Could Shelter In A Day's disaster shelter change the world?
Part 6 of a 6 part series

Shelter in A Day and Terrapeg eco-friendly furniture are actively seeking new business relationships. Our breakthrough building technology has built-in adaptability with vast potential to help the less fortunate worldwide as well as unlimited applications in the developed world. The ability to build a secure, green and long lasting, furnished house, at a low cost, in a single day, completely changes the economic reality of small buildings, whatever their intended use, and Terrapeg furniture represents an emerging revolution in the furniture… and many other industries.

Given the time and adaptable Terrapeg technology, I could easily develop an endless supply of new, useful and green consumer products, across a wide spectrum of markets. 

This phenomenal technology also represents the rarest of business opportunities, a fundamentally new, product line.

There is one more idea I need to mention. Terrapeg and Shelter In A Day are technologies that can fit in a thumb drive. CNC manufacturing facilities and fiberboard plants are distributed worldwide. This means that in an emergency, intensive production can be closer to the disaster location. We can ship information, not goods, saving time, resource and transport costs. It also means that distributed manufacturing can help with the problems associated with shipping consumer goods like Terrapeg. Just imagine a kiosk in a big box store where your customer can order custom furniture by color, material and even custom carved with a school logo for instance, and have it manufactured locally and delivered to the same store for pickup.

OK, You made it!

If you have read this far you have an exceptional heart conveniently located below an interested mind and I look forward to communicating with you.

Thank you,

I hope I succeeded in lifting your spirits, and let’s keep in touch.

Frank Schooley
Designer; Terrapeg & Shelter In A Day

READ Part 1
READ Part 2
READ Part 3
READ Part 4
READ Part 5

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

Disaster Shelter | Haiti Economic Conditions
Part 5 of a 5 part series

OK, a couple of details.

The brick gauges can be two or three sizes. The largest brick pays more. If the chipper has an accident and chips too far, there is a medium size he can chip to. Then perhaps a small one that sells for less.  The gauge is simply a rectangle and a length.

The brick gauge can be in the form of a simple backpack, to help carry the load of bricks back to the collection point. I have a design in mind and it should cost no more than a decent lunch to make.

Enterprising people can set up a brick yard, where rough stone is collected and chipped in one area. This has the added advantages of shortening travel times and creating another valuable commodity as a by-product, gravel, useful for concrete.

This project can be started with a minimum of capital. Setting up distribution will take some capital, but not much. That capital should be readily available for any jobs project in Haiti. The individual cost of equipping one worker to start, should be far less than the cost of feeding that worker for a month.

Any new export is a good thing for Haiti. Any new job created in Haiti is a plus. The ability to create a new industry in Haiti at a low cost and targeted to help the poorest, is an opportunity too good to miss.

What we need now are grant writers to secure funds to get a management staff organized, technical help from people who have knowledge inside the industries we have discussed, and activists of all types to write letters to anyone with the power to help.

Let’s work together and make this happen for the people of Haiti.

Frank Schooley
Designer; Terrapeg & Shelter In A Day

READ Part 1
READ Part 2
READ Part 3
READ Part 4

READERS: What are your thoughts?

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

Could Shelter In A Day's disaster shelter change the world?
Part 3 of a 6 Part Series

Just imagine how many ways our disaster shelter will change the lives of homeless people everywhere.  It’s now possible for your group, club or congregation to take up a collection, buy and ship a complete structure, fly down for a weekend to wherever it’s needed, take a day and build it, turn it over to a family, community or church… and be home for work on Monday, with the astonishing pictures. No need for you to wonder where your money went. No need to worry it was diverted, misused or wasted. Just imagine the satisfaction of knowing you helped someone in need easily and directly.

 Imagine if we multiplied your satisfaction by hundreds…even thousands. What if every church congregation in the US sent just one house to Haiti? Wouldn’t that feel fantastic. We could with your help.  Just think of the changes to peoples’ lives if housing and security concerns were gone.  Suddenly, they would have time for more productive projects... like providing for their family.

