Abstract Outline

Here is the first draft of my abstract and comments are welcome even the critical ones!

The Yurt/Hexayurt Village

Is a temporary Yurt/Hexa-yurt village for emergency and homeless living an ecologically sustainable way of living for the Kamloops area? Gers, or Yurts as they are commonly known, are a form of tent first used by the nomads of
Mongolia. Yurts have been around for thousands of years and are still used by three quarters of the population living in Mongolia today. The hexa-yurt is a recent innovation which is a combination of a geodesic dome and a yurt

The traditional Yurt is a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure. Today, there are many modern adaptations to this dwelling such as durable, weatherproof outer covers and 'state of the art' insulating materials. The design of the Yurt is highly efficient and maximizes strength while using only a minimum of materials. This is accomplished by using lightweight members under tension and compression. They can be quickly assembled and their circular design maximizes space, heating and ventilation, as well as making it stable in strong winds.

A crisis in the financial markets is causing many people in the United States, and elsewhere in the world, to loose their homes because they are unable to pay their mortgages. Tent cities are beginning to spring up across the country as people have no where else to go. We can expect to see more of this as the crisis continues. Climate changes due to global warming are increasingly predicted to cause severe changes in our weather patterns with disastrous results such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. This will cause more need for emergency shelters. Hurricane Katrina was one example of this. Another is the recent fires that raged through our BC forests causing hundreds of people to flee their homes.

These are just two examples pointing to a need for temporary shelters to house a growing homeless population. A study done several years ago on the homeless in Kamloops found there were over one hundred people living on the streets.

Could a temporary and movable Yurt/hexa-yurt village be used as an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective solution to the emergency shelter needs of homeless and dispossessed persons in the Kamloops area.

This research paper will look at creating a temporary yurt/hexa-yurt village. The idea will be to design this village so that it can be quickly constructed and can also be taken down and stored, or moved to another location as needed.

The yurts/hexa-yurts lightweight structures and small size make them ideal for a temporary movable village. Other advantages of the yurt/hexa-yurt are their circular design which allows them to withstand heaving winds, there ability to be ventilated with ease and the fact that they are easily assembled and taken down.

Some disadvantages of the yurt/hexa-yurt village could be heating them in the winter and depending on where they are located there may be problems providing residents with plumbing and electricity. Although these are problems that can be solved with innovative solutions such as solar or wind generators, porta potties or composting toilets and rain catchments systems, one the biggest drawback may be a lack of aesthetic appeal. Other concerns are moulding and sun damage.

This applied research paper will focus in three areas: designing a heated tent platform as one possible solution for heating in the winter time, finding suitable land in the Kamloops area for placement of the village, and exploring ways to improve there aesthetic appeal so they don't mimic a typical shanty town or tent city. This may include such things as tent covers, temporary fencing, use of natural features or simply orderly placement on the land.

Statistics show that the need for emergency temporary housing today is increasing. There are many factors that are contributing to this and it is a problem that will continue into the future demanding creative solutions. A yurt village is one solution that offers a promise of meeting these demands.

Campers At The Old KXA Ground

This a slide show of some pictures I took of campers and trailers that are situated on the old KXA grounds. These people are living there (not just camping) and the campground is not taking anymore trailers/campers because they don't have the facilities for more. This is not the most attractive of places as you can see from the pictures. This would be the type of land that could be ideal for a temporary yurt village. One of the pictures in the slide show is of an empty piece of grassland. There is an abundance of this kind of land in the Kamloops area. If you drive anywhere near the outskirts of the city you see lots of this type of land.

The Double Hexayurt - My Model

UPDATE:
Just adding some information to clarify my ideas.Brandy commented about things that could be done for the winter/summer designs. My system would work so that the smaller inner hexa-yurt would be used in the summer time and in the winter time there would be bubble wrap insulation taped around the smaller hexa-yurt and then a larger hexa-yurt placed on top. The smaller hexa-yurt follows the standard design for a one person hexa-yurt. However, it would be slightly smaller so that the outer hexa-yurt could still be cut out of 4x8 sheets. The outer hexa-yurt would have a steeper pitched roof so it would be better able to withstand snow loads in the winter. I wasn't really sure how to deal with the doors I made one swing in and one swing out (may create heat loss). I was thinking it might be a good idea to build a small entrance way the same idea as an igloo, only obviously bigger.

