Heating solution

One of the key challenges with this project is the integration of the closed monastic community with the wider city population. There are four key ways I envisage this could happen:

1. Church services - visitors admitted to the island could watch (but not participate in) the monks' daily church services. This reduces the physical and emotional distance between the observing population and the observed monastics, whilst still maintaining a clear barrier between the two and placing control in the hands of the monks.
2. Beer - the monks obviously need to sell their beer, and whilst they could achieve this through a third-party, they could also sell beer on site and even run a modest bar.
3. Guests - many monasteries have guest accommodation to provide extra income. The guests may be people needing a break, visiting speakers or academics, or newly arrived novices.
4. Crematorium - a little more unusual (i.e. I have no precedent for this at all), the monks could run a crematorium. The nearest one currently is the Co-Op in Beeston, about 2 miles away.

The crematorium option was inspired by the quote I posted earlier ("It is in this place... that one passes to eternity") and by this fantastic article from BLDGBLOG. If I hadn't handed in my environmental strategy 2 weeks ago I'd be onto a winner.