The Masthead

I am a modular home builder with a life time of experience in the construction industry. We could build a 3 room modular house that could be set on a temporary foundation right now like a trailer. It then can be moved to a permanent location once things improve in Haitie. Modular homes can easily be constructed to withstand hurricane force winds These homes could be very simple and would be better than what the Haitian people had before the disaster. There would be no wasted money on temporary housing. We can build identical A&B sides off the assembly line. The A/B sides could be stamped out in a very short time on the assembly line.

Here is an article by Roger Noriega, experienced in the political/economic conditions that have led to the level of the crisis in Haiti.
http://www.american.com/archive/2010/january/haitis-disasters-natural-and-man-made
Clearly there is opportunity for the industry, but the infrastructure necessary for success is a significant part of the long term solution.

There is no question that numerous well intended solutions can be built rapidly and delivered to provide Housing to Haiti. I would suggest that the best solution is to design and build Homes that not only meet their immediate needs but also can stay in place for decades. The Factory Built Industry can build Architecturally correct Homes in the same amount of time as they can build FEMA Trailers. Visit http://www.eco-cottages.com to get an idea. Build Homes and Cottages that look as good as they are built. We can supply a quick fix and a long term Housing solution simultaneously. Had we done that with Katrina would we have thousands of FEMA Trailers stock piled today? Why build ugly? The increased cost to build Architectural appealing Homes is far less than the delivering and then disposing of temporary structures.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bob Stovall, ManufacturedHomes. ManufacturedHomes said: MH NewsLine – A Housing Crisis of Tragic Proportion – What can the manufactured housing industry can do to help? http://tr.im/KJba [...]

The time is NOW for the factory built housing industry to mobilize and act, a true win-win-win opportunity if it is properly handled.

The time is NOW for the factory-built home industry to ACT on such thinking, and to spread the word to others to get the buzz and action rolling to properly implement.

Can we not produce earthquake safe structure?
Yes we can. just under $65.00 per SF
MHS Building System’s Inventor

The images on TV are heart-wrenching. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the people of Haiti, the faith-based organizations already there and the enormous volunteer and military response teams risking their lives to save others.

We too, have a wonderful hurricane/earthquake resistant solution (www.montenero.us) for schools, multi/single family, etc. But I believe the real point of the original post is much broader.

Factory built solutions must be robust without suffering quality. The severe conditions in regions such as the Caribbean are not limited to seismic events. Severe heat/humidity and frequent hurricane events are huge factors. So after the initial shelter concerns are addressed, long term solutions must be put in place. Multi-disciplined applications such as school rooms, health care facilities, elder care, mulit-family and single family dwellings are among the needs – not to mention infrastructure. The event screams for a modular, factory-based solution rather than long, drawn-out traditional construction. But the industry would sell its’ capacity short if our response is limited to “here is what I build, I can just ship it”. Rather, the opportunity is to mobilize quickly to coalesce as an industry and submit a broad set of recommendation/solutions to the funding agencies. Imagine the power of an industry-based response, being able to account for spending while helping both our industry employment situation as well as that in Haiti. The net should be cast wide and then narrowed and market-based.

The rebuilding effort will take years. Companies will be crawling out of the woodwork to tout single point-solutions. Architects, planners and political class will all have pet-projects.

We (the industry) can provide a recommended set of solutions based on the local market geotechnical and disaster-risk profile. We can provide solutions that can help employ local Haitians rather than limit our focus to staffing our own US-based factories. We can engage the planning and political communities to create industry-based solutions. With the right planning, this can be done quickly, comprehensively, effectively and with significant credibility. Congress could not avoid a positive reaction.

