Four very cold nights for college kids in Canada. Very interesting and educational reading.

http://www.5days.ca/

http://www.5days.ca/blog/

There may be a trend beginning in cities around the US and in Europe. People living on the fringes of traditional shelter as well as some governments are considering new ways to solve the problem of day to day existance for people who are virtually without resources, especially people without land. Here is an article that pretty well sums up the current models for this new kind of living situation. I am talking about portable villages.

I will archive recent developements in ultra-low-cost survival options in well-to-do areas here. This thread is about the coexistance of the rich and the poor. I encourage you to share your experiences and knowledge of shelter-for-everyone.

The model that works well right here at home may be close to the one that could work in disasters areas and for refugees around the globe.

http://gainesville.com/article/2007705280328

This is interesting, too.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2000/wampler.html

via email from Dick Fishbeck, found on livemint

The numbers seem nutty. There are 6.5 billion people on this planet, 90% of whom can't afford basic products and services. Half of them, nearly three billion people, don't have regular access to food, shelter or clean water. Yet, whenever we think, or talk, about design, it's invariably about something that's intended to be sold to one of the privileged minority—the richest 10%.

The $1 million chaise longue. The fast car. The sleek computer. The beautiful book. The super-legible typeface. The toothbrush, power drill or MP3 player that's ingenious enough to be priced a little higher than its competitors. Museums, books, magazines, and blogs are stuffed with such things. Tens of thousands of designers devote their working lives to producing more.

It's not that there's anything wrong with designing things like that. But when you look at the bigger picture, doesn't it seem strange that so much time, energy and resources should be consumed by creating luxuries for relatively few people, when so many essentials are needed urgently by so many more? Why are designers so focused on designing for the wealthiest 10%?

"That question always reminds me of the quote attributed to the bank robber, Willie Sutton, when someone asked him why he robbed banks," said Paul Polak, president of International Development Enterprises, a non-profit organization that encourages innovation among poor farmers in developing countries. "His answer was: ‘Because that's where the money is.'"

Fair enough. Designers are entitled to earn a living. But if you flick back through design history, they haven't all focused on the privileged minority. Think of R. Buckminster Fuller's emergency housing, or the sustainable products devised by Victor Papanek for use in developing countries. Their work has already had tremendous impact. Fuller's geodesic domes have provided shelter for hundreds of thousands of people in desperate circumstances; and Papanek is lauded as a pioneer of socially responsible design. Yet, both have been treated as bit-part players in design history, as have other designers with similar goals.

That's changing. Designers, like so many other people, have become increasingly concerned about the plight of the needy majority, and many of them are now using their skills to address it. Some do so by devoting part of their time to voluntary work for non-profit organizations, such as Architecture for Humanity or Engineers Without Borders. Others have chosen to work full time in humanitarian or sustainable design.

The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York is exploring this phenomenon in "Design for the Other 90%," an exhibition opening Friday. It is hard to think of a more important or inspiring issue for a design museum to address right now. It is equally hard to imagine a more appropriate venue than the Cooper-Hewitt, whose home is the wisteria-clad Carnegie Mansion built on upper Fifth Avenue at the turn of the 20th century by the robber baron, Andrew Carnegie. Having made a fortune in the steel industry, Carnegie gave most of it away to endow schools and libraries. This is the first time the Cooper-Hewitt has devoted an exhibition to humanitarian design. "It's a call to action," show curator Cynthia Smith, explained. "There's a big interest among design students and design professionals in finding socially responsible design solutions to the underpinnings of poverty."

"Design for the Other 90%" analyses 30 humanitarian design projects, all addressing basic needs in the areas of shelter, health, water, education, energy and transport. As anyone who has dipped into the quagmire of development knows, it is a ferociously political field with diverse, often conflicting opinions. Humanitarian design is no exception, but the Cooper-Hewitt hopes to skate around the schisms by presenting a diverse range of approaches.

Some of the featured projects were invented by their users, others by design professionals, many were collaborations. There are emergency solutions to disasters, such as the biodegradable Global Village Shelters, which have been used as cheap temporary housing after hurricanes in Grenada and the US, and are now pitched in Andrew Carnegie's garden. There are ingenious responses to ongoing problems, such as the Lifestraw, a drinking straw that helps prevent the spread of typhoid, cholera and other waterborne diseases by making contaminated water drinkable; and the Ceramic Water Filter, developed by IDE in Cambodia and now manufactured there.

Many humanitarian designers focus on helping the needy enhance their earning potential by setting up new businesses, or running existing ones more efficiently. The Bamboo Treadle Pump enables poor farmers in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and India to pump up groundwater during the dry season.

