Syllabus Update

Natural Building Syllabus
Merritt College
Summer 2014

Instructor: Marisha Farnsworth buildmerritt@gmail.com

Blog: hundredmilehouse.blogspot.com


Monday & Wednesday: 9am – 2:20pm. Meet at the tool shed. 

Preparation: Please do each reading and assignment before the date listed on the syllabus.

Required: closed toed shoes, water bottle, lunch, work gloves, dishwashing gloves, hat, safety glasses, ear plugs, dust mask, work clothes, pencil. Note: if you are not prepared with the above gear, you may not be permitted on certain worksites.
Recommended: tape measure, wood and/or bamboo saws, plaster trowel, any other tools that you have and know how to use that you deem useful for the activity on a given day.
Recommended: bring a snack to share.
                             
Student Learning Outcomes:
 Be able to name and locate ecological materials appropriate for use in construction. Compare ecological materials and evaluate their appropriateness for diverse building applications. Evaluate the pros and cons of building with ecological materials. Apply earth as a plaster on a wall.


Schedule:

Monday 6/2
Lecture: Introduction to Natural Building
Activities: Syllabus Overview, Site Tour, Toolroom Orientation, Clay Harvesting


Wednesday 6/4
Lecture: Wattle & Daub, Infill systems
Guest Lecturer: Matt Wolpe on Tiny Houses
Activities: Review Precedent Studies, Design Charrette
Assignment: Post Precedent Studies (Inspirational, educational projects related to the tiny house project)
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 2 Building Fundamentals & Ch. 3 Alternative Building Strategies

Monday 6/9
Lecture: Earth Ovens, Stone Masonry
Activities: Soil Report-Backs, Testing Soil Samples
Assignment: Bring a yogurt container (min. more is better) full of wet clay soil from your home or other location. Be prepared to report back on your soil type and location.
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 8 Cob and Other Earth Mixes   


Wednesday 6/11
Guest Lecturer: Nik Bertulis on Kitchen Greywater Design
Activities: Layout, Foundation

Monday 6/16
Lecture: Earth Building, Adobe, Cob
Activity: Review Research Topics, Masonry
Assignment: Submit 1 paragraph research topic proposal.

Wednesday 6/18
Guest Lecture: Anthony Dente on Engineering Natural Buildings
Activity: Masonry, Adobe Samples
Reading: http://www.ecobuildnetwork.org/library/building-materials-1/earth-1/miscellaneous-earth-1/69-the-renaissance-of-earthen-architecture-a-fresh-look-at-clay-based-construction-king-2010-1/file
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 7 Structure

Monday 6/23
Activity: Masonry, Earth Oven Cob, Insulation


Wednesday 6/25
Lecture: Green Building
Activity: Adobe Forms

Monday 6/30
Activity: Earth Oven
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 11 Modified Stick-Frame
Reading: http://greywateraction.org/content/requirements-no-permit-systems-california

Wednesday 7/2
Lecture: Straw Bale
Activity: Masonry Archway, Sand Dome
    Reading: http://strawbuilding.org/sites/default/files/docs/Strawbale_Construction_Building_Codes.pdf
    *Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 10 Straw Bale


Monday 7/7
Activity: Research Project Presentations
    Assignment: Post 1st part of Research Project


Wednesday 7/9
Lecture: Plasters
Activity: Earth Oven Thermal Layer, Insulation
Activity: Plasters & Paint Samples
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 12 Covering the Walls

Monday 7/14
Lecture: Mycelium Building
Activity: Cob, Adobe

Wednesday 7/16
Lecture: Building with Bamboo
Activity: Cob, Adobe, Bamboo 
Reading: http://www.ecobuildnetwork.org/library/building-materials-1/fibers-1/bamboo-1/unmilled-bamboo-1/39-the-architecture-of-simon-velez-deboer-2001-1/file

Monday 7/21
Lecture: Urban Forests and Urban Forest Products
Activity: Roof
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 13 Covering the Roof

Wednesday 7/23
Lecture: Earth Bag, Rammed Earth, Earth Floors
Activity: Plasters & Paint Application
    Assignment: Post 2nd part of Research Project
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 14 Covering the Floor

Monday 7/28
Lecture: Siting a Building
Activity: Finishes
*Extra Credit Assignment: Submit notes on Ch. 5 Siting

Wednesday 7/30 
Research Project Presentations
Research Project:
Over the course each student will choose a topic related to the course work and produce a research project of one to two pages (500 words min.) in length consisting of any combination of original text, original images, Creative Commons images, images you have permission to use (sited after image), and original video. Research projects will be posted in on our blog, for future students to reference. Research topics should be selected based on personal interest; topics will be proposed and approved or revised on 6/16.

