[GSBN] Bales for Haiti

[Paul Olivier]

As many of you know, I am thoroughly fascinated by rice hulls, and with the
help of several experts in gasification, I have started making in Vietnam
rice hull gasifier stoves. Please see:
http://www.esrla.com/pdf/gasifier.pdfI think that these stoves would
be very useful in Haiti, and the biochar
from these stoves can be used in agriculture. Here in Vietnam the biochar
has a greater value than the hulls from which they were produced. So the
volatile matter within the char that is transformed into syn gas is
available at no cost. This is definitely a far better way of obtaining the
fuel needed to cook a meal than burning propane or butane derived from
fossil fuels. Most people in Vietnam cannot afford propane and butane, and
are forced to burn low-grade biomass at an enormous cost to their health and
the health of their environment.

At the same time, I have been discussing with Garrett Connelly the idea of
employing ferrocement techniques in the construction of houses in Vietnam.
Wood is seldom used in Vietnam in residential construction. Instead houses
are framed in reinforced concrete, and bricks fill in the frame to form
walls. The frame is typically about 8 inches in width. If a strand of
ferrocement is pulled on each side of this frame, this creates a cavity in
which rice hulls can be poured. This technique would eliminate the use of
bricks which easily collapse in an earthquake, and it significantly reduces
the weight of the structure. The frame and the ferrocement strands are
easily reinforced to withstand any earthquake. Of course rice straw can be
used in the place of rice hulls, but rice hulls have a better r-value and
resistance to moisture. Garret has developed several techniques to prevent
ferrocement from cracking, and he has a wonderful technique to prevent water
from penetrating a strand of ferrocement.

So rice hulls can be used as a fuel and as a building material. Rice straw
can be chopped and also routed to a gasifier stove. The straw and the hulls
come from the same plant, and could be used interchangeably as a fuel and as
a building material according to their availability and other factors. For
many years I have seen the straw bale house and the rice hull house as
variants on the same theme. http://www.esrla.com/pdf/RiceHull.pdf I am
thoroughly at home with all of the people in the strawbale movement. My
brief contact with them has thoroughly changed the way I view residential
construction. They are the salt of the earth.

Many thanks.
Paul Olivier

Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 063 399 7256 (in Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
http://www.esrla.com/

On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 12:19 AM, Kelly Lerner <klerner at one-world-design.com
> wrote:

>  Hi all,
> Just my two-cents worth from working in China. For developing a
> sustainable, appropriate building approach in any new country, I think you
> need to employ an investigative approach - lots of questions:
> What's the climate?
> Other environmental factors (earthquakes, hurricanes, etc)?
> What materials are available? (resource mapping)
> What skills do people already have? (resource mapping)
> What are/were people living in now? traditionally? What worked and didn't
> work about those housing types?
> What's the family structure?
> What are the economic factors?
> What do people want?
> etc, etc, etc
>
> Strawbale construction may make sense or there may be some other techniques
> that are better suited to Haiti (reinforced waddle and daub or reinforced
> adobe?). Rural and urban locations will have different solutions.
> Establishing relationships that empower people to look around them for
> solutions is always a good place to begin.
>
> I do worry about the longevity of strawbale walls in a climate with so
> little drying potential and so much wetting potential (rains and hurricanes
> and poverty which often equals lack of ability to maintain roofs).
>
> All my best to you all.
>
> Kelly
>
>  Kelly Lerner, Architect
> Certified Sustainable Building Advisor
> One World Design Architecture   509-838-8812
>  www.one-world-design.com
>  www.naturalremodeling.com
>
> Have you read *Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House*? Available
> in bookstores throughout the universe.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
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