John Greenwald
President
http://www.montenero.us

This is an excellent topic with great comments.
It is a huge problem, and a huge opportunity.
One food for thought- When Walt Disney Co built Disney World in Florida a factory was built on-site to produce units for the various hotels. I bring this up as a point of reference in asking- Should the factory-built housing knowledge base be employed to produce units (housing, school, hotel, office, etc) in Haiti – employing Haitians – for Haiti & the rest of the Caribbean? There is a huge and affordable base of labor, plus a large demand (particularly if Cuban relations normalize within the next few years) throughout the Caribbean-
Would a resort developer enjoy the efficiency and speed that could be brought to their project? YES…It’s a big problem that requires a big solution

Here’s a small solution- EZTravelpad has committed to donating ALL proceeds (from travel booked online thru 5PM 1-22-10) to the Clinton/Bush initiative for Haitian relief.
There is a good chance this will be extended through the end of the month.
If you or your employees currently book online elsewhere, book it thru http://www.eztravelpad.com and be a part of a small solution

I think the issue that we have to deal with is the availability of the needed equipment on site and the skill sets.
I don’t believe that you can send any FEMA units to the Carribean.
They have bugs down there that I believe will even eat treated lumber.

I concur that only our industry can provide housing prompthly housing that will meet the needs of the Haitian people . What I see is terrible . I would be willing to set down with the Haitian Government and the United States Government to work out an immediate and long term plan for rebuilding.

After reading some other comments I believe the time is now where we show our worth to the to the world by providing housing . we have singlesection and mutisection homes we have duplexes we commercial structures we have it all up to three stories . We can rebuild we can provide housing I am 59 with 43 years of service to this industry I can see what we do I can see the need …lets do it!!

Good news! I have heard from my contacts in Haiti, and they tell me not a single life was lost in manufactured housing.

While I agree with the overall idea that our industry can fill a need here, from purely an economic and logisitical perspective I would argue a different course, at least initially. I’ve read that the bulk of the FEMA units are trying to be unloaded. These appear to be available immediately and would be better used in Haiti than undermining US sales efforts for new product. Once these are used up then we can consider something similar. The only drawback might be that the FEMA units were not constructed with overseas shipping in mind. But if that obstacle can be overcome I expect they could be delivered and in use much quicker than new builds. And our industry would still benefit because we wouldn’t be competing for shelf and retail space with these discounted units. Everyone wins.

It would be impossible to move homes from the harbor to building sites based on my experience in that part of the world. The high humidity also dictates concrete structures.

I like the idea of the industry designing and manufacturing a unit that was panelized and could be quickly set up after an emergency. The purpose of these unit would be to serve the housing needs between the tent and the return to permanent housing. It would show the potentials of manufactured housing without confusing the public about the products made for long term use. Manufacturers that sold the units to FEMA were not thinking about the stigma that would result. All too often they look only so far as the sale and not the long term.

Commentary on Haiti is excellent.
The factory home industry could build and ship homes once the landscape is clear of debris and the roads are improved. However our industry standard home (could serve as a shelter) but will require infrastructure: a GRID, Gas and water sources need to be in place.
The FEMA trailers were sold last week in auction @ $1000
+. I do not who bought them or for what purpose.
Modular Lifestyles, Inc. has designed a Solar, Solar Water Heating and Wind Power home with Grey Water pre-plumbing single wide for as close to off grid purposes as possible. However, the “Green” alternative energy’s could support a family intermittently due to natures forces with no infrastructure. Battery backup is not an economic feasible solution. Their GRID is not function able at this time.
These homes would offer (high end) shelter solution from the elements until the infrastructure could be rebuilt, earthquake resistant foundation and be a center piece for the masses. The U.S. would have to seriously think its role in this kind of future home development and rebuild.

The RV industry could build trailers 8X10 to serve as housing and rid itself of its over capacity. This industry is barely surviving. However, who is going to pay for it? The U.S. taxpayers? The Haitians are the poorest western nation.

Just my thoughts.

Tony…we (MHARR) feel very strongly that the current inventory of the emergency homes built for the temporary relief purposes for the victims of the Katrina and Rita huricanes should be sent to Haiti for immediate shelter relief for those victims.

