Havenheed Material Group, DSS/MTA

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Comment by Sam White on November 23, 2011 at 2:44

I'm only gonna comment on buildings and forestry cos they're the only things I know anything about regarding materials.

Regarding buildings, timber (green or seasoned for different purposes), straw, and earth (rammed, bricks, adobe) would be my choices, depending on what's available.

Timber framed buildings are pretty simple to throw up if you get timber from a sawmill... Cutting and shaping timber becomes problematic due to the degree of skill and knowledge required (hands up if you know how to use an adze).

Straw bales and earth can both be structural although for more sizable buildings, straw bales are better combined with timber frames. It's very easy to put up a bale wall but you need to think about where you get the straw from and how you're going to bale it.

Earth is ridiculously easy to work with... To ram it, all you need is a sledge hammer and a form (basically a mold bolted together to withstand the pressure) and earth with the correct composition. Clay/earth bricks require either a mold or a brick machine (manual or powered). Cob is even easier and you basically just construct a wall by hand using quite clayey soil, sand and water. Adobe is similar but tends to have something fibrous included in order to bind... Straw, manure, whatever.


In regards to forestry management for low/zero/negative carbon buildings and fuel, food, and furniture etc the best way to go about it by mixing continuous cover forestry with coppicing... CCF is the least destructive management method which is better for wildlife and biodiversity and coppicing is a management technique that allows for versatility in the products you can get from trees.

More species = greater resilience... Who knows what will happen in the future? More species also= more biodiversity :)

Comment by Jonas Hellö on September 11, 2010 at 9:23

Yes, medical issues are highly important, I wouldn't want anyone stuck on an island with a broken leg or an open wound, without medical care, so that is a high priority in solving, both material-wise and when it comes to educated medical staff on site.

Wood is of course the easiest material to work with, when building e.g. houses, but we will have to make sure to not cut down too much, so if we could get a patch of land where we could grow 'energy forest' or the like for materials to braid with, rather than nail together, that could be a good answer in the long run, and, of course, clay is excellent, most likely in combination with braiding or nailing. If we buy somewhere warm than insulation will be no issue - at least not from cold, but perhaps still to keep us cool - but the tropical areas are usually high in storm frequenzy instead, so that has to be taken into account too.

Yes, paths and dirt roads are excellent. I don't think we'll get a big enough island to motivate petrol vehicles anyway, but perhaps bikes, yes, and electric cars, or a railroad system, much like the one Richard talks about - in the future. We could also maybe dig canals for boat transport, since the ocean will be a big part of our daily life anyway (if it's an island we're talking about). I'm guessing it might be easier to transport heavy items around the island, by boat, rather than over land.

Hygiene articles I imagine we could grow many plants for ourselves, but they are often, on the other hand, pretty small things, easy to import too.

Comment by Rand Foxwillow on September 10, 2010 at 23:25

starting basic is no issue -- as i mentioned in the land purchase, a place with the resources for individual manufacture would be ideal. things like timber, water, cotton, and foods can all be locally provided.

even with the basics, initial import is important. we'd need to bring our own tools, and things like copper wire, hygiene, and medicines would need to be imported. i think dirt roads and paths would definitely be best, even permanently. as long as we don't have a gigantic land mass, "cars" powered by pedals would be best, and i believe with gear systems we could get to 30 mph with them anyhow, could we not?