I’m working closely, with Community Mission for Hope, a non-profit engaged in medical and educational missions to Haiti, on funding initiatives to build two schools and an orphanage in Haiti. The first school, located near Jeremie across a bridgeless river and up on a hill where there are no roads, is a good match with Shelter In A Day because everything must be hand carried across the river to the site. I figure construction for the school classrooms and kitchen building, for 100 kids, will take just a few days. The orphanage in Petit Groave we want to build, again for about 100 kids will take a bit longer but features a school, cabins, mess hall and a for-profit bakery, shower rooms and septic field. Quick build times save money in many ways.  That’s the power of Shelter In A Day.  Wanna help?

Ok Frank, you’ve got my attention… but what does it cost?

You would think that a building that was this innovative, that saved so much money, would cost more than standard construction. Remember, this is not some temporary, get people under a roof, any roof, transitional shelter. Shelter in A Day is a permanent, solid wood, strongly built house. But it doesn’t cost more. In fact it costs less. Since it is computer cut to save labor costs, is made from recycled wood fiber which is plentiful and low cost, is not assembled at a factory, stacks in a small bundle and goes up in an afternoon, it saves your hard earned money at every step. Everything is included, hardware, doors, locks and windows, even those vital screens. There are no hidden costs and nothing for your team to scramble around trying to find except for roofing, and maybe flooring... we’ll get to those in a minute.  Just think, this house would be a bargain at 10k, (USD) but in fact, it costs half that, just 5k for the base model with a 12x12 ft. floor plan. Yes, this home costs less than the price of a decent used car.

Here are some specifications:  (Don’t get distracted with the details because I still have something important to tell you about.)

Footprint, base model: 

  12x12x8 feet tall,  144 sq. ft. Ship wt. 3000#

 (3.66x3.66 x2.44m,  13.4 sq.m             1366kg)

Ships: palletized for forklift handling…48x91x40 inches total   (1.2x2.4x1m)

Center, add-on extensions are:      (allows footprints extended to 12x16, 12x20, 12x24, 12x26 etc.)

4ft,             48 sq.ft. each                           600#

(1.22m,     4.46 sq.m. each                       272kg)

Each extension adds 6 inches to pallet height

Shelter ships: 8 ea. Per 20 ft. standard shipping container,     16ea. Per 40 ft.

Extensions are 995.(US), each 4 feet. There is no practical limit to how many extensions you can add to building length. Building width is limited to 12 feet (3.66m) due to material size.

Since we’re looking at details, it’s time to talk about the roof.

Shelter In A Day’s roof is structural, but not waterproof. There are several good ways to handle the waterproofing depending on intended use and local practice and it’s cheaper and better for a variety of reasons to source it locally.  Roofing options:

The least expensive and easiest roof comes in a five gallon bucket of trailer type roof paint. It is light colored, reflects sun and heat, inexpensive (about $100 in the US) and is very easy to apply. Low cost and it works great as long as you do not want to disassemble the building later.

A steel roof is best for the tropics where heat gain is an issue. It is inexpensive, (about $350 in the US depending on size) long lasting, locally sourced and simple to install. Just attach 3, 2 inch tall wood battens on each side of the roof and attach the steel. Because it is 2 inches above the structural roof and allows heat to escape, the Shelter stays as cool as a cave inside, even in the hottest sun.

Suppose you want the option of moving or storing the building between uses for refugee populations, military uses or disaster relief, then a canvas roof is best. A military specification tarp or a truckers’ tarp will work well and installation is simple because the building structural members are pre-drilled for tie-downs. (Price will depend on specs and building length but budget $300-500 in the US.)