Thanks again,

Danny

This is a fantastic win-win solution. It is imperative we move swiftly in providing housing as the surviving Haitian people are becoming more desperate daily. The images of their suffering are heartbreaking. We have contributed to the Red Cross and would very much like to participate in assisting our industry to move forward with this solution. Let’s put Americans back to work while housing people most in need!

What a great idea! There are also acres of unsold “modulars” and other prefab units in upstate NY. There were some factories in the area that cranked them out for awhile, but I’m guessing the market is oversaturated. If the gov’t really wants to do something with a “couple, two, three” million bucks, that would be a wonderful and honorable usage of our generosity.

Opportunity is like happiness. It is in the eye of the beholder. We seize opportunities; but, opportunities also closely buddy up with chance and risk.

I agree that factory built housing is uniquely positioned to help the Haitians; but, there are important considerations.

Haiti lacks infrastructure. The disaster has left them in kayos and calamity. Our immediate disaster relief is challenged to even deliver water and sanitary packs. As a lifeguard… I was taught to never position myself to allow a drowning victim to take me down with them. The training included specific skills and counter movements to unlock the underwater death embrace of a drowning victim. It’s amazing how “panic” can somehow overpower reason. The immediate need is to provide basic water, food and sanitation. There is the horrifying effort of clearing out the death and minimizing the spread of disease for survivors. Haiti never did have adequate infrastructure; so, are you re-building? Or are you building? And when you bring factory built disaster relief housing… Who, when and where do you deliver to best fill societal needs and deliver a happy ending for the Haitian people and the factory built industry/contributor? Even the best of intentions could end up in disaster if the effort was not carefully thought out and delivered.

I think “amen” on building and moving existing FEMA units to help Haiti. (If that is possible and if the units can be helpful) I think also “AMEN” on maximizing the GOOD WILL and PRODUCT VIABILITY MARKETING for our industry; but, why not use the opportunity to show Americans and World Citizens that factory built housing offers viable solutions for affordable/attainable/QUALITY/energy efficient housing in our everyday lives?

If you give basic housing and go out with a marketing effort that talks about basic housing… what good does this do for our market presence back home? I wish there was a way to educate the world on factory built housing efficiencies. Even the most wealthy, intelligent individuals appreciate a quality product at affordable pricing that can be delivered with consistency.

This is a PERFECT opportunity for the factory built housing industry to show their stuff! I envision a panel plant using steel stud construction. It would be relatively simple to assemble a plant either in Haiti or in south Florida and ship panels from the mainland. The product would be long lasting and provide quality shelter in a reasonable period of time.

Tony – I believe that there is a major win-win situation in front of us. We need for the GSA to take those 10,000 FEMA units that they want to dump on the American market and ship them to Haiti immediately. That helps a lot of people in a lot of ways, and I really can’t figure out anyone who doesn’t win in that situation.

Tony,
this sounds like a great way to turn a negative and tragic situation into something positive. Not only would this help the people of Haiti, but this would (hopefully) greatly improve America’s image as well as decrease the unemployment rate. Do whatever you have to do to get something like this going!
Steve

Tony: The Haitian quake has displaced thousands of people. I suggest we (FIMA) sent the vacant manufactureed homes from Katrina to Haiti. This would provide some shelter for the “Homeless”. Some of these can be converted to medical units offering the medical staff from Israel additional facilities for the attendance of the sick and wounded. We have sent in troops. They should be charged with controlling the looting and criminal acts typical of this disaster. Right now they are no more than traffic cops. Heavy equipment should be flown in to remove the debris. The engineering teams from Israel and other countries should start the rebuilding. Our Seabee’s need to be on the ground to assist in the rebuilding. This is a start. Some of this is happening, however, much more needs to be done.