The Big Boda Load-Carrying Bicycle provides cheap transport in Kenya and Uganda to carry hundreds of pounds of cargo or two passengers using pedal-power. And thanks to the KickStart MoneyMaker Block Press, eight workers can produce up to 800 building blocks a day from soil and a small quantity of cement.

"I was stunned by how simple, simple solutions could have a direct impact on people's lives," said Cynthia Smith.

"This is an incredible project that has the potential to transform the lives of the people in greatest need," said Yves Béhar, the San Francisco-based product designer who has developed the hardware for the XO1. "How could any designer turn down the chance to be part of it?"
» Panel discussion link

Advancing Shelter Technology Through Research and Development

A Michael Jantzen Project



Design Studies For Low Cost Prefabricated Steel Houses by M. Jantzen

MISSION STATEMENT

The Human Shelter Innovation Institute (HSII) is a think tank dedicated to creating alternative solutions to the growing global problem of inadequate human shelter.

The primary mission of HSII is to explore designs that make use of alternative materials, technologies and manufacturing techniques. The goal will be to create an aesthetic for the future based on energy efficient, eco friendly and affordable design concepts that embrace appropriate technologies.

At HSII, research will center on the fundamentals of the built environment, emphasizing alternative methodology. Prototype shelters will be engineered, designed, built and tested in a "shelter park" on the Institute's grounds so that the public can experience the designs first-hand.


LOW COST, ENERGY-EFFICIENT, ECO-FRIENDLY SHELTER

HSII has been developed in part to research new approaches to low-cost, energy efficient, eco-friendly shelters. These can be as simple as temporary housing for poverty-stricken communities or emergency relief programs; or as complex as large-scale housing projects for universities and urban communities.

Michael Jantzen, Executive Director of HSII, is a pioneer in energy efficiency, whose work is recognized around the world. Jantzen has worked for over 30 years to develop new concepts for energy-efficient, sustainable, eco-friendly building systems. These efforts will continue as a major part of the Institute's research.


THEORETICAL RESEARCH AND CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

HSII believes that shelter technology has not advanced at a rapid rate due in great part to a reluctance by the design community to embrace unconventional aesthetics. In an era of digital transformations, this is changing and the HSII will be on the leading edge of that change.

HSII's theoretical work is grounded in the real world and is approached with an open mind. Our approach to design allows for research partnerships and synergies with a wide range of organizations, manufacturers, technologies and materials. Through its Theoretical Modeling Division, HSII will work with Partner Organizations to develop new uses for existing materials and expanding the possibilities for new products with a particular interest in the incorporation of technology into the built environment.

HSII encourages Corporations and Manufacturers to submit research proposals focused on expanding market for their products and technologies. The possibilities are exciting!


SUPPORT OUR RESEARCH

HSII is a non-profit organization that relies upon outside support to fund its research programs. Please join us in support of this important addition to shelter research by making a donation. We seek both individual donations and corporate partnerships.

» Click here to find out more information

"I've had a long-time fascination with shelter systems. Specifically, I like to try and figure out ways to help people live happier, safer, warmer, more comfortable lives, and at higher standards than they are used to. Towards this end, I'm designing what is called an autonomous house."

"An autonomous house is a shelter system that provides for all of its occupants' needs, while remaining independent of many of the umbilical cords that are commonly connected to homes. By these, I mean electrical lines, phone lines, water lines, sewer lines, and roads. These things root a house down to one place, and when one of the systems fails (such as a tree falling on a power line someplace), the occupants suffer, because their shelter is dependent on those umbilicals."

"I'm designing and integrating systems that will allow a house to be free of these outside dependencies. Even, ultimately, to be moved around at the whim of the owners, very much like the freedom that boat and mobile home owners currently enjoy."

» Click here to see Patrick's website

From: WorldChanging | Dec. 20, 2005 | by Jamais Cascio



Universal access to clean water is one of the fundamental Millennium Development Goals, and inventors have come up with a variety of solutions for making non-potable water clean and drinkable. Some are shiny and high-tech, and others are terrifically simple. One of the easiest tools for making brackish or sea water usable requires little more than sunlight and time -- the Watercone.

Made of a rugged, transparent plastic, the Watercone is incredibly easy to use: fill up the base plate with salt water, place the cone over the plate, and wait. 24 hours later, a trough around the edge of the cone will contain 1-1.5 liters of fresh water, produced by evaporation/condensation. Pour the water out, and start again. Individual units are expected to cost around $50 apiece, although that will depend in large part on who manufactures them.

