Day 2 and back to the site

This morning after a good night’s sleep we awoke with the alarm at 6 a.m. but MAC again did not manage to make it to yoga. Then at 7 a.m. we went across to breakfast. Here Marcin and Christine who is now the de facto project manager outlined the main tasks for the day. This consisted of making the wooden ‘trenches’ which would sit over the openings such as the windows and door and into which concrete would be poured to form the lintels. 

When the wooden structures had been policed above the openings, rebar would be inserted and secured and then cement would be made and a bucket chain would deliver the cement to the upper tier of the building to be poured into the trenches and allowed to set overnight after which the wooden structure would be removed leaving the lintels exposed. Meanwhile others spread what seemed to be ‘chicken wire’ all around the building and this was to ‘bind’ the brickworks and help secure it in event of an earthquake.

During all the work, some people managed to harvest coconuts from the nearby trees a den these had very soft tender meat in them. This day was much warmer than the previous day and sunburn was a real problem as was water consumption. The morning was taken up with the preparations for the afternoon. Then at lunch time we had another briefing and then went back to the site. Soon the cement mixer was in action and as soon as a load was mixed  the bucket chain went into action and we supplied the upper tier with buckets of cement which they poured into the troughs above the windows and door. The work went well and the job was soon completed. Then the pace of work seemed to lag a bit and I took off at about 4.30 p.m.

The work has gone quite well so far although the results are not likely to win any beauty contest but as the outside of the building will be covered in stucco which may cover up a multitude of sins. The main issue might be the resilience of the structure in either earthquakes or more likely hurricanes which do affect the region periodically. One in the past caused much devastation and the owner of the Bamboo Beach Hotel actually used the debris from a previous hurricane to construct this hotel which he then immediately put on the market and it has been up for sale for 15 years.

The soil with which the bricks are made has been carefully chosen for its water content, clay content and any extraneous biomass. A number of different soils in various parts of Belize were tested using a number of different techniques to ascertain suitability for the brick construction. Eventually the best soil within a reasonable distance was selected and then excavated and brought to the site. The brick compressing machine then produced bricks at the rate of 6 per minute and at an estimated cost of between $0.03 per unit to $0.30 per unit depending upon the amount of cement which was added to the composition. This compares with about $2/each for cinder block which are twice the size of the compressed bricks. If the strength and durability of the compressed blocks is considered equal to that of the cinder blocks then this would mean building costs could reach 1/3 of more conventional solutions.

The machine which compresses the bricks can be built using the open source plans for about $4,000 or Open Source Ecology can construct one for a sale price of about $10,000. The idea is to try to reduce building costs to around 1/3 of present costs.

The interesting point of the present CEB build in Copper Bank, Belize is the fact that a rather disparate group fo people from several countries, various ages and experiences have managed to work reasonably well together and complete work with which many of them are unfamiliar with enthusiasm and energy. That in itself is a great achievement and shows that there is dedication to ecological developments which goes beyond pious verbiage and declarations and involves sweat and effort. The house itself is a ‘proof’ of concept more than a finished project and although will be used for a resident of the area to live in, it may not stand the test of time the way that future iterations will. The speed of construction and the variability of the constructors may mean that perfection was not fully achieved. That does not matter, the building, absent a major weather or other disaster will certainly last for quite a while and what has been learned from the project will infect future projects for the better.

After work and at dinner we had a presentation on the soil selection process by Gabby who has been here with the project for some months with her partner Adrian?????? Who live in a camper near the build site. Then Marcin gave us a talk on the economics of this type of building technique and the objectives which he has for changing the whole construction industry, a big ask, perhaps but worth a try. Marcin, himself and his wife both live in a house which was constructed using panel components and which includes hydroponic heating, bio-composting and other ecological features and which cost $50,000 to construct. Although this house was not constructed using the compressed brick system it does demonstrate that economic and ecological construction is possible. I have taken some notes on the various talks we have had and I will try to summarize some of the main points and more interesting details of them in a later post, hoping that I have understood and can explain what I heard.

As always in these volunteer projects one meets very interesting people who all have different stories to tell. Brett, whose grandfather was a missionary in Polynesia had some great stories and others have fascinating backgrounds and have gravitated here from as far as Africa and Europeans many have, at some time of their lives lived and worked in other countries in the world. Their shared interest in the environment and in trying to live in a more harmonious way with the world they inhabit is the common thread between all of them. Some intend to take this open source technology back to the countries and communities from which they came, some are going on to completely different careers and jobs but they will have been affected by what they have seen in whatever they do.