Bubble Foil Insulation:

"Characteristics:
high quality, double-sided, tear & puncture resistant radiant barrier products. reflect up to 97% of radiant heat, which helps keep houses cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Application:
can be used in residential construction in attics, walls, ceilings, and radiant floor heating applications. Also used in industrial/commercial buildings, agricultural buildings, and warehouses."

Revised Planning Outline

I have revised my planning outline. I have narrowed the topic to focus on a movable yurt village which can be used for emergency shelters in Kamloops. I will be focusing on finding land suitable to put the yurt village on. My design component will be the double hexayurt creation. I hope this is better. If any one has ideas on how to cut this back more please let me know!

Project:

To determine if a temporary and movable Yurt Village could be used as an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective solution to the emergency shelter needs of homeless and dispossessed persons in the Kamloops area.

Method:

Research land use to determine suitable land for Yurt villages, determine costs, conduct research on whether or not this would be a successful use for yurts in the Kamloops region as well as explore areas where innovations to existing designs could make a yurt village more suitable to the Kamloops environment.

This will be determined by:

• Contacting both a City of Kamloops and a TNRD building inspector as well as the City of Kamloops planning department to gain an understanding of the zoning and land use regulations which pertain to the proposed village.

• Using the building code and existing zoning bylaws for Kamloops and /or the TNRD to address any special requirements which may be discovered.

• Contact existing organizations dealing with the homeless population in Kamloops area to determine if they would be interested in contributing to the research or if they have any helpful information.

• Research on internet sites or in books, government publications, journals and magazines to determine the sustainability of yurts for the Kamloops environment. Contact existing yurt manufacturers for this information if it is not readily available,

• This would answer questions such as:

Are they durable? How much sun damage can they take before they need to be replaced.

What special knowledge is required to build them?

What is the maintenance cost?

Are replacement parts readily available?

• Research on internet sites or in books, government publications, journals and magazines, pertinent information on Yurts and their uses past and present. This will include:

information on past and current housing uses

their history, design and assembly

current costs

advantages or disadvantages of living in a yurt

modern design innovations ex: hexayurts and yurt-dome tents

• Speaking to small local mobile home park owners and campground owners to gather applicable information which may be helpful in determining the viability of the proposed village:
  

what operating costs would there be?

what problems would they forsee?

suggestions for improving the proposed village.

• Contacting YURTCO, a yurt building company, in BC to determine costs for small or medium sized yurt kits. Ask about discounts for bulk purchases. Ask for suggestions and if they could provide information on other companies or agencies which may be helpful as well as for academic sources on yurts.

• Determine the cost for multiple yurts (max 50 -100) which would include a combination of small and medium yurts as well as hexayurts.

Design:

• Adapting the hexayurt for use in the Kamloops winter.
  

Design a 'double' hexayurt which would consist of a second hexayurt which would cover the initial one. The inner hexayurt would be 2-4 inches smaller than the outer hexayurt and would be covered with inexpensive and lighweight insulating bubble wrap with the idea of creating a dead-air space to add to the insulating effect of the double walls.

Build a model to test the viability of this option.

Determine costs.

• Propose a design for a relatively inexpensive heating platform that could take advantage of the heating efficiency inherent in the circular yurt or hexayurt.

• The tent platform could be either used wooden shipping palettes covered with particle board and a tarp or used plastic shipping palettes.
  

• The platform would be covered with an insulated, safe, lightweight heating mat (similar to a heating pad) which would use a material such as Safe-t Flex - a thin (3mm) heating foil that comes in rolls of eithier 400 or 530 mm wide x 100m long. and can be cut in suitable lengths. (Commercially this product is used for in-floor heating under a floating wood floor.)
• The heating mats could be plugged into an existing power source or possibly small mobile solar or wind generators.
• Research on the internet to determine costs and suitable materials.
  

