When Charles Fox visited Haiti in June – just six months after a devastating earthquake – he was struck by Haitians’ belief that they would rise from the rubble a stronger country.
Fox, founder of a new local company called Pacific Green Innovations, shares this conviction. He wants to help Haitians build a better – and greener – nation than ever before.
Fox and his Portland startup company have hatched a plan to construct up to 10,000 low-cost homes in Haiti during the next year, using all-recyclable panels and employing thousands of Haitians.
The homes, costing only $5,000 to $7,000 each, will be fireproof, waterproof and earthquake-resistant. Each home will take about four hours for a four-person crew to build.
Pacific Green Innovations was formed in October of 2009 as a sustainable technology company. It didn’t take the company long to discover SwissCell, a modular prefabricated panel introduced by German-owned Consido AG of Switzerland.
SwissCell panels are made almost entirely of paper, strengthened by a honeycomb-style core and recyclable resin. Panels can be used to create homes, countertops, doors, or work sheds. The machine that makes the panels can produce enough for 20 houses a day.
Fox initially wanted to introduce SwissCell to the U.S. market, but turned to Haiti after the earthquake struck in January.
When his company breaks ground in Haiti next month, it will oversee the construction of 20 houses per day by an all-Haitian crew. During the 12-month building process, the project should employ nearly 6,000 Haitian laborers.
After multiple trips to Haiti, and after consulting with the Haitian government and former President Clinton’s William J. Clinton Foundation, Fox and Pacific Green tailored the project to Haitians’ requirements.
Porches, central to Haitian interaction, are a vital part of the floor plan. Most of the homes also will feature three bedrooms, at the request of Haitian families.
Land for the new homes has been secured through purchase, donations, and government set-asides. More than 1 million Haitians are still displaced, and the hurricane season is in full swing, so Fox hopes to start building quickly.
He plans to visit Haiti at least monthly to oversee the project and working conditions. He’ll devote more attention to introducing SwissCell into the U.S. market once the Haiti project is up and running.
One-tree house
The housing project will use minimal imports, saving time, energy and money. That also leaves Haitian ports free for much-needed humanitarian aid. The company will simply relocate a little glue, paper and two semi-portable panel machines to Haiti. Pacific Green is working to procure an all-natural glue made in North Carolina, but hopes to eventually find all the supplies it needs from Haiti.
If a standard U.S. home was constructed of SwissCell panels, the paper used in the house and foundation would equal the raw material from a single tree, earning the product its nickname, “one-tree house.”
One tree could easily produce two or three Haitian homes.
SwissCell homes have a high insulating value, although the Haitian homes will not be insulated because ventilation and airflow are more important in Haiti.
If the honeycombs in the panels were filled with insulation by the panel machines, the houses would have an R-78 insulating value, double that of contemporary U.S. homes.
SwissCell-based homes also are free of toxins, Fox notes, recalling the formaldehyde-ridden trailers supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that sickened many Hurricane Katrina survivors following the 2005 storm.
Pacific Green also is researching ways to recycle the earthquake rubble currently littering Haiti.
Funding the project
With the initial 1,000 homes estimated to cost $9 million, Pacific Green plans to fund the project in a variety of ways. One local plan is to create a nonprofit and collect donations in conjunction with the “Beaverton Cares” Campaign.
By Kelsey Thalhofer
http://www.oregoncitynewsonline.com/sustainable/story.php?story_id=128137994096195900
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