Tsakumis' Endorsements for Vancouver Municipal Election 2011

Bill McCreery — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:06:49 GMT

MCCREERY, BILL (NPA): If there is a sentimental favorite for me it’s this guy. He’s Michael Geller-lite, but not that lite. And if we can’t have Geller on council (because he’s too goddamned stubborn to run) then McCreery has to be it. The planner and architect who could even off the stupidity coming from planning and in particular Brent Toderian’s office (Toderian should have been fired long ago). McCreery’s performances have been OUTSTANDING. Articulate beyond expectation, he would be a transformational councillor and, again, even off Suzanne Anton’s utter stupidity in support of the monstrosities being passed off as ‘laneway’ homes. His public speaking betters Geller and McCreery isn’t as wishy-washy or nice about it–I like a man who grins when he’s pummeling someone. He schooled Geoff Meggs and reduced Heather Deal into thin paste at two different debates I attended. Two thumbs way up! And if he wins, I hope he dedicates that win to his boy…who I’m sure will look down from up there and smile.

Click her to read the full post by Alex http://alexgtsakumis.com/2011/11/14/tsakumis-endorsements-for-vancouver-municipal-election-2011/

Please Donate to Bill McCreery's Campaign 2011

Bill MCCreery — Thu, 05 May 2011 05:08:20 GMT

PLEASE DONATE to Bill McCreery's Campaign 2011. As you know running for office in Vancouver, in particular because of our at large system, requires money in addition to ideas, passion and commitment. Your financial help is very important to ensuring my success at the polls 19 November. Please make a donation either by contacting me via email or phone (see "Meet Bill" above left on this web site), or donate on-line either with a one time or with monthly contributions(see "Donate" on the left pull down this web site). Also, please keep in touch and my sincere thanks for your help.

Working together for a better Vancouver,

Bill Mccreery

NPA Council Candidate

With a little help from their friends:

a Bamboo Laminates Micro-Enterprise for Southeast Nepal

his is an interesting and potentially far reaching self-help revolving

aid initative a group of fellow University of Manitoba Faculty of

Architecture grads and I jave been involved with over the ppast 5 years.

It has been a success and I look forward to seeing it move forward.

A pdf with photos, graphics, etc. is available by conacting me.

June 1, 2011

WAKEFIELD – It was Friday, the first day of December 2006.

Kathmandu’s winter sun streamed warm into the public lounge

of the Hotel Tibet. Refreshed and settling down after ten days

of learning about bamboo and helping to finance and build

laminate demonstration houses near Ilam in Nepal’s renown

tea plantation foothills, we – 12 backpacking representatives*

of the Canadian Architects’ Fund (CAF) and the national

director of our Habitat for Humanity (Habitat) host-partner –

deliberated the “Jolly good but what next?” question.

The goodness of our effort was affirmation that corrugated

bamboo-roofing sheets (CBRS) could be an affordable

alternative to globally popular but materially inferior

galvanised metal. Homeowner “sweat equity” contributions of

woven mats and a nearby lamination facility were conditions.

Habitat had for many months been on the lookout for ways to

reduce the cost of roofs and CBRS was attractive. Ditto CAF.

A multiple-year CAF-funded, Habitat-administered and SOS

Children’s Villages-coordinated micro-finance housing

programme had been agreed. Nationwide, the annual Habitat

need was to become an astounding 1500 roofs. What then?

A Bamboo Laminates Enterprise for Southeast Nepal.

The Enterprise was to be Habitat owned, NGO Sahara Nepal

operated, Canadian International Development Agency

(CIDA) Voluntary Sector Fund and Habitat Canada financed,

and CAF served – by volunteer professionals (project

development, architecture and, later on, process engineering).

That afternoon we shook hands on an inspiring vision.

Anticipating a ‘go’ to ‘goal’ schedule of 12-18 months, we

imagined a modest lamination facility located proximate to

bamboo plantations, to be comprised of a cluster of small

quick-to-erect Habitat-style shelters built using unskilled

community labour (in Habitat’s fashion of Mennonite-type

barn-raising bees) and roofed with the first run of CBRS

product. The facility would, potentially, be an awards-winning

design – a 50th anniversary contribution by ARCOP of

Montréal & Delhi. Strategic aims were economic simplicity (a

minimalist assembly line modelled on the International

Network for Bamboo and Rattan – INBAR – experience in Viet

Nam). Another was ease of replication (to incrementally

increase output). A third was portability (to respond to

Habitat’s changing programme demographics).

The Enterprise officially opened on November 30, 2010.

So, four years on, how did we do?

Outcomes

Habitat’s September 2010 End of Project Report for CIDA

notes that the Enterprise is set to achieve interesting economic

development and gender equity outcomes, albeit in ways that

set aside strategies for minimalism, replication and portability.

