US Natural Builders Help Rebuild Haiti
BUILDING SOLUTIONS FOR HAITI
the building of a straw bale protoype
http://tikaypay.wordpress.com/
“The small waddle and daub style structures called a Ti Kay (“small house”- a weave of saplings covered with clay/mud plaster) absorbed the seismic shock better than the rigidity of its concrete counterpart.
“Unlike in the US, Haiti does not have mechanized means of processing rice. Rice is cut by hand and the stalks are left to burn in the fields. A few months ago we contracted a local farmer to harvest, dry and store the rice stalk and supplied them with a compression mold we had fabricated in Port-au-Prince. This mold is a manual adaptation of a mechanized baler so commonly found in developed countries. One can imagine the degree of curiosity expressed by the locals; who were these” blan” (white person) and why would they want to use this straw that we find useless and make these blocks with it? We were able to demonstrate how these building blocks were constructed by assembling a simple mock-up with the bales they had already made. We further explained what the plaster consisted of, how it was applied and how these structures are both seismic and hurricane resistant. I was happy to hear that they were beginning to express an interest in what we were doing.”
Ti Kay Pay is a project for community led sustainable earthquake-safe homes; built by Haitians, for Haitians from their own resources. Builders Without Borders and Grassroots United in collaboration with the Sheltering Pine Institute have designed a simple, locally sustainable building solution for Haiti using rice straw bale construction techniques.
The proposed initiative is now about to enter its first phase, with a demonstration project in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on land provided by Grassroots United. In subsequent phases, we envision the project growing as Haitians learn the techniques of straw bale construction, new talents that will sustain further local building endeavors.
The first phase of the project is estimated to cost $30,571. With the pledge of $10,000 in funding from Builders Without Borders, we are now seeking additional donations to complete the project’s initial funding needs. We welcome individual, corporate and foundation donations, which may be made payable to The Sheltering Pine Institute, a registered 501 © 3 not-for-profit institution.
Katherine S. Nickel
Andy Mueller
President & Exec. Director Treasurer
[email protected]
860-930-5354
Sheltering Pine Institute
http://www.shelteringpineinstitute.org/
“We must envision a future where the diversity of nature and the dignity of the human being are simultaneously protected. It is a recognized human right to have clean water, to have a healthy environment. This right includes not just protecting human needs but the needs of the natural world. The Sheltering Pine Institute is committed to becoming a resource center to help our communities have access to the research and practical ideas that will fuel our solutions to the dual challenges of environmental sustainability and social justice.”
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
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What Is a Viable Human Habitat?
"It seems much easier to speak of viable habitats for endangered species, where viable means balanced, life sustaining, healthy. And yet when we typically think of human kind, we don’t tend to think of ourselves as fitting into an ecosystem. We think of ourselves as separate, able to control and manipulate ecosystems rather than live in a symbiotic relationship with what is so crucial to the future of our species. “With the destruction of forests, water, and land, we are losing our life-support systems. This destruction is taking place in the name of ‘development’ and progress, but there must be something seriously wrong with a concept of progress that threatens survival itself.” (Shiva, page xvi) We must begin to think of human kind as needing a viable habitat of its own, one that is truly balanced with our ecosystem, but also with each other. While we might be inclined to think of living lightly on the environment, we must also think of living justly with each other.
Yet how can we, living amongst pollution and destruction, imagine a better community, a better habitat, built on inclusiveness and sustainability? Can we not challenge the definition of sustainability and suggest that it should truly include sustaining human livelihoods as well as our use of our natural world?"
The entirety of the White Paper at: http://www.shelteringpineinstitute.org/research-resources/
For those who aren't aware that the natural building community, particularly straw bale folks, are doing extensive and intensive building science and lab and field testing, and currently making progress in getting these building techniques adopted into the National Green Building Standards, collaboratively produced by the ICC, ANSI and NAHB and about to be implemented in the International Green Construction Code.
SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF INNOVATIVE STRAW BALE WALL SYSTEMS
http://www.shelteringpineinstitute.org/storage/PAKSBAB_TestHandout_11_5_09.pdf
LOAD-BEARING STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION
A summary of worldwide testing and experience
http://www.shelteringpineinstitute.org/storage/Load-Bearing_SB_Const.pdf
Structural Testing of Straw Bales in Axial Compression
http://www.shelteringpineinstitute.org/storage/Structural20Testing20of20Straw20Bales20in20Axial20Compression.pdf
This seems like such a sensible idea/solution. I can not help wondering why you can not get financial assistance from the funds raised by our two great presidents Clinton/Bush
Martin, et al:
Why is it that we can't start a constructive discussion on GBA anymore without the trolls coming out of the woodwork?
You've really got to start requiring registration and set out troll traps, perhaps requiring some proof of intelligence.
Thanks for the links Robert.
I have recently developed a real interest in strawbale construction.
