Concrete Canvas Shelters
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.18.07
Blaine at Transmaterials shows Concrete Canvas Shelters: "a rapidly deployable hardened shelter that requires only water and air for erection. It can be deployed by two people without any training in approximately thirty minutes and is ready to use in twelve hours. Invented by Peter Brewin (same person?) and William Crawford, the shelter consists of a cement-impregnated fabric (Concrete Cloth) bonded to the outer surface of an inflatable plastic inner structure." They note that it is better than tents: "CCS enables a hardened structure from day one of a crisis. It provides much better environmental protection, increased security and vastly improved medical capability. Crucially, CCS can be earth bermed to protect against small arms and shrapnel." It has won piles of awards yet we seem to have missed it.
One of Cameron Sinclair's rules is "Don't ship", noting that transport and distribution is often expensive and difficult, and that it is better to locally source and build. He also notes that concreted domes can turn into pizza ovens, it is so hot inside. However this is such an elegant solution- just blow it up and wait til it sets. ::Concrete Canvas via ::Transmaterials
They need to combine this with the Monolithic Dome designs. You could build complete homes in a couple days. Maybe build an outer dome, then an inner dome with a 6-12 inch gap between and fill the space with a recycled material with good thermal properties for insulation.
Maybe lay sheets of the stuff on hillsides to stablize rocks and landslide risks, or way some down as instant waterways or for use in errosion control.
How about a makeshift channel way built under above-ground pipelines to contain and channel spills? How hard would it be to build something like that, a basic V-shaped channel that sets up in 12 hours and could be built at a rate of a couple miles a day?
Then again, throw a couple sheets over a van and you get a low-tech armored car.
Just thinking out loud. This is some cool technology.
-Lego
"They need to combine this with the Monolithic Dome designs. You could build complete homes in a couple days. Maybe build an outer dome, then an inner dome with a 6-12 inch gap between and fill the space with a recycled material with good thermal properties for insulation."
The Monolithic Dome shells go up really fast, it's the inside finishing that takes so long.
You've basically described an "envelope house" and it's a well proven design. I would fear in a developing countries that recyclable insulation would entail paper and cardboard, without any thought to fire proofing, but at least he shell wouldn't burn. An air gap isn't all that bad by itself in moderate climates, as this is sort of how straw bale and fiberglass insulation works.
if you live anywhere other than the tropics than wouldn't rebar be a nice idea so that your brand new house doesn't crack the first winter? Or can you just tweak the formula of the cement...
This is great for an outdoor picnic area or a utility shed, but American Ingenuity's dome homes are still the most resilent, no matter your weather conditions. They take longer to put up, but because they come in triagular pannels they are much stroger. (Monolithic Domes requires expensive equiptment to errect and is not do-it-yourself friendly.)
It would probably be possible to inflate the inflatable inner plastic structure with a foam insulation, which would also add a little more rigidity. It wouldn't be as easily transported, like if you were hiking or backpacking, you might not want to carry a can of foam insulation around with you. But maybe it's not as heavy as i think it is. many of these foam insulations are mostly air anyway... I wonder if it would be possible to make spray insulation that you add a ubiquitous natural ingrediant to -- like spray foam dirt insulation? Just add the dirt onsite. Soap bubbles make decent insulation? They don't get rigid though. Or maybe spray foam algae insulation? Grow and add you own algae or just skim some off the pond...