Since mid-July, French engineer Corentin de Chatelperron and Belgian designer Caroline Pultz have been living in a lab-apartment in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris. The couple is conducting an experiment to live self-sufficiently for four months, using low-tech solutions in their suburban space.
The building is a former nursery from the 1970s loaned by the town hall where the couple is experimenting with low-tech living.
The idea is to design a lifestyle that produces no waste.
Low-tech includes innovative technologies and know-how that people can manufacture themselves to produce their own energy, food or recycle their own waste.
"Low-tech allows you to lead an urban lifestyle while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by five, it's affordable and doesn't use much water. In short, it's sustainable," Chatelperron told RFI.
The French engineer started to take an interest in low-tech innovation in 2019 when he was in Bangladesh. He then set up an organisation called the Low-tech Lab.
No waste, saving energy and water
The laboratory-apartment in Boulogne has, among other things, dry toilets, a cooking system connected to a solar panel and even an edible cricket farm.
The idea of this 'Biosphere Experience' is to design a lifestyle that produces no waste, emits no more than two tonnes of CO2 per year and cuts water consumption by 10.
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"On average in France, we consume 150 litres of water per person per day in a conventional home, and here we're down to 33 litres for two people per day," says Pultz.
Biogas is produced from organic waste, and wastewater from the shower is transformed by bacteria to form a water basin.
"It's a 300-litre pool of water that grows plants, recycles shower water, and also regulates the apartment's temperature when it's too hot outside," explains Chatelperron.
Low-tech in urban environment
Today, more than half the world's population lives in cities, and for Chatelperron it's a challenge to adapt low-tech to the urban environment.
"For us, the city is a rather extreme and hostile environment.
"Living in little boxes like this is actually much more difficult than living in a 60-square-metre tent in the desert," says Chatelperron.
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The experiment is due to last four months.
Following that, scientists will analyse the ergonomics and "desirability" of the project.
"We realised that people don't want to change if it's overly restrictive.
"So we had to show a desirable future that is possible with low-tech and that fits in with the planet's limitations," concludes Chatelperron.
This report is part of the C'est pas du vent podcast produced by RFI's Anne-Cécile Bras.