From the examples I've seen so far there seems to be a need for people to apply just a little "building science" to the traditional techniques.
If some air sealing issues and a few alternatives to the typical parged exterior cladding could be determined then I can hardly imagine a more "green" dwelling.
Lucas,
Strawbale builders in the Northeast have developed some creative ways to air seal the transitions between the typical timber frames and the infill or wrap-around straw, as well as wide overhangs and pony walls to keep the bales dry. A number of straw bale houses in New England are sided with clapboards or other wooden claddings (though the straw still needs an exterior earth plaster coating for moisture, insect and fire protection).
The biggest problem with straw bale building in the cold, wet Northeast is the need to build under a roof, which makes structural strawbale (the most cost-effective option) next to impossible.
And, though straw bale homes are rarely as air-tight as the best of today's efficient homes, I'm not sure that standard needs to be so strict with a natural house. Of five straw bale buildings in the Northeast, ranging from 3,000 to 40,000 CF tested by one auditor in 2007 and 2008, the ACH50 ranged from 2.5 to 6.9, with the mean at 3.9.
Great post Robert~ thank you,
I've been arming myself with make sence data regarding straw bale construction. Seems that you guys in the northeast are working with fewer inforcement constraints than we here in Maryland.
Interesting process none the less. Lots of really useful information from the links that you have provided throughout this site.
Will submitt "trial run" set of plans to the Baltimore County Permit Office next week.( Plans Review Dept.) Going to video document this entire process~ to be used as a future educational tool.
Also, forming local research and developement group that will focus on the creation of free public education opportunities. This is much like the learning of a new trade to me. I remember when serving a stair builder apprenticeship back in "71", my instructor, Erv Terwilliger, stressed the importance of First: Aquiring the right tools for the task. Second: The care and tuning of these tools. The rest seemed to be a matter of mountains of undivided attention to detail. Erv was a retired boat builder builder from Florida, who spent most of his career trimming out nice yahts. Building perfect winder or spiral stair systems seemed to flow naturally for him. Nothing was complicated or difficult, every move made counted as progress toward the end goal. Heck, we would sit at coffee breaks and brush up our chisels, plane knives and hand saws every day. We never used a single power tool~ever, and still seemed to be in pace with those using every power tool available. Sharp, well tuned hand tools are extreamely efficient, safe and accurate by comparison. No noise, much less dust in the air and no need for electric.
Anyhow, sorry about getting a little off track here, but I'm in the process of trying to assemble a different type of tool box now ~the perfect house toolbox~ and am torn between choosing the "power option", Government guided or the grassroots "hands on" approach. The "old style" apprenticeship that I was blessed to have served in my youth has in fact served me well. The intent of this "new style"of doing things has to better serve others first.
Thanks for a few tools, learning to tune them,
Roy
Roy,
We're fortunate, perhaps, that in Vermont there are no state-wide residential building codes (just in the few cities). But there are natural builders using straw bales in NY and MA and throughout the Southwest, and SB building has been adopted by a number of state and local building codes.
From Environmental Building News, 2006:
The State of Nevada passed a mandate requiring local jurisdictions to permit strawbale buildings, and California approved voluntary guidelines that could be adopted at the local level. On January 1, 1996, the County of Napa, California, adopted that state’s strawbale building guidelines, becoming the first government body to officially adopt a strawbale building code. The next day, the City of Tucson and County of Pima, Arizona, adopted one that had been in development there for more than two years (and upon which the California guidelines, along with most subsequent strawbale codes, were based). Later that month the State of New Mexico approved a draft of Standards for Non-Loadbearing Baled Straw Construction, which was adopted into its state building code in 1997. Over the next half-dozen years, strawbale codes were adopted in many California jurisdictions, as well as in parts of Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and Nebraska, and the entire state of Oregon.
Across North America, building departments are starting to accept straw bale construction. Since Tucson granted the first building permit for a Nebraska style home in 1993, towns in California, Washington, Oregon, Maine, Colorado, and Florida have followed suit. Nevada enacted AB 171, which mandates the development of local building codes for straw bale construction.
At least 32 states have modern straw structures.
Hope this is not off-topic
I have never heard any talk here at GBA about Michael Reynolds
I remember watching a video called "Garbage Warrior" and thought Michael was an interesting person with some interesting ideas.
Mike Reynolds, the creator of the Earthship biotecture, using waste materials (like tires) to build self-contained ecosystems.
A bit too far out for his time, he voluntarily gave up his New Mexico architecture and construction licenses when the State Architects Board of New Mexico moved to strip him of his credentials, saying his home designs were illegal and unsafe. But now recognized and acclaimed for his visionary work, the board of the American Institute of Architects asked Reynolds to give a lecture at its headquarters in Colorado and had his license reinstated in 2007.
Also doing disaster relief in Haiti, his website http://earthship.com/ continues to spread the garbage gospel.
In 1990, Reynolds
Thanks for the links to the technical documents.