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.