OK, I said I’d tell you something important…here we go…

READERS: What are your thoughts?
READ Part 1
READ Part 2

Check back next week for Part 4

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

Disaster Shelter | Haiti Economic Conditions
Part 3 of a 5 part series

Solar powered cement production has been proven possible and, as a bonus, can be done not just efficiently, but without producing waste carbon dioxide, CO2, the greenhouse gas normally produced in this industrial process. The details are complicated but to quickly sum up this exciting new research, it’s possible to cheaply produce cement using solar power, in an environmentally cleaner way, producing less or no greenhouse gas by-products (CO2) and, as a bonus, the chemical reaction gives off carbon monoxide (CO) which is used as a raw material with a wide range of industrial applications.  This by-product is in theory worth more than it costs to produce the cement, making the cement production (practically) free with the assumption that the CO gas can be collected and sold.

From Nanowerk.com:

I know, it makes my head hurt too. The simple version is, solar thermal cement not only works but can work far better and cleaner than current production methods. This could change everything for Haiti... and the whole world, come to think about it.  Just think what it would mean if the cost of a bag of cement was suddenly half cost. Haiti has plenty of available labor and so many projects that need building. Dams, reservoirs, roads, bridges, houses, all would be in reach if cement was affordable.  Standards of living would rise along with jobs availability. Infrastructure projects would stimulate the economy in a thousand ways. Haitians know how to build and love to build. Inexpensive materials are the key to unlock the potential of the people of Haiti and practically free cement is now theoretically possible.

One final thought. Aid organizations and finance operations like the World Development Bank have money available for Developing World infrastructure projects that make sense financially. This project, that creates the building blocks of every subsequent infrastructure project in Haiti, should have little trouble gathering the support of those who make the planning of long-term strategy their business.

OK Frank, this is a bit long term. What about the short term problem of jobs in Haiti?

I’ve got at least one idea, in next week's Part 4.  I call it:  Haiti… One Brick At A Time.

READ Part 1.

READ Part 2.

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

Could Shelter In A Day's disaster shelter change the world?
Part 2 of a 6 part series

Can a building be versatile enough to be useful for disaster relief, nation building, displaced populations, military personnel housing and storage, and backyard sheds without looking like a greenhouse, steel oven box, tent or yurt?

What would a better, cheaper, faster building look like? What should it do?

Here’s a wish list for immediate housing:

• Can be made quickly as needed and economically. There’s never enough resources.
• Stacks small and tall and forklifts to save cargo space. Delivers onsite with any standard truck.
• Is fast and simple to erect, without costly resources like power, heavy equipment or even tools.
• Can be built by anyone in hours, not days or weeks or even months. No training necessary.
• Can be built with or without a foundation. One may not be available and the need won’t wait.
• Is easily expandable and easily configurable for different needs.
• Can be secured to the ground with a simple to install, screw-into the ground, tie-down system.
• Uses long lasting, sustainable materials that are termite, rust and rot resistant.
• Provides immediate, lockable security for those in need, and their precious belongings. 
• Offers real, permanent protection from the elements, not just shade.
• Comfortable in any climate with screened windows and cross ventilation.
• Is affordable not just initially, but over time. Saves most building costs.
• Can be easily modified with familiar tools to adapt to local needs.
• Can be disassembled, stored and reused when necessary. 
• Damaged parts are easy to replace as all parts of the structure are standardized.
• Provides dignified, familiar looking, but most of all, affordable housing.

Would you believe this house exists!  How was it done? What’s changed?

I have been a cabinetmaker for over 45 years. My kitchen shop has a computerized (CNC) router, a relatively new technology that cuts all my cabinets, saving time, mistakes and money. With the collapse of the building industry in 2008, I found the time to take up my longstanding dream and began designing furniture to be cut with the CNC router. I was cutting fiberboard because it was the least expensive material I could get to practice with. Slowly, I came to respect this seldom used material.