Stuart Groten
Stuartlane@roadrunner.com Realtybroker.net Realtyappraiser.com

I see a tremendous energy in ths topic for manufactured homes. Also, I see the
reservidness of a foot forward. I see an actice mind. An the reserve for outright endorsement(s).

Now thing if you could build at the freight site for ease of loading issues.

Now imangenation to let the project on site in Haiti with the plant(s) for manufacture are available mounted on flat bed trailers (4)-and you can continue to move everywhere that needs structures build, and the unemployed there and here can work productively again.

Let’s now talk about building code issues,asthetic issues and cost & time. First in conventional site-built that needs little to no message. We have the SIP -(structural insulated panels). This is foam core walls the the owner to still frame out the house. It’s an efficient option in “time to manufacture and build” is faster and essentially a normally site built since they are still required a “frame out” system and product-plus the thought that Foam melts and releases a measure of pentane gas. Fairly, it is an elegant issue for R Factor that is comparitive to site built and plant manufacture.

Take a product that was designed and rated in 1944 by the Agriculture Department for the Defence Department. It’s essentially the same performance and it is rated every other decade and certified. So let’s discuss Honey Core Structural Building Panels. The Sheet Goods used normally and standard is Oriented Strand board (OSB) of compact wood chips created in the manufacture of regular Dimentional lumber for construction of regular needs. The osb is very strong and can be purchased without high prices, are coming down. The core material is 99# Kraft (essentially a cardboard). This material is opened and special resins are entered as the panel go into an over to set the core and placed directly to both sides of core and into a press that ages the resins and sheathing and core adhere to each other under pressure and adhesive in the core chemicals make the 4×8 panel is made and ready in 24 hours to begin construction. The panels conform with conventional dimentions needing no adjustment doors-windows or any othe standard.

The resins and adhesive has minimal to no VOR. The major problem by far, is the fact that adjustant need for others that the measurements are exact. Also of interest is the core adhesive resists, water, insect-vermin, mold and fire is complete. The 1″ deep cells are vertstandard 4′-8′-12′-16′ inch deep and does not spread in the wall since it can never establish a flu liine and spread thru the wall as our cells has dead air that are smother the fire.

Honeycomb Structural Panels is also one the first products considered for strength issues that are extremely stronge. The panels are joined with splines. Each spline can be used for additional strengthes — Our primary sline is Honeycomb, with steel spline for strength. The entire product is from post consumer use or is waste material. The possiblity that the material can be again recycled.

Honeycomb Panels also exibit high strenth for commercial construction projects with joining panels to crate 22 ft vertical walls and floor and roof panels can span over 26″ and has a load distortion that is nominal and the structural deflexion is slight. Imagine a span like that without the support post and beam needs.

Sorry about that. I thought that this is another potential point of interest to the question.

Craig McCord
c_mccord@msn.com

A call to President Clinton’s Humanitarian Fund in New York City should be the first call !

I was thinking the exact same thing; in line w/ the FEMA trailers used in LA after Katrina.

I was reminded of these words in the wake of the Haitian tragedy.

“As long as there is poverty in the world, I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars. As long as disease is rampant and millions of people in this world cannot expect to live more than twenty-eight years, I can never be totally healthy even if I just got a good checkup at the Mayo Clinic. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the way our world is made. No individual or nation can stand out boasting of being independent. We are interdependent.”

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

The manufactured housing industry can do something amazing with this idea. I think it is imperative not to exploit the opportunity as the credit card companies have done but rather to give real help to people in unfathomable need.

I understand that business can’t afford to be too generous at this time but generosity of this kind finds its way back to you. This is true be it in the form of tax credits or new business built from the good will or good publicity. It may even serve as a model community that shifts the paradigm in ways too exciting to imaging. All this is not to over look that compassion can reap it own rewards.

Comments and ideas are good but it is time for action
Tom Kovach

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

Martin Luther King Jr.