And that's the big problem. The inventor of the Watercone, industrial designer Stephan Augustin, is having trouble finding someone to make it. This is a bit surprising, as the Watercone has won numerous design awards over the past three years, has passed preliminary tests by CARE Germany, and is currently featured in the SAFE: Design Takes On Risk exhibit at the NY Museum of Modern Art. Apparently, previous licensing agreements have fallen through, and Augustin is once again looking for a manufacturer to bring the Watercone to the people who need it.

Read the interesting dialogue on WorldChanging about costs and feasibility of bringing this innovation to commercial scale.

from gizmag



Reminiscent of Fuller's vision for the Dymaxion House and advanced mass producable autonomous dwelllings, Architect Marcin Panpuch has designed a hight tech spherical house which can either float on water or be lifted by crane and fixed to a tower beside other such spheres. Stairs, kitchen, bathroom and toilet are all located in a central core which also serves a conduit for ducts, cables and pipes. Sound familiar? The ailing US auto industry might be well served to start seriously thinking about diversifing their under utilized production capabaility into production and leasing of hyper-homes. Panpuch's inspirational design won a 2004 commendation from the Royal Institute of British Architects' annual Future House London Competition and Exhibition.

The Idea - London is one of the cities that grew from the river and a great deal of its development has happened thanks to the river. Recently Londoners have turned their backs on the river, because of the pollution.It is no longer a great pleasure to spend time in close proximity to the Thames. But perhaps if people feel more involved with the Thames they become more responsible for it's quality.

The Thames is tidal and one should take advantage of its significant changes in levels. Taking into account the current situation of the housing market, can you imagine yourself living in the centre of London? Perhaps not. But you can afford a car and you may be able to afford city car parks and congestion charges. So if the housing industry takes on board experience from the car industry you might pay the same for your house as for your car.

Yes there is a land issue but there is also the Thames. The river could be the answer to your housing problem. You could own a house and be able to live both in a quiet area of east London and in the middle of the capital, enjoying the vibrant atmosphere and beautiful river views, right on your doorstep.

The river could take you and your house everyday from the suburbs of London to the centre without the need for high-energy consumption. The house itself could become a mode of transport.




Design objectives - Currently houses are largely static and unresponsive. Modern and future materials, technologies and design allow us to create dynamic, evolving places that respond to the complexities of life.

The home will soon be a source of energy rather then a consumer. It will become more of a work place as well as a home. The London house, more than any other, will have to meet density requirements of the future.

The proposed design not only uses the river, estuary + docks, but can also be stacked in a "tower of houses" using a crane on top of the tower. The house module can be relocated as often as required by family and work demands; a city tower, a river home, a rural retreat.

The proposed house can satisfy future needs for mobility, energy production, and applicable changes to the place we live and work.

The proposed design takes into account today's problems of the housing industry, which is decentralized, resistant to change, wary of new technology, and labour intensive. Most people live in places that are low-grade, low-tech, inflexible, difficult to upgrade, high maintenance, and ill-designed.

Environment - The aim is that the house will produce as much energy as it consumes. The energy is produced by photo voltaic cells and accumulated in batteries. "The main floor" is designed to store heat during the day and distribute it at night. The water tank can also act as a medium for heat storage.

The house is designed to be naturally ventilated using the stack effect - the air intake is situated at the bottom of the transparent screens and allows air to migrate up to the top of the core at each floor. All the devices that control the internal environment of the house (sun screens, air intakes/exhausts) are designed to be manually and automatically controlled. All waste produced by occupants is designed to be stored while the house floats and when moored the waste is disposed of to the public utilities.




Design - A sphere has 25% less surface area than a cube of the same volume; minimising the perimeter means reducing the heat loss.

The designed "sphere house" is divided into three floors that are organised around a core - "services/distribution wall". Open plan design allows easy changes to work and living spaces. The central core includes stairs, kitchen (social and family assembly point), bathroom and toilets. The service/distribution wall accommodates all ducts, services, central heating system and electrical connections between floors.

The upper floor is designed as a highly flexible living space with up to two entrance points allowing you to connect to the outside. The lower floor houses working space, sleeping area and the main entrance. The sleeping area is divided by a light partition system. The system can be easily repositioned or, by adding additional components, can create further bedrooms. The working area is open plan space that can be organised according to home occupier's needs.

The lowest floor is designed to accommodate batteries (ballast), storage, water tanks, heating system and central IT equipment necessary for automatic operation of the house. Layers of light, composite materials create the external envelope: the transparent cladding, shades with photo voltaic cells cover the upper part of the house.

The lower part of the envelope is divided in to two parts: under water and above water. The under water part of the envelope is designed as a light insulated aluminium body attached to the main frame. The above water part is covered by transparent cladding and retractable screens for privacy.

