Camphill Ballytobin Village Community

 

kids-on-a-ride-on-ballytobins-opendayBallytobin is an inclusive neighborhood village community founded on principles of comprehensive sustainability. It provides homes, education and working social enterprises for people who need support. It was started in 1979 and today supports 70 people. The work of the community is augmented by volunteers who come from all around the world and help care for vulnerable people with disabilities. These volunteers come each year to live and share life and help with the communities farm and other projects.

Ballytobin has a vision of pushing boundaries in Architecture with many innovative buildings and use of state of the art buildings materials. Its Nationally renowned performance venue “Castalia hall” is a 100% ecological building using native grown, locally felled and processed timber for its entire structure and finish.

Ballytobin is part of the Camphill communities of Ireland see camphill.ie

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The Community and Biogas

 

market-day2The BEOFS Biogas facility produces and supplies methane gas from food waste that is delivered to the site to operate a gas engine generator and boiler for heat and power to the micro grid of the village. Any produced surplus power goes to the national grid. The heat and Power from the biogas goes to the district heating system that heats all the homes, workshops and leisure and education buildings. The electrical power supplies the micro grid underground cable network that supplies electricity to all the buildings through out the community.
garden-with-biogas-in-the-backgroundThere are 2 other smaller housing communities further down the road that are part of Ballytobin community. These are a little too far away for being part of the micro grid but they each have their own solar panel PV system and their own wood pellet heating system making Ballytobin uniquely almost 100% non reliant on Fossil fuel.

 

Yes it can be done!