To get around fiberboards’ connecting problem, I re-invented an old-style carpenter’s joint, the mortise and through-tenon with locking peg, making it possible to cut all the parts using a CNC router. This new Tool Free joint is designed to be assembled without metal fasteners, using just a hammer, cut from the same fiberboard material.  The joint overcomes the connecting problems of the material and magnifies all its strengths. It forms a connection that has proven to be both easy to assemble and surprisingly strong, allowing the use of fiberboard for structural applications for the first time. These three leaps forward, (the ‘Green’ fiberboard material, the new joint, and precise cutting with a CNC router) working together, make Shelter In A Day a breakthrough development and an innovative, new technology.

According to World Population Balance website, our world population will add an average of 200,000 people every day. Additionally, millions, even billions of people now have unsafe, substandard housing made from found materials (that’s a nice word for junk). All these people need housing and this housing should be made from sustainable materials if we care about our future generations. Sustainable materials are used and reused and easily replaced, are natural in origin, are grown, not mined, and familiar to people

In February, my Shelter won a People’s Choice Award at the Inventors Fair in Palm Beach. This spring, Shelter In A Day took the really big prize, Most Innovative Product, from the very people who really know the Disaster Relief World, in a landslide vote by this year’s participants at the Aid and International Development Forum in Washington, D.C.

Can I really build a house, school, clinic or church…in an afternoon? 

Check back next week for Part 3.  Read Part 1.

READERS: What are your thoughts?

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

Could Shelter In A Day's disaster shelter change the world?
Part 1 of a 6 part series

When I see reports about the thousands of homeless in Haiti or in cities worldwide or those tornado victims in Moore Oklahoma, I think, what would it feel like to have nowhere to go this evening...or tomorrow… or next month? After the earthquake in Haiti, I couldn’t sleep… for weeks. I’d toss and turn, worrying that something, anything had to be done. But what?

Imagine yourself living in a shack made of scrap metal, old plywood or sticks and tarps, or the rags the tarps have become. Just imagine the walls of your home blowing in the wind, no lock on the flap that is your door, no privacy, no security for your family or possessions, rain leaking down on everybody and everything you have left, maybe a storm coming. Now imagine how it feels to know nothing is likely to get better for the foreseeable future…

I know, I said I’d lift your spirits so… It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way

Food, Water, Shelter… Basic Human Needs

According to a Pew Research poll, after the earthquake, nearly half of Americans either gave or planned to give money for Haiti relief, at least 1.4 Billion…where did it go? It’s hard to say, and there’s the problem. This spring, I went to the Aid and International Development Forum in Washington D.C. and talked with insiders who know something about where donations go. Although a good deal went to food, water and temporary shelter, the overall picture for permanent relief and rebuilding is not good. They tell me that somehow even the best of intentions get mired in unavoidable costs.

What if I told you it’s now possible to affordably end homelessness?  Hard to believe?  To answer this we need to take it step by step to be clear… and I will reveal how, so Stay With Me. After all, it’s not every day you get to change the world.

Building anything, homes, schools, clinics, takes time and time is the enemy. Traditional building techniques use expensive materials, individually sourced and in greatest demand whenever the need is critical. Building also requires plenty of skilled labor, heavy equipment, tools, power and time…lots and lots of time. You and I know it’s frustrating to build anything…but we’ve gotten used to it because we don’t have any choices. We all know that time is money but we’re stuck in a rut. It’s aggravating, right?

Imagine you are trying to build just one simple house in the middle of nowhere but you need it now, or hundreds of houses for flood victims in say, Japan, or thousands perhaps in Moore, Oklahoma, or hundreds of thousands in Haiti because the need is so great. Now multiply that number by the total time to build anything including the foundation, tools, materials, the labor, and all the time related overhead like meals, lodging, transport, the list goes on and on and ... Wow.

It’s no wonder we, as a caring society, are overwhelmed. It’s no wonder government aid and disaster relief organizations and NGO’s with the best of intentions, can’t seem to make much headway.

Can we build Better, Cheaper, Faster? The old saying goes; choose any two. How do we get all three?

Check back next week for Part 2.