It probably isn’t economically feasible to transport FEMA trailers to Haiti via air and perhaps not even via sea, considering that volume is important and what one is shipping is primarily air (the volume enclosed within the trailer walls). Of course one could ship the units packed with emergency supplies but this will likely destroy the units, as they were not designed for this purpose. It does make a lot more sense to ship panelized systems, as long as sufficient thought is put into how to adapt the systems to the climate. OSB and other wood products, primary components in many panelized systems, will not last in Haiti’s climate. Systems that will work, like those consisting primarily of inert materials (steel, fiberglass) are more expensive and likely not as readily available. Are there opportunities using Haiti’s available labor force? Are there locally available products that could be used to construct permanent low-cost earthquake resistant homes? This kills to birds with one stone, as we’d be employing local labor and perhaps suppliers, of which there is a great abundance.
Let’s not use Haiti as a dumping ground for technology more suitable for our climate, instead let’s ‘measure twice and cut once’, in the meantime the tents will be sufficient for what they are. Now is the opportunity to come up with a system that will work and will showcase our talent for creativity and innovation.

Thank you Tony for your insight. moladi is ready to provide support and our construction technology to assist Haiti and her people in the reconstruction process that will follow. moladi reinforced walls and stub wall configuration is designed to with stand earthquakes and minimize the damage created by the impact. With the moladi process of formwork construction we are able to utilize the rubble from the collapsed buildings to create new structures – Reducing construction time and cost, as well as shipping cost – stronger than block or brick walls – creating employment for the many now unemployed. Very important to eliminate costly “tented camps”

For more info visit moladi at http://www.moladi.net

I feel we can help the people of Haiti plus help some of our financial institutions, mh dealers and insurance companies. I would utilize all the FEMA units that could be assembled. They should have been refurbished after Katrina so we could use them again. I would then assemble all the reposseded units we could find. If FEMA/US governmant is going to provide housing, wouldn’t it make the most sense to use units we have in supply. I realize we won’t help the manufacturers by doing this, but I feel it is the most sensible and economical.

Manufactured housing is the right solution for Haiti at this time. The simplicity of transport, setup and low cost combine to make it a perfect fit.

I appreciate that all of us in the industry would like to help those that have lost their homes in Haiti, but before we rush to send our traditional HUD single or double wides off to an island, we need to consider a few things. Although done with good intentions ,the result of sending thousands of units to FEMA for Hurricane Katrina,was one of the biggest public relations fiascoes for our industry. For years we have been trying to portray manufactured housing as providing a long term conventional housing alternative. Instead we saw thousands of “homes” haphazardly set up on blocks in gravel lots or big fields.They were stacked in rows like big boxes. This was exactly the image we had spent years trying to change. Unfortunately these homes are still around to haunt us. The debate of what to do with them sounds like they are “toxic waste”. Can you imagine the picture of one of our homes propped up on some rocks with the plumbing and waste lines hanging out the back,being made ready for a family of Haitians? Hardly the image we want to convey.
Before the industry gets involved in disaster housing again,we should have a product that suits that specific need.

Our company DuraSip has a solution, a fiberglass panel house for under $3000 that can be constructed in a couple of hours by unskilled labor. The FEMA trailers will not survive future hurricanes and hurricane season is around the corner. Our DuraSip homes are able to survive both hurricanes and earthquakes. We are in talks with relief agencies interested in utilizing our system. I believe we are the company in Automated Builder talked about in the article, see Automated Builder magazine June 2009 please visit http://www.durasip.com

Great comments! It’s apparent that we have the “know how”, the facilities, and the personnel to accommodate disasters around the world but the government red-tape…that’s another story. We see in the United States from coast to coast, earthquakes, fire storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and yet we see delays in food, water and shelter. I don’t want to beat a dead horse about Katrina but my question is…how do we band together within the Manufactured Housing community to get the people what they need and get it to them now?

