Hope for Haiti housing

Thirteen months ago, a team of researchers at Clemson University, including Pernille Christensen, Martha Skinner and Doug Hecker, developed a concept, SEED,  providing temporary relief for victims of natural disasters.

Their method involves turning used shipping containers into sustainable housing.

SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE SHIP
In order for SEED to work, you need a surplus of shipping containers, a port and labor. When recent mudslides in Columbia left thousands homeless, the lack of port action meant SEED was unable to take action.

The Caribbean, bordered by the ocean and whose surplus of imports over exports means an accumulation of shipping containers, is ideal — there are an estimated 30 million unused containers.

“Sometimes it’s cheaper for the containers to remain in port than for them to get sent back. We want to achieve a system whereby we have the containers ready in case of an emergency,” explains Christensen.

One 40-foot shipping container can carry up to 67,200 pounds (an average family of 5) and resist overturn when exposed to winds of up to 140 mph.

SHORT TERM SOLUTION  
Ideally, SEED would like the shipping containers to be set in place if there were to be a disaster.

The emergency homes would be able to withstand extreme weather conditions and provide other housing solution rather than tents.

According to Hecker, Haiti isn’t quiet ready for the containers.

“When we will be able to set up homes for the estimated 400,000 homeless remains ambiguous. We are hoping it will be in the next month, but this will depend on capturing the surplus of containers, getting the professionals there and all other logistical issues.”

LONG TERM SOLUTION
In the long term, SEED wants to use the containers as a basis for distraught communities to re-connect.

Hecker and Christensen are working on the customization of the containers.

“After natural disasters, the soil loses its nutritional value so we’ve designed an emergency garden. We’ve identified local plant cycles ones that grow fast and produce the fruit and vegetables necessary for the community to become self-sufficient, such as bread fruit, yams and potatoes,” explains Christensen. In the long run that would involve looking at the nutritional cycle and growing additional staples such as mangoes, papayas and bananas. 

“As the poorest country in the Caribbean, it’s a worse case scenario,” explains Hecker.

But only once SEED has established shipping contacts and some sort of functioning infrastructure, will they be able to fully implement the project in Haiti.

“Because of the scale of the disaster, there is currently a surplus of containers which have been used to ship in emergency good,” says Skinner.
In the long run, SEED would be able to convert these into houses.