Special Problems:

• Is sufficient information available to conduct the research?

• Would the village be cost prohibitive.

• How to determine if government and private industry will work together to allow this.

• Will trained professionals and governments agencies give me the necessary information?

• Could changing zoning regulations be too difficult to even consider any of the proposed options?

Also:

• Who is going to be a primary reader of this report? How much knowledge of this topic will they already have or require?

• Assessing the value of asthetic appeal (ie: would the public accept these temporary villages and if so for how long)

• What about accessibility for a handicapped person?

• What options are there if they don't have access to services such as plumbing and electricity?

• What options are there for cooking facilities?

• Will there be problems with moulding or sun damage?

• Safety and security issues?

• What safety regulations would there be for the heating mat? Can they be designed easily and safely with out changes to existing regulations.

• What storage facilities would be necessary for storing unused yurts/hexayurts and how difficult would they be to move.

• What funding options are available through government and NGO's.

Tent Cities - Defining The Need

A crisis in the financial markets is causing many people in the United States, and elsewhere in the world, to loose their homes because they are unable to pay their mortgages. Tent cities are beginning to spring up across the country as people have no where else to go. We can expect to see more of this as the crisis continues.

Climate changes due to global warming are increasingly predicted to cause severe changes in our weather patterns with disastrous results such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. This will cause more need for emergency shelters. Hurricane Katrina was one example of this. Another was the recent fires that raged through our forests causing hundreds of people to flee their homes.

The article and videos below will give you an idea of how big and widespread this problem is and of the desperate situation that ordinary people are finding themselves in. Many of the homeless people living in these tent cities are working men and women some with families. Innovative solutions need to be found for dealing with this crisis in a humane way as opposed to leaving these people to fend for themselves.


The population of Tent City has grown rapidly in less than a year

Tent city highlights US homes crisis
BBC News - Americas
Friday, 14 March 2008, 17:33 GMT

The meltdown in the US mortgage market has led to record foreclosures and forced thousands from their homes. In few places is it worse than southern California, where the BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani reports on an extreme consequence of the downturn, but one that some observers fear could grow.

Forty miles east of Los Angeles, on a patch of waste ground, is the place they call Tent City. Sandwiched between the local airport and the railway line, this really is the wrong side of the tracks.

We are on the outskirts of Ontario, a functionally pleasant commuter-city in southern California.

Last summer, local officials established this camp as a temporary base for the city's homeless population, then around two dozen.

But word spread and now some 300 people live here. It has an air of scruffy permanence, and indeed, city officials say there are no current plans to close it down.

Tent cities have sprung up outside Los Angeles as people lose their homes in the mortgage crisis.

Read more...

California Shanty Town - more video showing the extent of the Tent City LA

Seattle Tent City

Homeless people living in temporary quarters as they seek permanent shelter.

Seattle, Wa. Tent City 3- more video showing extent of Tent City 3 here.

Miami Florida Tent City.

Edmonton Tent City

On September 15, 2007, the Province of Alberta shut down "Tent City," an empty lot that was used as a campground over the summer by the homeless in Edmonton. Here is a look at that final day.

More on Tent City Edmonton, Alberta here.

Original Graphic

I was thinking about actually putting together a small scale hexa yurt...Does anyone have any other ideas of what I could do for an original graphic I know there are yurts up at Sunpeaks but I don't think I would be able to get out there to take some pictures in time...Thanks

Building a 6 Ft. Hexayurt

6' Hexayurt
- 41 sq. ft.
- 4 ' at sides
- 6 ' at peak
- 8 ' x 6' 11"
5 - 4'x 8' sheets of Super Tuff R
2 - 60' rolls of 3" tape

Click on pictures for a larger view.




















































All hexayurts cut neatly from 4' x 8' sheets, the standard size for most construction goods.

