Name: Beatrice Fairbanks
Class: Environmental Behavior Research I (SIE562) Fall 2012 Section HC3
Date: December 3, 2012
Research Question: • Abstract
Developing affordable housing system for the rapidly growing urbanization slums can be sustained. How, utilizing local material with the appropriate technology tailored for the cultural conditions of their communities. Minimizing energy consumption, by incorporating passive energy/photovoltaic thermal for cooling and heating, rainwater harvesting, and for reusing for irrigation and waste, local capacity involvement for self-sustained. Thus, there will not have negative impact on the ecosystem and the environment.
Literature Review: (one page of annotated bibliography double-spaced, of at least three sources)
1. Development Context and the Millennium Agenda
The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements 2003
Revised and updated version (April 2010) http://www.unhabitat.org http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/indicators/OfficialList2008.doc
How can governments in developing countries meet the over populated cities and increasing slums/shelters. Housing infrastructure and land allocation, land rights.
2. Danko, S. (2010), On Designing Change. Journal of Interior Design, 36: v–ix. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1668.2010.01044.x
Janda, Kathryn B. Buildings don’t use energy: people do. Architectural Science Review Vol. 54, Iss. 1, 2011
This article discusses new approach and forward thinking in designing buildings/house with alternative energy consumption, it argues against that building do not uses energy but people do. How can people in what ways utilize the natural illuminance, energy and to conservation.
3. Lawrence, Mike, Andrew Heath, and Pete Walker. “Determining moisture levels in straw bale construction.” Construction and Building Materials 23, no. 8 (2009): 2763-2768.
This article gives the history on straw bale construction, the effective cost, different types of straw bale, and its benefits.
4. Henderson, Kathryn. “Ethics, culture, and structure in the negotiation of straw bale building codes.” Science, Technology & Human Values 31, no. 3 (2006): 261-288.
This article talks about the integrating technology with traditional construction for maximum benefits and low cost self sustaining approaches.
5. Magwood, Chris, and Peter Mack. More Straw Bale Building: a complete guide to designing and building with straw. New Society Publishers, 2005.
The authors give the practical guideline and information about construction with straw bale, the logistics and how to guide.
6. Keating, Thomas F., and W. Andy Knight. Building sustainable peace. United Nations Univ, 2004.
This article discusses the economic sustainability of a country and its citizens for stability and maintaining peace (Haiti as the subject in discussion)
7. Kean, Sam. “From the Bottom Up.” Science 327, no. 5966 (2010): 638-639.
8. Sherpa, Dawang. “Affordable Solution for Earthquake Resistant Building Construction in Haiti.” (2010).
This article is about finding solutions to building affordable housing, earthquake adapt, and wind or hurricane resistant and meeting the residence basic needs and attracting donors.
• Methods: Straw Bale Building:
Building walls with straw bales can be accomplished with unskilled labor, and the low costs of the bales make this technique economically attractive. Straw bale construction uses baled straw from wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice and covered the walls with earthen or lime stucco.
Traditionally straw bale are a waste product which farmers do not use until under the soil, but do sell as animal bedding or landscape supply due to their durable nature.
Because of the ever increasing housing material and building cost, the straw bale method for constructing walls has been recently resuscitate as a low cost alternative for building highly insulating walls. The system had been practiced in the plains states in the latter 1800’s and early 1900’s. Some of these structures remains and functional till this day. The technique has been applied to homes, farm buildings, schools, commercial buildings, churches, community centers, government buildings, and airplane hangars. Straw is an excellent insulator around the ratio of 40, when comparing it to fiberglass straw bale take little energy to produce, it is recycling a waste product for farmers. The thermal benefit is that the walls are very thick and aesthetically pleasing an equivalent wood frame wall would be very expensive and waste of trees. They are easy to stack therefore, unskilled laborers can access with minimum supervisory.
For safety and security concerns, paradoxically a finished straw bale walls are very thick and dense that they have a better fire protection rating than conventional wood-frame walls. They are resistant to earthquakes, high wind of 145mph from hurricanes. Lastly farmers will not have to burn them to pollute the air quality for about 80% of the straw bale are burned after the grain harvesting.
Plastering interior with readily available locally found clay and exterior with lime plasters. Effective as a structural material for roofing will be bamboo or tall grass for thatching both are locally found and wildly grown in most countries. The bamboo and wire mesh is used to reinforce straw bale, they are cheap and has rapid growth rate they can be harvested several times within a year, and they are strong. By using the bamboo or tall grass, will help slow deforestation and illegal lodgings.
• Why This Interest Me & What is At Stake: one paragraph per
My interest in straw bale housing its sustainable architecture, affordable housing, alleviating urbanization slums. Earth is the most important building material, providing housing for the majority of the world ‘s population, which is available everywhere and cheap.
The cost of these buildings is extremely important, it’s a community’s initiative, thrift, and ability to organize and turn local resources to advantage to meet the basic human need of housing. The actual building program will be self-help, with technical assistance; owner built housing, unless the head household is single mother. It is control participation, meaning the government is not building the housing project for them the operation will use local resources in small groups and will tight knit community continuity in tradition. In most developing countries the housing system are not subsidized neither does the government provide building regulation for the developer to build standard affordable housing. Therefore, most dweller cannot afford what the independent developer builds. The more affordable, the more donors will be attractive and the more the straw bale housing can compete with conventional methods of building.
The house will be complete with rainwater harvesting system attaching to above or below cistern. Complete with communal low cost direct photovoltaic system for lighting and other low-demand electrical needs.
This is a forward thinking in protecting the environment and it’s ecologically sound method of constructing new building forever increasing population. With the integration of advanced technology in the building the rural dweller will enjoy their knit community without the need to move to the cities for economic mobility.