The five biggest questions about living in an eco-village

From shared gardens and renewable energy to community rules, here’s what buyers need to know before buying or building in an eco-village. For many buyers, building new is a chance to create a home that suits the way they live. It can also be an opportunity to improve energy efficiency from day one, rather than retrofit an older property later.The Cape is an eco-village in Cape Paterson, Victoria. Picture: realestate.com.auAccording to the Global Ecovillage Network, an eco-village takes that idea beyond the individual home. It considers the house, the block and the neighbourhood as parts of one sustainability plan — potentially bringing together efficient homes, shared gardens, renewable energy, water-saving systems, common land and community-led decision-making. No two ecovillages operate in exactly the same way, and the label can cover anything from a purpose-built housing development to a smaller community adapting an existing property. Here’s what you need to know about living in an eco-village. How is an eco-village different to a regular land estate? A conventional land estate generally centres on a private lot, its services and the home built on it. In an eco-village, this go...