste are combined and de-watered via a membrane bio-reactor to create a sludge. This sludge is a rich feedstock for an anaerobic digester, which produces methane gas which can then be used directly for cooking or as a fuel to produce electricity and heat. The other by product ofthis process is a nutrient-rich organic compost which can be put back on the land as fertiliser.