Extra Credit Reading Assignments: Building Green, by Clarke Snell & Tim Callahan - Lark Books, 2009. Selected pages are available through Google Books http://books.google.com/books?id=MoC1ZPvuw-MC&lpg=PP1&ots=Pq6lE2LJmt&dq=building%20green%20snell&pg=PA50#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Extra Credit Assignments:
250 word minimum blog post with clear, descriptive photos documenting a material or process completed during class time.
Blog post with clear documentation of a local waste-stream opportunity including, location, method of use and other relevant information.


Grading: 

55% Attendance
20% Research Project
1
5% Participation, Class Preparedness, Clean-up

10% Assignments & Quizzes
*Extra Credit up to 2% per assignment with a 22% limit

Online resources to explore:
eartharchitecture.org
strawbuilding.org

openarchitecturenetwork.org
appropedia.org

Inspired by Ollantaytambo en el Valle Sagrado de los Incas

I'm grateful to have visited some archaeological sites of the Incas, and since then I'm becoming more and more fascinated with structures built from stone. The photo below is of what's known as Baño de la Ñusta, or Princess Bath. The water flows at a slight angle into the smaller upper-pool, which is filled with sand, creating a swirling motion enabling it to slow and filter the water before it touched the princess during ceremonial baths. It is thought that the three levels symbolized in the carved stone seen here is a representation of the Incas' belief system-- heaven, present, and the underworld, often represented by the condor, puma, and snake, respectively. 

It's thought that Ollantaytambo was constructed around mid-15th century by the Incan emperor, Pachacuti. The town is equipped with extensive terracing and irrigation systems. Also, many ceremonials centers were built, like the one pictured above.

These carefully-engineered irrigation channels carved into stone help guide rainwater that can be 

used for agricultural irrigation, drinking, and bathing.

I'm amazed to see structures like this built on such steep slopes. No rebar, I-beams, or concrete, and it's still standing over 500 years later. 

Nick's Research Part 1

Composting Toilets and Beyond

Roman Latrine in Ostia, Italy

Managing feces and urine has been a focus of civilizations for thousands of years. All over the world people have developed systems from as simple as digging a hole in the ground, or using running water to carry it away to a river or stream, to complex interconnected cities of underground pipes that end in sewage treatment facilities. In Asia it is common to recycle feces and apply it back to agricultural ground as “Night Soil”, while in America and Europe it is commonly referred to as “Waste” and thought of only in disgust. Feces and urine definitely should be considered carefully, as feces in particular can harbor dangerous or potentially lethal viruses and bacteria. Handled properly, however, human as well as other animal “Waste” can be recycled through the various processes of nature or applied science.

Chamber Pot - Nottingham, England - 16th - 18th Century

Advancements in sanitation and hygiene practices are often cited as an integral factor of recent global population boom. Modern western plumbing employs a drain-waste-vent system removing sewage and greywater from a building and venting gases produced by the waste. Running water carries away the waste and joins with a central sewage system often leading to a central sewage treatment plant and eventually a landfill. As the population continues to rise, the feasibility of using more water and land to divert human waste will become more difficult and ultimately fall on the shoulders of a future generation to determine how to reclaim these currently untapped unwanted resources. Over one billion people currently live without consistent access to running water or electricity. Composting toilets offer one alternative, but not without their own drawbacks, and further advances in environmental engineering and chemical engineering are allowing for greater technological advances in the capture and processing of human waste.

Drain-Waste-Vent System

Composting Toilet

Earth Oven Notes

EARTH OVENS: 

Retained Heat Ovens have been used by communities around the world for thousands of years. They come in different sizes, shapes, are made with varying techniques and are called by different names including “horno”, Quebec oven and earth oven, but the principals remain the same: 

A fire is burned inside the oven for several hours, the walls and hearth of the oven absorb heat from the fire. Once the fire is removed and the floor cleaned, the oven will bake food for hours with the heat retained from the fire. 

Heat Properties: 

Earth ovens use three types of heat transfer: 

conduction: heat transfer from hot bricks of oven floor

convection: slow air currents moving inside the oven 

radiation: heat radiation from oven walls 

Stages of cooking: get the most out of your fuel, plan a baking schedule

Pizza

Bread

Cookies 

Casserole

Dry fruit 

Dry wood for future firings (your fire will burn more efficiently and your oven will heat hotter faster with dry wood. Leave door off to avoid coking.) 

