Renewable Technologies

The Archival Eco-House is able to imprint its identity in the society for trailblazing an environmentally-friendly type of habitat. Through new means, the procedures we follow in using our renewable resources has proven to be highly effective throughout the years. Our home takes care of a range of exotic and domesticated animals. Here we have a goatery and a piggery. We farm ducks and geese. We also have monkeys, birds and chickens, a wild cat and a python plus two baby crocodiles which will certainly get your attention.

Our goats are fed only with fruits such as apples and vegetables. While the pigs here are not made to eat any commercial feeds but purely with waste coming from the market or vegetable leaves such as Moringga, locally known as Malunggay. The waste materials collected from the farm animals are gathered to be processed as fertilizers or to be converted as methane gas which can essentially be used for cooking.

Reasons are aplenty of why we ought to prefer a lifestyle like this. One is because we can get away from the costly obligation of the all too common necessity of getting a commercial provider to supply us with water and electricity. Not only that, we love being ambassadors and warriors that defies the destruction of our locale. Most importantly, our goal is to be largely dependent to the benefits of renewable technologies.

Different functions and uses of solar energy panels, wind mill turbines, bio-digester, filtration systems, rainwater harvesting and the likes are a couple of things that we share to everyone at The Archival Eco-House. These modernizations brought about impressive ecological results.

Bio Gas

Established in 2006, our Bio Gas facility produces clean and renewable fuel. Equipped with a bio digester, the organic wastes are fed into a tank to undergo Anaerobic Digestion. This is a fermentation process to get CH4 (bio gas) as the end result. Our prime resource for this type of renewable technology are animal manure and waste coming from the domestic sewer of the eco house. The production process of this gaseous form of energy is comprised of three steps. First, is the decomposition of the organic waste. Then, a tank holds the emitted gas from the slurry. Lastly, “speaders” that are connected to the gas tank releases the produced methane gas to burners, heating stoves and other utilities around the Archival Eco-House.

After a few experimentations, we were finally able to incorporate an economically friendly yet easy method to convert waste into energy fuel. The bio gas is composed mainly of methane and carbon dioxide. The byproduct, we also know as Methane Gas, is what we use for cooking, lighting and other electric needs. It is similar to the LPG gas used in many households and business establishments. The methane gas is one of the ideal forms of energy as it is beneficial and does not hurt our ozone layer.

Wind Energy

Yet another sustainable energy source for the house close to nature is the wind that blows around it. The kinetic energy in the wind is utilized using wind mill turbines. These turbines were installed as early as 2005 as alternative source of energy. Up to this date, this resource is still used to generate electricity for the eco house.

Solar Energy

The use of solar power is nothing new inside the Archival Eco-House. About 40 solar energy panels were installed to supply for the electric requirements of the eco house. The whole assembly can bring in 10 kilowatts of electricity enough for the house and some neighboring houses too. Individually, the solar panels produce up to 250 watts of electric power.

This obtainable type of renewable technology has been exhausted as a method to light our home and most importantly to conserve. There are also air conditioners installed around the house that are solar powered.

Wastes Management

Our Zero Waste Home fervently aids to promote a healthy eco system that is not solely enclosed in its boundaries. We make it our duty to extend help to the community by educating them about proper waste management. In that way, people will be increasingly empowered with the knowledge of the things we practice at the eco house. We have our very own dependable facilities that takes care of the waste products that have been carefully categorized as biodegradable and non-biodegradable.

With these causes, we have received multiple awards for playing a vital role in reducing tons of trash that needs to be disposed to the sanitary landfills of Cebu. Statistically, an estimate of about 500,000 tons of wastes are being produced by the local residents every day. The Archival Eco-House, on the other hand, actively participates in lessening this number of up to 30%. Living in an eco-friendly place makes it feasible for us to walk closely with the city government in implementing Waste Reduction Campaigns.

Gathering waste products and materials that has accumulated in the markets and in many parts of the community is easy for us because we have our own trucks to drive around and collect them. These wastes are then brought back to the Archival Eco-House where we segregate them for recycling and reusing.

If you look at the picture in its entirety, the waste produced and collected at The Archival Eco-House is dirt turned into gold.

Biodegradable Wastes Recycling

We know what biodegradable wastes are but have we tried to do the enjoyable process of segregating them from the non-biodegradable ones? This practice is strictly observed at the Archival Eco-House.

Our daily sumptuous meals are harvested from our farm, pond and garden. After preparing and eating, the organic food waste is gathered inside a rectangular container labelled as “biodegradable”. Food wastes, like the ones we collect from the market and other parts of Cebu, are cautiously grouped according to its use. At the goatery, there are containers strategically placed to catch the waste of the goats which are later on collected to be mixed with saw dust, manure and other wastes to decompose. This mixture is then placed in about 50 vertical boxes known as “worm beds”. African Night Crawlers are subsequently added to the worm beds to hasten up composting. After approximately 20 days, the recycled biodegradable waste is turned a nutrient enriched fertilizer. That is when the worm castings are harvested either be sold as Vermi Compost or to be reused as fertilizers of the eco house garden. As for the waste materials of the pigs, it is converted to Methane gas. All of these and more are mere specks of the numerous projects we organize in the house to recycle biodegradable wastes.

Non-Biodegradable Wastes Recycling

The Archival Eco-House has smartly utilized non-biodegradable waste products by turning them into useful structures and new items of economical use. An assembly of soda and beer aluminum cans are used as baluster that makes up the furniture and other decorative items’ durable foundation. We have revived most of these wastes into house decors, furniture, work of art and far more valuable tools. The trash of other people became integral part in building and enhancing the house and other substructures inside the compound.

Non-biodegradable materials such as Styropor, soft drinks and water bottles, paint and oil gallons, compact disk covers and other kinds of plastics are shredded and mixed with cement. Afterwards, it is compressed using a special machinery to produce sturdy bricks which are commonly used in landscaping bare grounds. It is best as pathways of resorts and commercial establishments. However, it can be used in residential houses too.

Our initial purpose was only to be a big inspiration in supporting the solid waste reduction drive of the neighborhood. Now, we have grown to realize that our resourcefulness has played a influential impact in promoting environmentally friendly living in the most artistic and creative ways conceivable. These were just experiments at first. Nevertheless, effective ones at that.

Water Conservation

As a layout of our water conservation plan, we built a lagoon and a swimming pool as recreational areas and serve a second purpose as water catchment facilities. Our swimming pool alone can be a source of up to 30,000 liters of rain water. The moment it rains, the water catchment facilities are filled and the water collected from there can be used in many ways. Piped connectors function to bring water supply from the kitchen to different parts of the house. The water used from doing the laundry and in the bath is piped out to the water beds the house. Following a natural filtration process, the water is then released to a pond after a few days. Then using bicycle pumps, the water is pushed up to a water tank which the farm uses in watering the plants, cleaning pig pens, flushing the toilet with and even washing cars. You will also find an Aquaponics Garden where plants and fishes work together to cohabit. The plants here are grown without soil and are refreshed using water that contains fish waste. In turn, the fishes are kept healthy because the plants filters the water they thrive in. As for our production of potable water, we filter and purify it using ultraviolet rays so that it comes out of the tap warm and safe to drink.