[GSBN] Bales for Haiti

Fri Feb 19 20:27:00 UTC 2010

There has been a request for rice straw bales out of the USA. This, I
presume, means that rice straw bales are not available in Haiti. Normally
rice straw bales would be available, if at all, only at the time of harvest.

However rice hulls should be available at rice mills in Haiti throughout the
year, since paddy rice is stored and milled on a daily basis. Therefore it
might be more appropriate to build rice hull houses rather than straw bale
houses at this particular time in Haiti. The basic approach would be that of
ferrocement, and loose hulls would be sandwiched in between two strands of a
ferrocement wall. Of course the concrete used in ferrocement construction
would have to be properly mixed, blended and reinforced, as is generally not
the case in Haiti. In this approach, concrete blocks or building bricks
would not be used, and this would significantly lighten the structure.
Acrylic could be used to water-proof the cement, and rice hulls are
naturally water-resistant. See http://www.esrla.com/pdf/astm1.pdf as well as
http://www.esrla.com/pdf/astm2.pdf

Thanks.
Paul Olivier

On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 2:17 AM, Paul Olivier <paul.olivier at esrint.com>wrote:

> 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.pdf I 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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>> http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
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