Virtual Meeting #3: Case Studies

ORGANIZED BY
EVALUATION CRITERIA

CASE STUDY 1: Earthquake-resilient Dhajji House

CASE STUDY 2: Storm-resilient 3D-printed House

CASE STUDY 3: Flood-resilient LIFT House (presented by Team Ark)

UPCOMING RESOURCES

OPTIONAL MINI CHALLENGE

Q&A
Resilience against 1-3 Scenario(s)
Appropriate Total Cost
Appropriate Size
Appropriate Longevity
Ease of Sourcing of Materials
Construction Ease & Time
Cultural Sensitivity & Aesthetic
Expandability
Scalability
Adaptability (e.g. flexrooms etc) & Personalization
Energy efficiency
Originality & Creativity
Community Integration
Sufficient installations are in place
Functionality
Security
Resilience: Scenario 1 (Earthquake) Ease of Sourcing of Materials: High

During the 7.6 magnitude Kashmir earthquake of October 2005, traditional Dhajji houses Materials (mortar, stones, timber) are usually
proved to be surprisingly earthquake resistant while nearly 500,000 other buildings, many of locally available
them made with modern building materials, collapsed.
Construction Ease: Medium Cultural Sensitivity & Aesthetic

Highly subdivided, light timber frames with masonry fills. Walls can be subdivided in various ways; Relatively neutral design: culturally
the strength of the finished wall depends on the quality of connections & the number of bracing originates from rural regions in India;
boards. Owner driven reconstruction approach, accompanied by an extensive training programme potentially also relevant to rural regions in
directed at workers and house owners. Africa and Latin America
 Appropriate Cost: Yes

150-500k PKR or $4,000 (2006); A lot

depends on the desired size and cost to
the owner of timber

Expandability: medium Originality & Creativity: low Adaptability: low

House can be expanded as This design has been developed Not explicitly designed
visualized. & tweaked over thousands of for interior convertibility
years; as such nothing new / adaptability

Installations & Energy Efficiency: medium
Solar Residential Hot Water System is in place; but
nothing is mentioned in terms of insulation etc
Community Integration: medium
The design fits the existing environment and community in
Kashmir; sufficient thought is given to the relation between
housing units; nevertheless no innovative integration
beyond spatial aspects
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Resilience: Storms (that’s the claim, bu concrete is usually solid;
however unclear whether windows and roof are truly storm-proof)

Cost: $4,000k-$10,000

Size: 600-800 sqft

Longevity: unclear / untested; but concrete usually lasts >20yrs

Ease of Sourcing of Materials: Medium; concrete is usually

available, but costs associated with transporting the printer &
aluminium frames etc

Cultural Sensitivity: Medium; relatively neutral/plain design but

could still stand out significantly in certain contexts

Expandability: Possibly; but requires aluminium frames each

time, or traditional construction approach
Construction Time: 12-24h

Construction Ease: Lightweight aluminum frames are

installed, easy to disassemble for transport, stabilized by
triangular trusses. ‘VULCAN’ printer prints 3⁄4-inch-thick
layers of mix of cement, sand, plasticizers, and other
aggregates based on digital blueprints. Eliminates need for
drywall & wood framing. Human workers installed
windows, doors, plumbing, and electrical systems. ICON is
planning to print insulating foams and roofs too someday &
ICON would also like to develop robots in the future that
could automatically install the windows, as well drones that
could spray-paint the exterior walls.

Scalability: Theoretically allows rapid scaling but issues

with transporting printer & materials and training local
labor to run the printer vs importing experts
Adaptability: no explicit design for converting rooms by day vs night

Room for personalization: No limit for printer to how long the wall can
be, flexible shapes

Energy efficiency: Printer runs on 6 electric motors that require only

240 volts of power—roughly the same as a clothes dryer—so it won’t
overwhelm fragile power grids in developing countries or disaster
zones; printer also has solar panel generators. 3D printing reduces
excess waste materials that would usually get trucked off to the landfill
post-construction. Unclear to what extent the house however is energy
efficient

Creativity: construction process is very creative & high-tech

Community Integration: no explicit plans mentioned

Installations: fully equipped with bathroom installations etc

Security: unclear to what extent this house is secured of possible

robbery etc
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Resilience: Scenario 3 (Floods - but not storms necessarily?) Appropriate Cost: yes

The LIFT (low income flood-proof technology) house pilot project was constructed in 2010. Each unit costs $4,000 each, the two-unit
Buoyancy is achieved by two different methods that allow the house to float with rising water levels: house hence costs $8,000
A hollow Ferro cement foundation for one house and a bamboo frame foundation filled with 8,000
used empty plastic water bottles in the other.
Energy efficiency: high

Water is collected and filtered through a rainwater harvesting system during rainy season. Electricity is derived from two 60W solar
panels, one for each unit, that allow up to two families to carry out daily activities. The shared dual pit latrine system allows residents to
create compost from human waste where the urine is diverted away from the building through an underground pipe and deposited
under the garden as a source of nutrients for plants. The individual LIFT house was too small in scale to make the application of biogas
a cost effective method because 10 people will not produce enough human waste to produce enough gas in order to cook three meals a
day for two 7.9. Diagram of a bio gas fixed dome 7.10. Photo of the top of a bio gas plant families. Purchasing cow dung from local
farmers proved too expensive to become a viable solution, therefore the LIFT house is installed with two Grameen Shakti improved
stoves
Easy availability of materials: medium Construction time & ease: medium
Bamboo was the chosen building material for the Can be constructed by local labor but
amphibious dwellings due to its versatility, light takes 70 days to construct
weight, environmental benefits and low cost.
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1. Mid October: Courses will start
2. Mid October: Booklet of Case Studies containing case studies for each scenario
3. Mid October: Resilient Design Guide as a basic checklist for your designs
4. Mid October: Budgeting Guide to help you with calculating the cost
5. End October: Detailed Competition Evaluation Rubric
6. Early November: Connect with experts to start receiving feedback on your designs

You will be notified via email about each of these once they are up.
TOPIC: Research an existing Resilient Home Design and present it at the next virtual meeting;
participants will then discuss the design and try to identify strengths and weaknesses.

1. Spend maximum 2 hours researching the Design

2. Prepare a few talking points for your presentation

→ For which scenario(s) is this design relevant?
→ Does the Design meet all the criteria?
→ What do you consider the main strengths & weakness of this design?

3. Email us 1-3 PowerPoint Slides with image & text material to info@buildacademy.com

4. We’lll compile your material into one large presentation for the Meeting and confirm via email at
what time it will be your turn

5. On October 6th, present for a maximum of 4 minutes, then open it up to discussion

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Friday, 5th of October, 6PM (EST)

Write your questions into the Chatbox!
Please do not use your microphone.