Yoghurt

Oven Size: 

18”-24” - family scale 

24”-27” - small community

27” < party oven 

48” < restaurant/bakery  

Important Measurements: 

For proper air circulation the ratio of the door to the ceiling height is critical: 

• Door 63% of Dome
• Ceiling height: 15”-18”

• A typical firebrick: 9” x 4.5”

Where to get Materials: 

Sand: American Soil & Stone, Sugar City Building Materials, and many other local businesses 

Fire Bricks: Clay People, Sugar City Building Materials (much cheaper)

Urbanite, Soil: your backyard, or someone else’s: craigslist.org

Straw: Race Track, feed stores

Sawdust: Wood workers (make sure it is from clean wood--no plywood, paint etc.

Pigment, Bagged Clay: Douglas & Sturgess, Leslie Ceramics, Clay People

Books: 

Build your own Earth Oven: Kiko Denzer 

The Bread Builders Hearth Loaves & Masonry Ovens: Daniel Wing & Alan Scott 

Clay Testing

6-9-14
We tested our soil which was, for the most part, clay.  Here are some pictures of us experimenting with adding sand, pumice, and wood chips.  The sand clay mixture will be used for the inner layer of our oven.  The clay pumice or clay wood chip mixture will be the insulation layer and then the clay mixed with straw also known as cob will be used for the outer layer.

BioChar Terra Preta Doc

Mark told us about this great doc on Terra Preta biochar made by ancient Amazonian tribes. The first link is the one he told us about, the second one covers the same topic in a slightly different angle. Very interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Os-ujelkgw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YS8I6AZRfg

Outdoor kitchen

Nice way to extend a short bar off the oven

Or a longer bar to accomodate more folks

Shifting the orientation of the door makes it easy to pull baked goods out without a slip up!

If we were to add a bar, I like the idea of two tiers, as shown in this photo. The higher side for people sitting and eating, the lower side for those assembling pizzas!

Tiny House Interior

Creative storage space that doubles as a ladder to the loft

Grow your own food on the outside walls of the house. They are easy to tend to here!

Perhaps the second picture is a tad out of control, I think the first one would suffice

I like that the door, seating area with a view, and the bed are all taken care of. Seems an economic use of space

I know we aren't adding a bathroom, but wow! that's something...

Tandoori options

A nice alternative to a steel drum, or to digging into the ground. Photo from Pakistan.

The natural aesthetic really pleases my eye in this sunken tandoori option.

Allison Shiozaki - A Site That Inspired Me

Kibbutz Ketura & Kibbutz Lotan & Neot Samadar

Kibbutz Ketura

I studied at an environmental institute (& peace building movement) in Israel in 2006/2007. We worked with mud building a few times. Below are images of the outdoor hang-out space, called the zula, for the students.

Across the hwy, they watered their dates fields with bio-filtered black water

Site of 'zula' at edge of dorms

You can see the beginning of construction of straw bale benches in backgrounds, to the left. The students lived in dorms, behind me, the photographer, but the "zula" was a space a bit a ways off campus to hang out.

Hand-built by students, with local mud & straw & recycled glass.

Using green glass bottles

Late nights around the fire in the zula were always the best.

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Kibbutz Lotan

The nature of the program at Ketura was more academic focused. Kibbutz Lotan was located just across the highway from the institute. They had a program there called the "Green Apprenticeship." We worked with them a couple times learning mud building. They had many natural structures from mud--a  bus-stop, a beautiful pond & the apprentices' rooms--& forward-minded ecological systems, such as compost toilet and constructed wetland (for grey & blackwater).

Bus-stop

GA's dorms/dome village

-

Amazing! - Pond/gathering space

http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/creativeEcology/

How beautiful compost toilets can be:

Check out the full slideshow:

https://picasaweb.google.com/ciclotan/CompostToiletsAtKibbutzLotanCenterForCreativeEcologyEcokefEducationPark#

More background information.

http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/ecoguide/compostToilets.html

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Neot Samadar
Kibbutz Neot Semadar is located in the Southern Negev Desert of Israel, about 60 km. north of Eilat. Their "interest in relationship extends to the environment through organic farming, desert architecture, water recycling, The Art Center and more"

The Art Center, with Natural Cooling tower

Art Center interior

More on Natural Cooling-tower design:
http://www.neot-semadar.com/art-center/cooling-tower

Take the Virtual tour of the Art Center & see their woodworking, weaving, et al:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH60TunlTO0\

Constructed Wetland & Aquifer:
http://www.neot-semadar.com/environment