Haiti Earthquake January 2010
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Okay, I won't ask
This is a link to an interesting project that will hopefully help with rehousing the people in Haiti,
The SEED Project - from unused shipping container to sustainable emergency housing
'30 million shipping containers the world over currently lying dormant, a team of researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina are working to help solve the issue of accommodation in disaster affected areas by developing a method to convert the unused containers into sustainable emergency housing.'
I'm always fascinated at what can be achieved with simple 40' shipping containers. It just goes to prove that we really don't need massive houses to get by.
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I like the idea of using old containers for low income housing, however I wonder how a metal container will hold up in a country that has very high heat and humidity and where airconditioning is not an option due to costs and power grid capacity, not to forget rusting.
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Good points Pete. SEED would appear to be addressing these requirements in their research. I imagine high quality insulation will be required to keep some heat in at night. As for cooling / ventilation, you can see that they are proposing large opening sections. I imagine these openings would have to face the prevailing wind. The containers are also raised off the ground and this would also help to generate natural air flows.
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On the subject of basic requirements. I came across a very interesting invention by a young Irish lad, Richard O'Shea. Richard has won the BT Young Scientist competition with his BIO MASS Stove. I see that he will be donating his @5,000 prize to charity and he has already got Trocaire http://www.trocaire.org/ interested in distributing a construction manual for the bio mass stove in Africa. BTW, I emailed his school and offered to make some 3D SU models of the stove if they would be of any use. Probably will need some rendering help!
Here is a link, http://www.youtube.com/btyoungscientists#p/u/4/Bmi-I6B2tC0 I'm attaching a pic of Richard working in his shed!
Mike
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@mike lucey said:
I'm always fascinated at what can be achieved with simple 40' shipping containers. It just goes to prove that we really don't need massive houses to get by.
Unfortunately, I can also see these shipping containers lasting an awful long time, and then becoming a slum burden to the Haitian people (not to mention the searing heat within that steel container!). Haiti really needs proper investment. It's long overdue. We're already hearing awful stories about the place becoming an anarchy hell hole on the tv and radio. This shouldn't be happening, we shouldn't in the rich west, have this kind of vision of such a poor part of the world. I reckon that the quake's after effects would have been far less severe if Haiti wasn't already a third-world country. I mean California managed to get back on its feet pretty quickly after the last major earthquake, but then California is a rich part of the USA.
I also agree, we don't need massive houses. I tend to go on holiday these days in a mobile home. These are great fun, and as long as there is space around you to grow, it's a nice way to live. But give me a decent and separate garden shed any day!
PS, I've already donated.
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I just hope that once this story gets superceded by some drunken/drugged celebrity acting badly in the media, that the aid keeps going and that the world (especially USA) keep focused on the real issues.
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I very much liked what Richard Rogers was doing with his affordable 'eco' house design (far better than metal boxes imo).
More here;
and here;
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/richard_rogers_1.php
Sorry about the embarrassing titled websites!
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I don't know what they are complaining about....I couldn't find my house after ten Aftershocks!
(sorry I had to lift the mood, inappropriate I know)
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@olishea said:
I don't know what they are complaining about....I couldn't find my house after ten Aftershocks!
(sorry I had to lift the mood, inappropriate I know)Don't know if they have that particular brand of alcoholic beverage outside of the UK ?
I avoid them as I already have too few brain-cells left...
BUT if you can't laugh in the face of adversity then where can you laugh ? -
@tig said:
@olishea said:
I don't know what they are complaining about....I couldn't find my house after ten Aftershocks!
(sorry I had to lift the mood, inappropriate I know)Don't know if they have that particular brand of alcoholic beverage outside of the UK ?
I avoid them as I already have too few brain-cells left...
BUT if you can't laugh in the face of adversity then where can you laugh ?Who cares when you can get EKU 28!! (Or even Samiclaus, the STRONGEST lager in die welt!
)<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DjDpQhsjuX4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DjDpQhsjuX4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
oh why, oh why, oh why, won't this forum allow for embedded YouTube vids? (please copy/paste into your browser) It would be great for SketchUp tutorials! (I also missed this thread, because sometimes SketchUcation's "notify me" doesn't work
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The people of the Netherlands donates € 83.000.000,= for the people in Haiti, that is for every dutchman
€ 5,50.
But Germany who is 7 times greater than the Netherlands, donate € 20.000.000,=.So whe must be glad off the dutch people because the are giving a lot to Haiti
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@tfdesign said:
oh why, oh why, oh why, won't this forum allow for embedded YouTube vids? (please copy/paste into your browser) It would be great for SketchUp tutorials! (I also missed this thread, because sometimes SketchUcation's "notify me" doesn't work
It works, bro....look here: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=144086#p144086
Is this what you were trying to post?
[flash=853,505:ustvbglx]http://www.youtube.com/v/DjDpQhsjuX4&hl&fs=1[/flash:ustvbglx] -
Hey Marcus! Yes that was it! It made me smile to see this bearded chap smoking a pipe and drinking a bottle of EKU 28 on a freezing cold Monday morning- bought a bit of cheer in!
I think it is piss-poor of the Haitian government to call of searching for survivors only after 11 days or so, especially as rescue workers pulled 2 more survivors out of the rubble on the day that they announced this
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but the existing survivors are dying of infection so attention must be directed towards them now....the chances of survival after 11 days without water is nil. they cant keep looking for the odd one or two people when hundreds of thousands need help. its harsh i know but its a matter of resources now.
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Sitting in front of the T.V. with all of this still happening, and all you can do is sit there.
Even after I donated, I still feel useless. I think I might have to join the red cross to get this off my chest...
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Here is a post on the Sketchupdate blog where Aidan Chopra tells what architects can do to help the relief effort. http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-can-architects-do-for-haiti.html
Two options he gives are joining Architecture For Humanity who is spearheading an effort, and helping draw detailed maps of Haiti which are critical to the relief effort.
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@kxi system said:
Even after I donated, I still feel useless. I think I might have to join the red cross to get this off my chest...
Just lobby the Canadian government to give ALL Haitians Canadian citizenship!
We should do the same in Britain (except it would be easier (and cheaper) to get to North America! ) -
Far easier to make Haiti our 51st state, use Chinese borrowed money to fix it up, increase taxes then sell off the land to hotel developers....or be truly American and build a military base on it.
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@solo said:
Far easier to make Haiti our 51st state, use Chinese borrowed money to fix it up, increase taxes then sell off the land to hotel developers....or be truly American and build a military base on it.
Well, if it brings hope and jobs (even if they are within the US military!
), that's got to be better than progressing with the present model? -
Actually, Pete's not being that facetious. I read a story that talked about quake victims begging the American People to just come and take over their country. "If you can do it in IRAQ," they ask, "why not here?" The story went on that the quake and its devastation were just a devastating result of a chain of terrible political and economic events that were put in motion some 100+ years ago. Papa Doc, Baby Doc, Aristide, it's been a whole Rogues' Gallery Down there.
A lot of Local Doctors and Med Professionals from our Area have gone down--either sent by the LDS Church or on their own. A great thing to do if you want to do something real hands on is if you know of someone --the head of a family --in your area who is leaving their family to go down there to help for an extended, offer your assistance and service to the family left behind -- to help free up the person going down. Take in a meal, offer to help defray the volunteer's costs, etc etc.
David_H
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