» Read more about Marcin Panpuch's vision and design objectives

» RIBA London

Photo Courtesy of William Crawford and Peter Brewin

Designed by Peter Brewin and Will Crawford, Concrete Canvas has won 9 awards including the New /Business Challenge and Deutsche Bank Pyramid Award. It is backed by the Selected Works Scheme at the Royal College of Art. A patent has been filed. Crawford Brewin Ltd. is working to bring Concrete Canvas to market. They are currently seeking financial backing to develop the technology from working scale prototypes to fully detailed pre-production prototypes, this will take 10 months from funding.

The Need
Concrete Canvas (CC) has 2 major advantages over tents:

1. Operational: CC enables a hardened structure from day one of a crisis. It provides much better protection in extreme climatic conditions, better security against looting and enables otherwise impossible medical procedures.
2. Financial: CC has a design life of over 10 years, whereas tents only survive for 2 years and must be replaced. Therefore, Concrete Canvas is a one stop solution, saving effort and costs over the lifetime of medium to long term operations.

Photo Courtesy of William Crawford and Peter Brewin


Key Facts

• Rapid: enables users to produce hardened structures within a few hours, with
  comparable labour to a tented structure.
• Insulating: the concrete shell has good thermal properties and can be covered in earth or snow for increased insulation.
• Durable: far more durable than tenting with a minimum design life of 10 years.
• Secure: provides a level of security not possible with soft skinned structures, protecting stores and equipment.
• Sterile: can be delivered sterile; allowing previously impossible surgical procedures to be performed in situ from day one of a crisis.
• Strong: the low mass and fibre matrix locked inside the concrete, gives the structure good earthquake performance. The compressive structure means it can also be covered with sand bags, earth etc. to provide protection against shrapnel.
• Semi-Permanent: provides all the benefits of a permanent structure without the associated costs and time delays.

How Concrete Canvas Works

CC is a rapidly deployable hardened shelter that requires only water and air for construction. It can be deployed by a person without any training in under 40 minutes and is ready to use in 12 hours. The key to CC is the use of inflation to create a surface that is optimised for compressive loading. This allows thin walled concrete structures to be formed which are both robust and lightweight. CC consists of a cement impregnated fabric (Concrete Cloth) bonded to the outer surface of an inflatable plastic inner. It forms a Nissen-hut shaped structure with over 16 m2 of floor space, the technology can be scald to provide larger structures. The stages of deployment are as follows:


Delivery

CC01 comes delivered folded in a sealed plastic sack. The dry weight is 230kg, an 8 man lift and light enough to be transported on a pick-up truck or light aircraft.

Hydration

The sack is positioned and filled with water¹. The volume of the sack controls the water: cement ratio eliminating water measurement. The bag is then left for 15 minutes while the cement hydrates, this is aided by the fibre matrix which wicks water into the cement. Once hydrated, the sack is cut along its seams it then forms part of the ground sheet. Deployment is done at dusk to avoid over drying the cement.

Inflation

The structure is unfolded to form the shelter's footprint. A chemical pack is activated which releases a controlled volume of gas into the plastic inner and inflates the structure.

Setting

The concrete cloth cures in the shape of the inflated inner and twelve hours later the structure is ready to use. Doors and ventilation holes are left with no concrete cloth bonded to the plastic skin this allows access points to be easily cut from the inner once the cement has dried.

The fibres of the fabric form a coherent fibre matrix within the concrete providing tensile reinforcement. This greatly improves the composite strength of the shelter providing a durable protection with a design life of over ten years. Because the structure can withstand a very high distributed compressive load it is possible to pile snow, earth, sandbags etc on top. This enables excellent thermal properties and can provide protection against shrapnel, blasts and small arms.
Once CC has fulfilled its primary application as an emergency shelter, it is highly likely that a secondary use would be found for the structure. During field research we found a multitude of secondary applications such as agricultural storage and accommodation. CC can, however, be demolished using basic tools. The thin walled structure has a very low mass, leaving little material for disposal.

¹ Water does not need to be potable but must not be sewage or sea water, volume is 120lts = 12 persons' daily UN water ration.

» concretecanvas.org.uk

from futurefeeder.com on Wednesday, August 24th, 2005



The winning entry to the Cradle to Cradle C2C Home Competition is an incredible single family dwelling by Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum that goes right to the core fundamentals of the Cradle to Cradle principles. Not only does the building run a photosynthetic and phototropic skin made with spinach protein, but it also produces more energy than a single family’s needs, allowing the excess to be distributed to neighbors. This radical shift, from centralized energy systems today, fosters community interdependence as neighbors benefit from the resources of others.