Like New Orleans, areas need to be cleared and readied for housing before Fema buys them. Camps do need to be set up and food service and food storage along with medical
service and supplies. When areas are ready; barging the utility side of a double wide to Haiti could be very helpful and let the locals construct the other side of the home. There was a factory in CA that did this in the 70′s with fold out wall for the dry side. They were shipped to the Philippines. Halliburton from Lear Segilar was the president.

MHS Building System Challenges Natural Disasters- Earthquakes

By : Eric Hunting

Perhaps the most destructive of nature’s hazards, earthquakes havewreaked havoc on human habitation since the dawn of civilization and, while no form of construction can be considered truly immune to damage from this powerful force, in the most earthquake prone regions many different methods of coping with it have evolved. In general there are three ways structures can be made to withstand the forces of earthquakes; resistance, resilience, and dynamic response. Resistance basically means making a structure so physically strong and massive that it resists the damage the shock forces of an earthquake produce. This approach has tended to be difficult to employ because it often calls for large volumes of material.
http://modularhousingsystem.blogspot.com/2009_09_03_archive.html

Dear Tony, I like to post the article by Eric Hunter here as my comments regarding the Earthquake resistance buildings.
This is Part# 2 of this article:
http://modularhousingsystem.blogspot.com/2009_09_04_archive.html

I am supporting any light building system for Haiti and emergency housing.
MHS prefab offer standard modular building components with interlocking system and could be assemble easily with unskilled people at the site much faster than any other safe structure with No transportation problems .

Regards
Tim Siahargar
MHS building system’s Inventor

[...] By L. A. Tony Kovach – January 24, 2010 blog comments powered by Disqus var disqus_url = 'http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/blogs/tonykovach/a-call-to-action/ '; var disqus_container_id = 'disqus_thread'; var facebookXdReceiverPath = 'http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/blogs/tonykovach/wp-content/plugins/disqus-comment-system/xd_receiver.htm'; var DsqLocal = { 'trackbacks': [ ], 'trackback_url': 'http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/blogs/tonykovach/a-call-to-action/trackback/' }; « Haitian Disaster Relief and American Factory Built Housing: Crisis meets Opportunity? [...]

I am not sure of would have been the cost of shipping the FEMA units to Haiti. I would think a more substantial problem would be the government’s failure to store the homes properly. Since the homes were not provided proper blocking support what problems will develop if you try to load them on a ship and carry them overseas somewhere. The comments suggest that the industry has many resources to be able to make a substantial response and contribution. Hopefully our resources will be utilized.

to assume that this article is written with the very intention of helping would be a great injustice. sounds like all you are interested in is making another dollar. Yes, the units being auctioned tommorrow could do great good in haiti, for that reason, to do good in haiti…. who cares if they sell them and flood the market? this still makes work for alot in the industry, parks, transporters, used home sales,etc.. new homes are not selling for several reasons. point one being no one wants to pay 80 to 90000 for a manufactured home when they can spend 25000 more and get a decent home on land which will increase in value over time.and i might add, is not built with paper products and cabinets. I HAVE BEEN IN THE BUISNESS FOR 23YEARS, and alot of the manufactured homes i see built now are cheaper and more poorly constructed than any ive seen since the early 70s. we all did a great job of “convincing ” people that they were just as good as sitebuilt. but really, come on… go down and actually look at a unit nowadays. live in one for a year or so….

Hi Broke MHS,
Tough times can put anyone in a foul mood. Don’t know what part of the U.S. you are from, but in the upper Midwest, another 25K won’t cover the dirt much less the much higher conventional construction costs. I think our industry is amazing in its potential, we don’t have to make stuff up, we just have to get the word out and pull together to resolve challenges like zoning, finance and regulations, etc. We can offer a home that is basic VOG but lives well to a home that has finished drywall and residential styling. FYI, I do live in our industry’s product – and have for about half my adult life. When people come over and step inside, they say…wow, this is just like a ‘regular home’ and can’t believe the price point! Part of the secret is targeting the right markets and then getting the people in. Once they see, more than enough will buy to keep a good retailer, developer or community operator busy!

