Premise Two: An Evolution of Self-Sufficiency
It is of great importance for us to realize that in order to create a reasonably functionable environment without fossil fuels or any kind of nuclear based energy systems, our standards of living will have to be significantly compromised.
Here in our study, we have deliberately made a point of limiting our ambitions in the creation of a totally self-sufficient community in terms of energy consumption. Rather, we visualize it as a step-by-step process; one with numerous intermediary stages whereby this prototypical community created could survive not so much as a catastrophic disaster but more of the result of temporary flooding (say a rise of 6 meters above current sea-level) or short-term drought due to the current effects of Global Warming.