The Microbial Home is an integrated cyclical ecosystem where each function’s output is another’s input. In the project the home has been viewed as a biological machine to filter, process and recycle what we conventionally think of as waste – sewage, effluent, garbage, waste water.

The Microbial Home project suggests that people should move closer to nature and proposes strategies for developing a balanced microbial ecosystem in the home. “Designers explore solutions which are by nature less energy-consuming and non-polluting,” says Clive van Heerden, Senior Director of Design-led Innovation at Philips Design. “We need to push ourselves to rethink domestic appliances entirely, how homes consume energy and how entire communities can pool resources.”

Microbial Home concepts

The Microbial Home is viewed as a cyclical biological machine where wastes like sewage, effluent, garbage, wastewater are filtered, processed and recycled to be used as inputs for the various home functions. The project includes various aspects like a Bio Digester Island and Larder in the kitchen, Urban Beehive, Bio-light, Apothecary, Filtering Squatting Toilet and Paternoster Plastic Waste Up-cycler.

Bio Digester Island Designer: Philips Design

The Bio-digester island, a kitchen island that consists of a methane “digester” which converts bathroom waste solids and vegetable trimmings into methane gas which is then used to power a series of functions in the home.

http://www.yankodesign.com/2011/10/21/the-microbial-home

Click here for additional products sheet (PDF upload): Sustainable Kitchen of the Future