February 22 – 26, 2020

Copper Bank

Belize (Central America)

Build Yourself. Build Your World.

Did you ever want to build your own home – but did not know where to start, or not even think it was possible? In this hands-on workshop – we show you how to do it – from the dirt beneath your feet – using our open source Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press. Here is your chance – as a voluntourism and edutourism opportunity in Belize, Central America. We are using our open source Compressed Earth Block press to do an Extreme Build of a 144 square foot CEB Microhouse – in 5 days.

Open Source Ecology (OSE) is doing the first ever house build outside of the USA. We have done a number of builds at our headquarters in Missouri, and we are taking an opportunity to do a service project abroad. One of our collaborators from Belize has built the OSE CEB press – and we decided to build a house for a community member in need in Copper Bank – a fisherman’s village in northern Belize. This is a unique opportunity to learn about appropriate technology, to expand your horizons in a different culture, to eat local food, to learn about ecological construction – and to contribute to a worthwhile effort. Residents from Copper Bank are invited to the build – and together with the international community that descends onto Copper Bank – we are all in it together for an immersion experience in CEB construction.

Collaborative Build of the CEED Eco-Home

Open Source Ecology is about collaborative design for a transparent and inclusive economy of abundance. This event builds upon the open source work of OSE – and in particular the open source CEB Press. The house itself will be built along the style of an expandable seed eco-home – like the Seed Eco-Home in Missouri – but made from CEBs – and much smaller – 144 square feet as opposed to 1400 square feet. We call this the CEED Eco-Home (spoken as ‘seed eco-home’) in the CEB version. CEED is short for the Compressed Earth Environmental Dwelling – to emphasize the local, natural building material – earth – from which the house is built. The ‘Seed’ concept also refers to incremental housing – building a small home, and expanding as needs grow. The design of the house lends itself to building additions.

Why Earth?

We have chosen to build with earth – and specifically – CEB – because of its overwhelming advantages. Listen to the overview Jim Hallock, collaborator and leading CEB builder in North America – emphasizing the case for CEBs:

It is no wonder that the Smithsonian Institution predicts that in the next 40 years, sophisticated buildings will be made out of mud.

Together with lumber sourced from local Mennennite mills, the embodied energy of this CEED Eco-Home will be kept to a minimum.

By applying seismic reinforcement in this build using the basket technique (see video here) – the structure is expected to last for hundreds of years. Just like Mayan temples – we will use lime stabilization for the CEBs.

How the Extreme Build Works

A Small House in 5 Days

To build a house in 5 days requires a tight and well-planned build. We are known for our Extreme Build techniques – we design and build modular structures such that many people can work on different modules in parallel – and then assemble them rapidly into place.

Build Process

When we begin, the foundation is already in place. It’s time to position the CEB press in place…and we can begin pressing and laying bricks. How do we lay block rapidly with one of more dozen inexperienced people? We first frame up the door and window openings, and use them to attach backing boards – so that the block is laid right up to the backing board. This way, the walls are straight. We found that leveling string does not work with so many people. The bricks are made from the soil right from the build site. We compress soil using our CEB press to make strong block. We add 5% of lime or cement to stabilize the block – so that the block is waterproof. We prepare 55 gallon drums of slurry – essentially a watered down slurry made from the same materials as the blocks themselves – which serves as the mortar between the courses. We also add seismic reinforcement as discussed in the video above.

On Day 1, we frame up the windows and doors. Day 1 and 2 we continue laying until the concrete bond beam is poured on the top course. At the same time, another team can build the roof modules, so they can be assembled readily into place at the end of day 2. On day 3, we lay the floors – made of CEBs. On day 4, we attach the seismic reinforcement and apply plaster. During any of these days, another team makes the Modular Utility Panel for water and electric. On day 5, we build the patio kitchen, and install a modular utility panel for water and electric.

Learning Objectives

The goal is for participants to gain familiarity with the overall build process of an entire house, from foundation to roof and utilities.

How to build with CEBs. How to use a CEB press to make CEBs How to prepare slurry mortar How to do basic framing. How to build a structurally sound roof. How to wire outlets and connect water lines How to work as a team in parallel to build a big project rapidly. How open source technology can be applied to address pressing world issues.

What to Expect

While you will learn technical build details by participating hands on, you are also likely to have more enriching experience:.

You will probably meet some amazing people and make new friends.. Expand your index of possibilities about changing the world with open hardware technology. Get first hand experience that you can build and affect the world around you in tangible and material ways. Have a fun and productive time while serving others. Find out how other people live in a different country and economy with an experience probably much different than yours. Go snorkeling in the second largest barrier coral reef in the world. Explore ancient Mayan ruins or the beach and use this time for a break from the cold of the Northern winter.

Intended Audience

This workshop is intended to be a broad and enriching experience, and is open to people of all ages and skill levels. If you would like to learn about eco-construction, and how to build very efficiently using natural building methods – then this workshop offers a one-of-a-kind experience with a real build, in a real setting – done with open source equipment – and intended for replication in many places in the world. If you would like to build your own house with CEBs – to gain construction experience – or simply learn completely new skills – then this workshop will offer an immersion experience. If you are considering becoming a natural builder, we offer the lowest cost for the highest performance of any automated brick press in the world. Our open source machine can be built for $4k in materials (not including labor), and the nearest competitor sells at $52k for a machine of the same throughput.

If you would like to experience the power of collaborative production – this workshop is for you. We are developing techniques where community-based, social production can be part of a viable economy.

We are seeking individuals who want to build the world around them – based on open source principles – and this workshop is intended to provide inspiration and the tools to do so. We have a focus on understanding HOW to design – not just to build things – and applying our skills to make a more transparent and inclusive economy of abundance. We are looking especially for those people who want to get their hands dirty – as responsible technology can come only from involved citizens. To this end – we de-mistify the skills necessary to build robust and human-centric machines and products- easily and at low cost.

Schedule

Overview Schedule

The typical day is 8 hours of instruction/workshop activity each day. You are also welcome to join the morning and evening yoga/exercise session. Given that construction is hard work, we have an opportunity to relax, do yoga, and stretching with coach Rania DiBacco – both before and after the day’s program.

Daily Schedule

8 AM – Morning yoga (optional).

9 AM – Morning class time/lecture.

10 AM – Morning build session.

1 PM – Lunch.

2 PM – Afternoon lecture/class time/build coordination.

3 PM – Afternoon build session.

6 PM – Evening yoga (optional). Dinner and social time.

Moring and Afternoon Lectures

While the focus of the workshop is hands-on experience, we also provide valuable background knowledge on OSE, collaborative development, open source, and build technology. Through the 5 days, we cover 10 topics: