Top
Ti Kay Pay in Haiti

The Sheltering Pine Institute and Builders Without Borders first building project in Haiti has been completed. Team leader and architect Martin Hammer and team member and lead builder Andy Mueller were in Port-au-Prince to construct the first strawbale building in Haiti. 

The Ti Kay Pay was designed to use as many in-country, repurposed and local materials as possible, to build on existing labor and skill resources, and to encourage the creation of local industry. From the foundation to the roof, material and building system choices were made with these goals in mind.

One enormous material resource that is largely untapped in Haiti is the rubble resulting from the collapsed buildings in the earthquake.

The Ti Kay Pay design uses crushed rubble in the foundation and in the stem wall in gravel bags. The same crushed rubble is also screened for fine aggregate in the plasters.

Pallet trusses and bamboo rafters provide the roof structure, covered with commonly available and durable sheets of corrugated steel. Wood from pallets, left from the vast number of aid shipments, has become a new in-country resource for Haiti.

This work in Haiti includes training and active involvement of people in the communities where the work occurs.This collaboration allows the development of appropriate solutions that are received and owned by the local population.

Donations. Please consider donations to support the beginning phases of this important work that will create local industries and employment, provide an inspired model of sustainable reconstruction, and that is expected in time to sustain itself. Donations now will make you a part of constructing ongoing rebuilding efforts in Haiti.Consider making the donation in honor or memory of a loved one, or as a meaningful gift for a family member or friend.  All donations are tax deductible as the Sheltering Pine Institute and Builders Without Borders are a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

To donate and to follow project by project progress, see BWB’s website at www.builderswithoutborders.org or The Sheltering Pine Institute at www.shelteringpineinstitute.org/

Form more information on this project please visit www.tikaypay.wordpress.com

Building for today’s climate

As the United States faces the worst housing and financial crisis of its history, natural built homes offer sensible solutions as the modern day response to the inherent drawbacks of conventional home construction.  An overwhelming response to these challenges is homeowners choosing smaller, more energy efficient homes that respond to financial and environmental pressures of today.  Forward thinking builders and designers have successfully built beautiful, efficient natural homes with an important personal appeal to the client.  All this with careful consideration of the impact of construction on the earth and its resources. Where the conventional building paradigm adds complex rooflines and ornate trim to draw attention to the architecture, natural homes excel at a more personal and nuanced aesthetic.

The economic climate of yesterday produced quickly built homes designed for a fast investment return, certainly not longevity or long lasting quality. Today, natural built homes respond with a long term solution – a comfortable, healthy, functional, efficient and environmentally benign home for years to come.

Accessibility to modern building technologies and freedom from conventional design in the first development stages of natural building was a visceral response to changing energy and economic resources.  This more intuitive and non-linear approach to home building explores new lines and shapes in architecture. New systems of non-traditional heating and cooling, rainwater harvesting, and active/passive system design have proven to be of great appeal to the modern owner/builder. The popularity of natural building continues to grow and expand our archives of new information for a stronger foundation of knowledge. GreenSpace Collaborative is proud to work at the frontline of this vibrant movement building for a new world.