ENERGY is neither created nor destroyed.  It is collected and returned.  This design utilizes timeless passive solar strategies by shielding unwanted summer sun and absorbing heat from low winter sun through its thermal mass.  Active solar collection provides the main source of necessary electrical energy.  The core extends vertically, clad with a super-conductive photosynthetic plasma cell skin that is able to generate 200% more electrical voltage per area than contemporary photovoltaics.  Building on current research involving extracted spinach protein, this living skin is photosynthetic and phototropic it grows and follows the path of the sun, generating electricity in excess of single family needs.  excess power is distributed to neighboring homes and street lighting infrastructure.

WATER is a crucial resource to life that should be enhanced by future development. This design integrates building with landscape, a vegetated roof system collects and filters stormwater into the building core.  The core collects and supplies all household plumbing elements contained within it. Black and grey water are released to a primary septic tank below the core and eventually released as effluent to the "living garden". Garden beds along the entry receive irrigation and  nutrients to provide site-yield vegetables.  This system is engineered to accept and treat residential wastewater from neighboring homes in addition to the primary residence to lessen off site dependency. 




MATERIALS should enable, not consume.  Earth acts as a primary insulator and reduces building material use. Rapidly, renewable soy-foam wall panels offer superior thermal resistance with minimal embodied energy.  Reconstituted concrete with striated polymer mesh reinforcement efficiently supports the open building plan, allowing a flexible arrangement of partitions and spaces to accommodate present and future users.

VENTILATION is fundamental to comfort in southern climates.  Prevailing summer wind from the southwest flows freely up the length of the site toward the upturned earth plane.  The building form and contour increase the speed of wind while the roof overhang captures the breeze and directs it through operable louvers to the interior.  The core serves as a stack ventilation tower, allowing a controllable flow of hot air up and out of the house by the positive pressure being created within the house.  Shaded outdoor space provides comfort choices for users and interaction with neighbors.

COMMUNITY underlies all technological success.  No advances in residential building design and technology truly matter if single families remain isolated and independent of one another.  This design suggests that community interdependence is the necessary foundation for future growth.  One home shelters one family, but creates a resource that benefits many.  Excess energy is distributed to offset conventional power production while communal waste is retained on site, collected and treated to nurture common garden space.  In time, this seed of shared resources spreads through common design to create a fundamental link between individual and whole.

We believe that the development of a sustainable future is the greatest and most inspiring design challenge of our time.

O2nordic aims to influence and inspire industry to look at sustainability as a business opportunity, and authorities to formulate a clear and attractive sustainability vision.

O2nordic connects people in Sweden as well as between the nordic countries as a permanent meeting place and a place for action.

O2nordic is part of the international O2 network.

O2nordic - The Concept House



The Concept House is NCCs way of showing that a zero energy conference building which is self sufficent concerning electricity, cooling and heating is possible to build.

Economical Aspects

The choice of builing a conference building has to do with the possibility of financing the house through the conference business. The cost of builing the house is about 75 mskr compared to 26 mskr for a conventional building due to the advanced energy systems.

Social Aspects

A conference building let's many experience the house. The house is also designed to allow interaction with the surrounding nature.

Ecological Aspects

Zero energy consumption means much lower environmental impacts compared to a conventional building.

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Motion Mower by Axel Borg



The task was to enhance the excercise aspect of hand mowing by connecting it with the excercise bike. It was made in cooperation with Stiga GGP.

Economical Aspects

No fuel consumption means lower costs.

Social Aspects

The mower is silent and fun and connects well being with a useful purpose.

Ecological Aspects

No engine and no exhaust as well as making manual mowing more attractive is positive.

» Click here to find out more...

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Solparasit by Kerstin Sylwan, Exam project, HDK 2005



Kerstin Sylwan's lamp utilize the energy of the sun by both fibre optics as well as a new type of solar cells. It functions in different ways at different times of day by giving room both for socializing and privacy.

Economical aspects

In this project energy and cost conservation go hand in hand.

Social aspects

The design is playful and modular to give the user many possibilities in making hers or his own expression. As the lamp is a system consisting of several small lamps it leaves the user to decide how to use his or hers lamp. It is not, however, possible to avoid being part of the group as the small lamps will run out of energy when used on their own.

Ecological aspects

As this lamp is lit with sunshine and runs on the energy it can charge from it, it unavoidably raises awareness of how much energy we use. All the small lamps are also very easy to disassemble, making it possible to reuse the materials once the life of the lamp itself is over.

» Click here to visit O2 nordic