Institute for Planetary Renewal

Ultra Low-Cost Housing Seminar

(Available in the Greensboro, NC area)

Seminar Topics:

Technology Review

• Problems with Existing Housing Construction
• Advantages of Composite Shell Construction
• Engineering Principles of CSC
  • Moment of Inertia
  • Curved surfaces
  • Corrugation
  • Stress points
• Composite Shell Construction Basics
  • Low-Cost Foundations
  • Floors
  • Garden Walls and Courtyard Walls
  • Wall-Roof Systems
  • Other Roof systems
  • Doors and Windows
• Gazebos and Other First Experiments
• Supporting Technologies for Self-Sufficiency
  • Solar Collectors for Water and Space Heating
  • Solar Food Dehydrators
  • Solar Toilets
  • Survival Greenhouses
  • Food Storage
  • Water Harvesting
  • Water Storage
  • Cooling Towers and Coolth Harvesters
• Hot tubs
• Furniture

Form Building Techniques

• Design Considerations
• Form building materials
• Form finishing
• Aesthetics and Embellishments
• Creating a Master Mold
• Replicating the Mold
• Designing Low-Cost Materials
• Low-Density Materials
• Binders
• Surfacing & Waterproofing
• Ferrocement Variations & Reinforcement
• Adobe Plaster
• Mixing Tools and Materials
• Basic Form Building Tools and Materials
• Material Application Tools
• Reinforcement Application
• One-Step Composite Application
• The Future of Composite Shell Construction
• CSC Communities, Villages, And Cities
• Sources of Materials

Hands on Events

• Building Small Structures--(as time allows).
• Building and Leveling a Foundation
• Building a Privacy Wall
• Building a Composite Shell Tilt-Up Form
• Duplicating the Form
• Erecting the Structure
• Insulating with Low-Density Material
• Constructing the Outside Shell
• Waterproofing

Previous Workshop Comments

"Attending this workshop has been very educational and very interesting. We are very interested in following up on this, and getting involved." -- R.T.

"Simplicity is genius. Richard's concepts are beautiful, too!" -- M.S.

"Very creative way of construction; economical and simple method." -- V.O.

"Clear and informative -- A wonderfully creative and simple way to build for both beginner and expert builder." -- M.G.

"Innovative construction made simple. Easily understood." -- M.O.

"I'm so excited by this that I'm ready to begin today! Bravo, Richard!" -- S.D.

"A real breath of fresh air for the shelter solution." -- J.B.

"A truly revolutionary way of building that is inexpensive, simple, creative, and innovative. This workshop was an invaluable source of information -- I highly recommend it to everyone!" -- J.D.

"Great workshop -- I am overwhelmed with information. Certainly well worth the $." -- K.G.

"I have gained a good understanding of the principles involved and very much appreciate this opportunity. The most significant advantages are:

1. The elimination of separate roof construction and joining details to walls.
2. Straw-clay economics.

I expect to start building full scale forms soon." -- J.C.

One-Day Intensive Workshop

Saturday or Sunday, 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM

Cost $175, Couples $295, Pre-registration Required, Limited Attendance.

Registration:

For schedules and to register send e-mail to Sarvasri, IPR Director: Sarvasri@PlanetaryRenewal.org

Things to Bring:

Sack Lunch, Something to Sit On, Old Clothes, Gloves or Rubber Gloves, Boots or Rubber Boots, Lots of Energy!