About Oasis Design

Oasis Design is a family owned, home-based design consulting and publishing business. We've been developing original designs for living better, cheaper, & more ecologically since 1980.

The main focus for the first ten years was transport bicycles, camping equipment, learning systems, and financial management. The focus for the last ten plus years has been water, wastewater and energy systems.

I (Art Ludwig, the one on the left) am the main designer, though I draw on a wide network of colleagues and contractors. I've been doing ecological systems design as my day job for over twenty years. My wife helps with editing, and my daughter with the office. My son reminds me to take breaks.

Our lives and this business are closely intertwined. Our own desire to live simply, well, and close with the earth is the impetus behind many designs, and most of the hardware and routines of our daily lives have sprung from and been influenced by our design work.

Art Ludwig's Bio

Art Ludwig is an ecological systems designer with 27 years full-time experience in water, wastewater systems, energy, shelter and human powered transport. His specialty is complex, integrated "systems of systems." Art has studied and worked in 22 different countries, consulted for the states of New York and New Mexico on water reuse policy, and given dozens of lectures and workshops.

He designed his own education in Ecological Systems Design, graduating from UC Berkeley. At Berkeley, he developed the first cleaners specifically designed to be biocompatible with plants and soil, and founded a successful business to manufacture and distribute them. Art has authored numerous articles (including one on water testing procedures) as well as the books "Water Storage" "Principles of Ecological Design," and "Create an Oasis with Greywater."

See also: Ecological systems design and Art's FAQ response to How did you learn ecological design?