READER: What are your thoughts?

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

About
Frank Schooley, Designer | Disaster Shelter

On the day of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, furniture designer Frank Schooley was saddened and moved by the destruction he saw replayed on the news.  It’s been estimated that 3 million people were affected by Haiti’s earthquake with approximately 316,000 souls perishing and 1 million Haitians left homeless. Haiti’s government also estimated 250,000 personal residences and 30,000 commercial buildings were either severely damaged or just collapsed altogether. Over three years later, sadly not much has changed. A traveler to Haiti today will find that the same disastrous construction is being rebuilt in the same dangerous way.

Being an industrious furniture maker, Frank knew he could help. Using the same techniques and materials he originally developed for his eco-friendly furniture line Terrapeg, he immediately starting drafting plans for a disaster relief shelter he calls Shelter In Day.

Learn more about Frank Schoolye's innovative disaster shelter or contact us today.

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

We are excited to announce that Shelter In A Day won AIDFs 2013 Most Innovative Product Award for our disaster shelter.

Shelter In A Day is the perfect home for Haiti or those displaced by natural disasters. Shelter In A Day's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure housing in a hurry. 

Shelters are incredibly easy to construct. Our green disaster recover shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and a rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows. Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be quickly erected anywhere, in one day, without tools, or electricity.

Frank Schooley, owner of Shelter In A Day Day said “We’re absolutely thrilled to have won this. We were not expecting to win and we appreciate the recognition.”

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Winner of 2013 Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) "Most Innovative Product Award." Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day. 

Disaster Shelter | Haiti Economic Conditions, Part 1 of 5

After several trips to Haiti after creating my disaster shelter, Shelter In A Day, the thing that stands out about Haiti's economic conditions are the lack of jobs. Sadly, no matter where you go in Haiti, there are always plenty of people around who obviously need something better to do. It was in Haiti that I first heard the word ‘funemployment’ which means that you have work you are doing but there is no paycheck involved.

I met and talked to people all over the country and there are several impressions that worked their way into my mind: First, The Haitian people, as a whole, are the happiest and friendliest people I have ever encountered in my travels. Second, they love to be busy and if there is no work, they will stay busy somehow (funemployment). Third, they have a deep respect for education as the way forward for their people.

The dysfunctional politics of Haiti can be mostly blamed on the economic conditions that prevail. There is not enough economic activity in general and almost no exports in particular. This results in a small tax base and chronically underfunded government. This was made far worse when most government buildings were destroyed by the earthquake. The overall economic conditions can be blamed on many things but from my perspective, much of the fault can be attributed to the fact that Haiti and the Haitian people have always been victims of their odd geography.  The Island of Hispaniola which contains both Haiti and the Dominican Republic (DR) is situated in the tropical trade-winds. Haiti is downwind (west) of the DR and ringed with mountains along its windward borders.  The moisture laden, northeast (winter) and southeast (summer) trade winds are forced upwards by the mountains on the DR side.  This causes them to drop their moisture on the way up. The result is that most rainfall occurs in the DR making that country relatively lush and Haiti gets what rainfall is left, which isn’t enough to support the population agriculturally without irrigation. This rainfall difference is dramatic when seen from the air. The border is starkly delineated by greenery on the DR side and bare ground on the other, and deforestation is spreading, compounding the misery of the Haitian people.

You might ask where is this going?  What can be done?  To find out more check back next week for Part 2 in our 5 part series - Disaster Shelter | Haiti Economic Conditions.

READERS: What are some suggestions you might offer?

About Shelter In A Day | Disaster Shelters
Shelter In A Day is the brainchild of eco-friendly, furniture designer Frank Schooley. Shelter's disaster recovery housing provides safe and secure, simple to construct, green homes for those displaced by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes or floods. 

The disaster shelters are a solidly constructed, termite, rust and rot resistant house, with lockable doors and windows.  Homes are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material and can be easily erected anywhere, in one day.