A vibrant “cottage industry” of harvesters and trained weavers

(700 women and 235 men) is at work (22,000 mats at start-up).

Importantly, gender balance exists at the lamination facility.

Peter Russell Patrice Pichette

George Strome Ted Baldwin

Brian & Lynn Eldred Bonnie, Ben & Gord Richards

Ruth & Peter Diamant

Tamara & Norm Glouberman

Stan Britton

29 Nov 06

* The CAF Team

Habitat’s ‘Save & Build’ micro-finance loans programme is

the sole and assured market for at least three years. First year

demand is reported to be 1729 houses (1500 were forecast) of

16 CBRS each (27,664 sheets). This requires a high output

assembly line versus that which had first been envisioned.

Later, Habitat chose to diversify: 40% capacity for mat-boards.

Habitat’s sheet size is 1.0 x 2.0 m (3’3” x 6’6”), as compared

to 0.8 x 2.0 m for INBAR Viet Nam. Its hot press laminates

seven sheets (4 x CBRS and 3 x mat board) versus two in Viet

Nam. Greater output requires larger more robust equipment.

Reported daily CBRS output is 180 sheets, increasing to 280.

Hydraulic Presses, INBAR Viet Nam Habitat Nepal

(2 platens / 4 pistons) (7 platens / 10 pistons)

Habitat reports the September 2010 per sheet cost for CBRS,

as well as mat board, to be NR1580 (CA$21.28), each to retail

at NR1650 (CA$22.50) or NR 825 (CAid="mce_marker"1.25) per square

meter. The 2011 retail price of ubiquitous 28-gauge galvanised

metal is NR404 per square meter – a difference of NR421

(nearly double). It is not clear how Habitat intends to fulfil its

CIDA obligation whilst ensuring homeowner affordability.

Increasing demand for raw bamboo is affecting costs. Habitat

is responding by making 60 hectares available for cultivation.

Budget

A large facility begets a large capital budget. Estimates for the

CIDA Voluntary Sector Fund (maximum CA$500,000) were

derived from IPIRTI (Indian Plywood Industries Research and

Training Institute). Figures affecting size and capacity were

adjusted to “design to budget”. Contributing to a budget

overrun were equipment, shelter, project management and an

extended schedule. Proudly, CAF/ARCOP volunteers were the

only purveyors of pro bono service.

Schedule

CAF-initiated CIDA approvals and IPIRTI technology transfer

and support agreements were slow in coming, and Habitat

project management expertise was not readily at-hand.

Intended assembly-line process engineering by CAF went

unrealised, and time-in-country was redirected to facilitate

equipment procurement and construction. Two CAF/ARCOP

bamboo design concepts were prepared and a third by CAF was

being built when Habitat chose to go with its own steel design.

The Lamination Process

Harvesting. Bamboo culms are collected and sectioned with

knives/handsaws in the villages and/or with a splitting machine

at the lamination facility. Nodes are discarded. The minimum

intermodal length is 400 mm to produce splits that are 20 mm

wide. Soaking in water for 1-2 hours assists slivering.

Sliver making. Slivers 0.5-1.0 mm thick are made with knives

or machines, and then sun-dried to 18-20% moisture content.

Mat weaving. ‘Cottage industry’ women at dispersed locations

use traditional methods and Enterprise-supplied bamboo to

weave mats. Habitat aims for 1.0 x 2.0 m mats with a thickness

of 1-2 mm.

Collection and delivery

Flatbed trucks collect the mats from pick-up points for delivery

to the lamination facility. Upon delivery each mat is tested for,

and, sometimes, sun-dried to assure 18-20% moisture content.

Preservation and temporary storage

To assure a steady flow of laminate product, Habitat stockpiles

large quantities of mats (22,000 at start-up). Mats are dryaerated

in stacked bundles of 20. In the event that mats are to

be stored for more than three weeks, preservation treatment is

undertaken with chemicals such as a 1% solution of a 1:1

mixture of boric acid and borax, repeated every three months.

Adhesive resin

Fast curing, high strength, low moisture content, cost effective

liquid resin can be made on site in specially designed albeit

expensive vats/kettles or purchased directly from the chemical

industry as a powder concentrate: phenol-formaldehyde

(INBAR Viet Nam) and urea-formaldehyde (INBAR China

and Habitat/IPIRTI). The author suspects that Habitat/IPIRTI

use powder. Concentrate is mixed with water (200 kg to 200 L

with a sodium pentachlorophenol additive). A resin blender is

added. There is sufficient resin for 60 mats.

Immersion

Bundles of six or more mats are immersed in resin for five

minutes. Excess resin drain-off can be achieved in two ways:

INBAR Viet Nam recommends a lift and drain-back-to-basin

method (30-40 minutes). Habitat/IPIRTI ‘basin-tip’ followed

by mechanical squeezing.