The large sizes require only one kind of cut - diagonal cutting straight across six boards to form the roof triangles. Six 4'x8' boards are cut along the diagonal, three right-to-left, and three left-to-right. From these twelve right-angled triangles, six isosceles triangles are formed, making the roof cone. The vertical walls are formed from whole 4'x8' sheets.

The smaller sizes require a somewhat more complex cutting pattern for efficiency but all details are below.

If you are cutting angles:

• the angle between vertical boards and other vertical boards at the corners is 60° so you cut 30° on each edge.
• the angle between the vertical boards and the roof is also 60°.
• the angle between the boards on the roof cone is 29.5° so you might as well cut a 15° angle on each board.
• all boards which meet flat should have no angle cut on them at all, of course.

Angle cutting is not required for a perfectly good hexayurt of any size, as long as one is using wide enough tape. 3" will do, 6" is better.

Pictures and Caption from Hexayurt Schematics

Hexayurts As Shelters For The Homeless

I was thinking that these would make good shelters for homeless people in Kamloops. They could be put together as a kit which would include the hexayurt, tape (they could possibly be pretaped), stakes, cold cathode led light, inflatable air mattress and foot pump, sleeping bag and plastic ground sheet. The whole kit could be wrapped in the ground sheet and it would be easy to transport several of them in a truck. Funding and delivery could be handled by a NGO (Non Governmental Organization) that works with homeless people.
Some questions to answer for my research would be:
Where to put them?
Could these be allowed somehow through a zoning bylaw for temporary or emergency shelter?
What about heating in cold weather?
These are designed for hot climates so could they be adapted for winter use when most of the homeless in Kamloops are in most need of shelter?


The Hexayurt is a prize-winning shelter you can build yourself for about $200 (backup link). Suitable raw materials include common building materials ( fire safe insulation boards,) hexacomb cardboard and plastic. You cut six 4' x 8' panels in half diagonally to make the roof, and use six more whole panels to form the walls. It takes about two hours. The design (backup link) is in the public domain.
Picture and Caption from the Hexayurt Project

This is a short video about Hexayurts featuring their designer Vinay Gupta.

An email template!

This is a template of an email I will be sending to gather information from some different companies as well as government and non-governmental agencies. I will be tailoring it differently by asking specific questions for each company or agency. I am planning on sending this to Yurtco and Pacific Yurts (two companies that design and sell yurts), Hexayurts (emergency shelters inspired by yurts and the geodesic dome), City of Kamloops Planning Department and to a City of Kamloops building inspector. I am also planning on contacting a real estate company, building contractor and some non governmental organizations that might deal with a need for emergency shelters in the Kamloops area.

I will be asking questions about zoning regulations, costs of yurts, designs of yurts and possible financing options for a yurt village.

Does anyone have any ideas of what else I need to include or ideas for other places I could contact. Also, if you have any contacts can you please let me know.

Hi my name is Cari _________,

I am currently in my second year of Engineering Design and Drafting Technology at the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops BC. I am doing a research project as a requirement to graduate with my diploma. My research project is to determine if a yurt village could be a viable and ecolgically sustainable solution for temporary and emergency housing in the Kamloops, British Columbia area. I am gathering information on zoning bylaws, land use, costs, design and financing. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I also have a blog. If you would like to contact me there, you can leave a comment at http://cari-yurts.blogspot.com/.

Thanks in advance for your help

Cari _________

Ventilation of a Yurt!

The design of the yurt makes ventilation very simple. The yurt is designed in such a way that the roof peaks to a ring and the ring can be covered or left open.

To cool off a yurt is easy. Simply uncover the ring opening at the top center of the yurt. This will cause a vacuum effect which will pull cool air in from open windows and let warm air escape out the top, since warm air rises.

To warm a yurt is easy as well, simply cover the ring opening at the top center of the yurt. This will lock the air inside. Warm air will rise and then circulate back into the yurt warming the it up.

How it withstands wind loads!

Here is a little bit of information on how a yurt works and how it can withstand winds up to one hundred miles per hour.

