Summary of Modular and Eco Housing Site Visits / Research -Nov 2018 by P.Ridley Cabinz
1. Modular Matters Conference I Attended the Modular Matters Conference at the NEC 1-11-18 Conference website <http://ModularMatters.co.uk/>
Modular Building is now 7% of the Uk market.
Mainly in the form of schools, hotels & hospitals etc Manufacturers are very busy with little spare capacity. Modular Housing (MH) is around 1% Some of the methods China / Uk CIMC Video <https://www.youtube.com/watch MH Vid <http://digg.com/video/modular <https://www.toyota-global.com MH are not cheap , but appeared flexible & good quality. I hope there will be an open source guide to MH building in future , which may be open to co-operatives, HA's, SE's etc, as the groups were mostly all corporations at the conference A concern of mine is that the manufacture requires £ millions to invest in a factory, so the small builder or self builder has no access. Perhaps by building MH in small panels, attached to a manufactured metal frame, this would be within reach of their budget . Expensive overhead factory cranes would not be needed. Cabinz talked to the National Composite Centre (www.nccuk.com ) about panel manufacture reusing composite content as fibreglass cannot usually be recycled easily, a related issue . ………………………………….. 2. Lammas Eco Village Photos of Cabinz visit to Lammas Eco village in South Wales to have a tour & donate screws & fittings <https://cabinznet.blogspot.co Lammas is a pioneering eco village community , experimenting with various sustainable, sometimes low cost shelters for people & animals. The rural setting has advantages with a pleasing natural environment for homeless groups. They do research and are often visited by volunteers interested in this lifestyle of living more off the land , while benefiting from appropriate tech ie solar panels / hydro power Cabinz put in a proposal to supply them with used Kingspan metal sided sandwich panels to clad an experimental static caravan mobile home, as these are normally poorly insulated, and are a cheap source of shelter when bought used. This would then be clad with wood ship lap to blend into the environment . This type of design could be used as low income housing. Cabinz also offered them a 5 x 4m corrugated metal silo they have for conversion into an experimental shelter. These can be used as low cost housing / disaster shelters <https://www.agweb.com/article in harsh weather conditions I feel the NWest needs a place like this to experiment with different types of housing types. The issue is of course access to land . perhaps 5 yr temp planning permission will help as MH can be moved elsewhere Lammas website <http://lammas.org.uk> ………………….. 3. Bristol Housing Festival Website <https://www.bristolhousingfes Cabinz Pics of visit to the Bristol Housing Festival nov 4 2018 <https://cabinznet.blogspot.co This ran for several weeks and included a variety of MH, from an estimated £8k to £90k. Many of the main MH players were there. Tempo Housing <http://www.tempohousing.com/> student villages in the Netherlands, now make MH not from containers, they are aimed at Housing Assoc. (HA) with a minimum order of 10 from £35K up each unit. Totally Modular <http://totallymodular.co.uk/> were a similar co. with 2 storey MH from £80k ZedPods <https://zedpods.com/> 2 storey from £90K " ZEDpods are separating land and housing to create windfall sites by building over existing carparks and still keeping them operational." ISOSPACES <https://www.isospaces.co.uk/> "ISO Spaces is an award-winning designer and manufacturer of bespoke and modular buildings, based on recycled shipping containers. Our solutions have the potential to become crucial in assisting local authorities to address their housing and homelessness issues. As demonstrated by our container housing developments (for the homeless) in Ealing, London," We can make <https://kwmc.org.uk/projects/ An interesting Lignicell compressed straw panel @£15 sq /m was offered by TAM http://tamhaus.com who also own Modcell here http://www.modcell.com/HELP BRISTOLS HOMELESS <https://helpbristolshomeless. extra wide 40 ft shipping containers to convert into temporary homes for the homeless. Sadly there was not anyone there to talk to for further info . but their display said they cost £5k to convert with help from volunteers . I suspect this did not inc cost of the container, which I estimate at £3-4K depending on insulation. I thought the wide container made a massive difference to liveability, but believe these are rare. "Through the support of our directors, volunteers and supporters our vision is to develop a site with ten containers, converted into self-contained studio flats, providing temporary accommodation until a service user can find a more permanent home." Bristol Tiny House Community <https://www.tinyhousecommunit Had a good chat with Faith from BTHC, they had extensive plans , but I think no construction yet . "Using the framework of One Planet Living (Bioregional) and the principles of Doughnut Economics (Kate Raworth), we will be bringing the Tiny House Movement to Bristol and the UK.You can read our up-to-date progress here <https://docs.google.com/docum " …………………………….. Disaster Shelter Forum 23 <http://www.shelterforum.info/ I attended the Disaster Shelter Forum 23 <http://www.shelterforum.info/ had the main NGO's in the industry present. As disaster shelter involves mass homelessness, I feel it's relevant Arup who hosted the Forum have produced A Framework for Fire Safety in Informal Settlements <https://www.arup.com/perspect Arup Report <https://www.arup.com/-/media/ although aimed at much larger settlements, may be of interest to groups giving fire safety advice to smaller homeless settlements in the Uk Fire safety is close to Cabinz' heart after their Dunkirk Immigrant camp fire experience <http://cabinznet.blogspot.com We have been thinking about material reuse and a 3d weave material for insulating tents <http://cabinznet.blogspot.com but its very early days & fire regs may make it unusable in uk ...…………………….. In addition I recently watched some short documentaries that may offer housing alternatives for low income / homeless groups, which may be of interest. The first vid of the trailer parks new owners working with static caravan manufacturers to improve them was promising *Some modular housing alternatives from around the world from a great short documentary film maker, who is well worth following imo * Palm Springs revamps trailer park with mid-century tiny homes <https://www.youtube.com/watch CA tips on how RV-parks can warm up to tiny house applicants <https://www.youtube.com/watch Modern prefab keeps Mediterranean character & sense of place <https://www.youtube.com/watch ……………………… Finally. Cabinz has been very fortunate in negotiating a deal with manufacturers to distribute in the new year over 3 million + screws & fittings they now have in stock , working with Autistic Charities & Men in Sheds <http://cabinznet.blogspot.com . A new group called 'Reuseitecture ' has been formed from Cabinz to and separate expand the research & development side of shelters. cabinz will continue with the building material supply. Reusitecture is starting with attempting to get a prototype MH shelter
built, that could be an alternative to single storey shipping container housing
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