I think that our systems built housing industry can respond with all of the housing and much of the building needs in Haiti. And do it quickly and effiecently. We all need to business right now, but that is beside the point. But before we all gear up our factories, “get boots on the ground in Haiti” and get all excited about the potential business. let’s just answer one fundemental question. Once we get these houses there, what are we going to plug these houses into? By all reports, Haiti is one of the poorest nations on earth, with barely any infrastructure in existence at all. We can build all the houses they need, when the time is right. And we will do it quickly and better than any other country on the face of this earth, but the basics need to be in place first. .

The Manufactured Housing Institute, Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform, and National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property issued a joint news release in late January concerning the auction of FEMA temporary homes remaining after Hurricane Katrina in 2006.

From “Groups Urge Sending FEMA Trailers to Haiti”
South Bend Tribune (IN) (01/29/10) Moor, Tom

Read more at:
http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/industry-news/other-news/388-groups-urge-sending-fema-trailers-to-haiti

As an engineer who was laid off from this recent recession, I couldn’t agree more!! I worked in the trades for the last 20 years and I can’t imagine not having a home! I just completed a bare bones estimate of a simple structure just to see how much it would actually cost to build a basic dwelling. This home would need to accommodate eight people (average sized family in Haiti). This structure would include a 4/12 pitched panelized insulated roof (1/2 CDX with Corrugated metal), Tyvek House wrap, and Stucco siding. Walls are Pre-fabricated 2×4, R-11 insulation. As well as five screened windows, four of which are 4′x5′. The interior has paneling, and I’ve also included shutters that would be constructed out of recycled pallet material. We need to include basic flooring while the overall building is 12′X16′ and is constructed the same way we build in the United States. It is a house on a pallet! This home would be together in a matter of a couple hours. Since the roof, walls, and floor are pre-fabricated; we can easily transport these homes anywhere and place each pallet on concrete pier blocks. The walls are stood up, nailed together with a Standard California corner. Eight bunk beds built from normal framing materials are located right next to the screened windows for excellent ventilation. My research shows that it would only cost me $5K (Labor included). I would need help with transportation to Haiti of course. We could house thousands of people for as cheap as possible that is our goal! These units would never have to be sold, or moved; the Haitians could use them as storage sheds once better accommodations have been arranged. If power is provided we could install an outlet, along with lighting. I would be more than willing to organize an assembly operation and I would like to speak with anyone who has pertinent information concerning this issue. I have a complete set of construction documents, specifications, schedule of values, and a full architectural model has been completed. If anyone is interested in viewing our documents please contact me anytime. I want to house these people, and I have the experience to house thousands!

Sincerely,
Kyle Dardis
Owner
Highwood Building Company
Kyledardis@yahoo.com

My company is in NW Indiana and we manufacture polyethylene tanks that could hold fresh water and waste and be used in conjunction with either new or FEMA units as a way to help in designing a fresh water and waste water system that would be needed to pull off a concept like this

I think that our systems built housing industry can respond with all of the housing and much of the building needs in Haiti.

A friend of mine makes relatively cheap, energy efficient disaster relief units out of shipping containers.  Would they be useful? Here is a link:http://www.gorilladesign.org/Products/ViewDRUProject 

This is a good content.We can and should do our part in addressing the immediate rescue and relief aspects.This provide a great knowledge.Thanks to share this blog.

Just returned from NY - moladi has been selected by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum – Rockefeller Foundation Design with the Other 90%
CITIES to showcase the South African designed and patented formwork
construction technology as an innovative solution
to address the unprecedented growth of informal settlements globally. 

Addressing two
critical issues

·        
Backlog of quality
affordable homes

·        
Unemployment

 
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so many entertaining stuff in your blog, especially its discussion. From the
tons of comments on your posts, I guess I am not the only one having all the
enjoyment here! Keep up the excellent work.