The circular design of the yurt causes heavy winds directed at one point to be distributed evenly over the entire yurt frame. Because there are no flat points on the frame of the yurt, heavy winds can not blow them over or apart.

An aerodynamic shape:

The yurt's aerodynamic shape allows the wind to easily flow around it rather than pushing against flat walls.

http://www.yurts.com/what/default.aspx

What is a yurt?

A Yurt is a type of tent. It is a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure first used by the nomads of Mongolia. Today, there are many modern adaptations to this traditional dwelling such as durable, weatherproof outer covers and 'state of the art' insulating materials.

The design of the Yurt is highly efficient and maximizes strength while using only a minimum of materials. This is accomplished by using lightweight members under tension and compression.













Diagram from: http://simplydifferently.org/Yurt

The yurt's natural strength:
Rafters push inward on a compression ring and outward on a tension cable, which acts in a similar way to a hoop on a barrel preventing the rafters from moving/spreading outward."


Roof Loads:
Roof loads are transferred down the rafters to the tension cable






Diagram and captions from: http://www.yurts.com/what/default.aspx

Planning Outline

Project: To determine if a Yurt Village would be an ecologically sustainable solution to temporary and emergency housing needs in Kamloops.

Method: To find information on whether or not this would be an affective and successful use for yurts.

This will be determined by:

• Looking at Kamloops and the TNRD demographics and socio-economic statistics to identify which options most address the needs of the area.
• Contacting a City of Kamloops building inspector to gain an understanding of the zoning regulations which pertain to the proposed options.
• Contacting a TNRD building inspector to gain an understanding of the zoning regulations which pertain to the proposed options.
• Contacting the City of Kamloops Planning Department.
• Speaking with local real estate agents and contractors about which of the proposed options would make the most viable ‘products for sale’.
• Research on internet sites or in books, government publications, journals and magazines, pertinent information on Yurts and their uses past and present. This will include their history, design and assembly as well as current costs and modern design innovations.
• Speaking to local mobile home park owners and motel and resort owners to gather applicable information.
• Contact Yurtco, a BC yurt building company, regarding the proposed options to gain insight and advice to help narrow the topics.
• Using internet sites, academic books, journals or articles to determine the costs of a yurt, and its assembly.
• Contacting YURTCO, a yurt building company, in BC to further determine costs and other applicable information.
• Determine the cost for multiple yurts.
• Research on internet sites or in books, government publications, journals and magazines specific information pertinent to the two options chosen.
• This would include:
  o Information on the current housing in use for the options
  o Information on past and current uses of Yurts
  o Advantages or disadvantages of living in a Yurt
• Using the building code and existing zoning bylaws for Kamloops and /or the TNRD to address the special requirements of each option.
• Contact appropriate government or private agencies to determine applicable funding options.
• Research on internet sites or in books, government publications, journals and magazines to determine if Kamloops is a good environment for this kind of housing.
• Research on internet sites or in books, government publications, journals and magazines to determine the sustainability of yurts for Kamloops.
• This would answer questions such as:
  o Are they durable?
  o What special knowledge is required to build them?
  o Are they eco friendly?
  o How long do they last?
  o What is the maintenance cost?
  o Are replacement parts readily available?
  
  Special Problems:
  
• Is sufficient information available to conduct the research?
• Need a method to determine their market potential.
• How to determine if government and private industry will work together to allow this.
• Will trained professionals and governments agencies give me the necessary information?

Also:

• Who is going to be a primary reader of this report? How much knowledge of this topic will they already have or require?
• Is there any consumer interest for this kind of housing in Kamloops and the Thompson
• Nicola Regional district?
• What about accessibility for a handicapped person?
• Will there be a problem with insulation or heating?
• Will they have access to services such as plumbing and lighting?
• Will they have room for storage?
• Aesthetic appeal?
• Will there be problems with moulding or sun damage?
• Safety and security issues?
• Might changing zoning regulations be to difficult to even consider any of the proposed options?