Drying

Resin-impregnated mats are dried to 10-14% moisture content

- under the sun or, as with Habitat, in a drier with three

bands/conveyors operating in parallel at 50oC.

Habitat employs an oil-fired closed loop thermic fluid heating

system to supply the band drier as well the hydraulic press.

Less capital-intensive hydro electricity was initially envisioned

in lieu of a carbon fuel plant. Unfortunately national demand is

greater than supply and severe daily rationing is the norm.

Layering

Habitat CBRS and mat boards comprise 4-5 laminated mats

(INBAR Viet Nam uses five mats). The IPIRTI method

incorporates overlaying what appears to the author to be ureaformaldehyde

resin-impregnated film to the upper mat. This

could be a way for the weather-exposed face side to resist

moisture (fungal growth), photochemical degradation from the

sun’s ultra violet light and abrasion. The film could also be

nothing more than a way to avoid having mats stick to the hot

press platens. An interesting question not yet answered.

Pressing

A hydraulic hot press re-liquefies the impregnated resins in the

layered mats to ensure a strong bond. Each of Habitat’s seven

lamination platens is heated with circulating thermic fluid at

180oC. Habitat’s pressing pressure is not known, but an INBAR

reference suggests 25-30 kg/cm2 for seven minutes.

Trimming and protective coatings

CBRS and mat boards are trimmed using a rotary saw and, it is

thought, the exposed edges brushed with urea-formaldehyde

resin. INBAR Viet Nam applies a protective coating to

weathering surfaces, similar to the CBRS procured in India for

the 2006 CAF/Habitat demonstration project (which

delaminated after a few months). It would appear that Habitat

does not coat and the reason might lie with the IPIRTI resin.

Storage in readiness for deliveries

Laminates are placed on shelves sheltered from the rain.

The Architecture

Four changing architecture concepts were developed: a cluster

of small, functional, community-built all-bamboo shelters; a

consolidation of lamination functions under a short-span allbamboo

enclosure; and a consolidation of laminating and

warehousing functions in a wide-span structure initially of

bamboo but finally of steel and masonry – all using CBRS.

“Community Clusters"

CAF/ARCOP/Habitat conceived the “cluster” late in 2006. In

January 2007 it was presented by CAF/Habitat to CIDA as a

way to put ‘cottage industry’ into ‘community’ by exploiting

Habitat’s cost-effective low-technology quick-to-erect bamboo

shelter methods, populist ‘building bee’ approach and use of

first-off-the-assembly-line product.

The INBAR Viet Nam operating model was presumed:

relatively low development costs (albeit with modest start-up

capacity); opportunities to incrementally increase output by

replicating equipment (“save and build” / “pay as you go”);

and portability (to locate and relocate close to bamboo

plantations, “cottage industry” weavers and homeowners).

For market demonstration, “cluster” shelters (design-assisted

by ARCOP) would have been exceptional! During visioning,

international recognition was imagined and Aga Khan and

World Habitat awards were mentioned. Emulation in Habitat’s

other bamboo-rich countries was seen as a distinct possibility.

“Community Clusters” did not proceed, in part, because

Habitat determined its current programme required large

output forthwith. A large consolidated operation was deemed

to be best. Large CIDA/Habitat investments would respond.

Short-span Consolidation

Consolidation under one roof was decided autumn 2007

coincident with near-to-Habitat industrial land becoming

available and the decision to go large. ARCOP responded with

an amazing simple-to-construct short-span all-bamboo design.

Governor General of Canada recognition was suggested. The

design did not proceed for reasons of Habitat preferences.

Short-span Wide-Span Consolidation

At year-end 2007 a decision was taken to achieve greater

layout potential with a wide-span truss design. Initially the

response was a CAF train-the-trainer all-bamboo process,

started but not completed. Then, for expediency reasons,

Habitat contracted for steel and masonry. It is presumed that

the resultant building will, in 2011, replace its ‘temporary’ mat

roof with first-product CBRS.

Wide-span A (bamboo)

Wide-span B (steel & masonry)

A Concluding Idea

For Habitat and for CAF, the motivating purpose of the

Bamboo Laminates Micro-Enterprise is to avail poor Nepali

families of strong, environmentally healthy and affordable

roofs. Given current pricing, it may be that cash subsidisation is

required of Habitat. On the other hand, commerce and industry

might pay dearly for premium CBRS. Would it be a far-fetched

idea to suggest that profits from the one might subsidise the

differential costs of the impoverished other?

The views, opinions and interpretations of the publically

available documentation record are solely those of the author

RSS

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Tsakumis' Endorsements for Vancouver Municipal Election 2011

Please Donate to Bill McCreery's Campaign 2011