I chose the topic of my graduate thesis project after a senior trip to New Orleans, LA in 2009. After seeing the destruction and displaced families living in FEMA trailers, four years after Hurricane Katrina, I immediately knew that I wanted to attempt to replace the trailer as FEMA’s nationwide sheltering option. My proposed thesis project attempts to do three things: to fit a shelter design to the needs of the users, to fit a shelter design to the needed environment, and to design a shelter village. I have researched past worldwide post-disaster sheltering options to help develop my version of a post-disaster temporary shelter, as well as designed a temporary shelter village. To design my shelter, I researched two elements.
Image 1 - The typical FEMA trailer
The first element was the positives and negatives of the various worldwide sheltering options, and what the displaced individuals thought of those options. The second element was the use of user assessments from the individuals who stayed in a FEMA trailer after Hurricane Katrina. After studying these two elements, I was able to determine the items, within the temporary shelters, that would need to be redesigned to help improve the user assessments of the future displaced individuals. Some of these items included: adding more usable and storage space, incorporating adjustable elements, supplying an easier adjustable interior temperature method, and creating a warm, comfortable interior. However, due to the fact that no one person will view any element in the same manner, the proposed temporary shelter design will respond to the majority of the individuals within the user assessments. Trying to solve the problems of every individual who has and will live within temporary shelter is a feat that would be just short of impossible. Unlike the FEMA trailer and the shelters used after Haiti’s earthquake, my shelter will not have the opportunity to actually be built and tested by the people who could become displaced by a natural disaster.
Image 2 - Rafael Smith's Uber Shelter
Image 3 - Haite Relief Tents
In my opinion, in terms of the users, there are three elements that would need to be improved before becoming a successful solution to replace the FEMA trailer. The first problem could be how the shelter arrives to the desired site as a kit-of-parts. My shelter design, due to arriving as a kit-of-parts can be transported easier than that of a FEMA trailer. However, due to being a kit-of-parts, the individuals who do not have the knowledge or ability to construct the shelter would either have to contact FEMA to have them aid in building it, or recruit friends and/or family to help in the shelter construction process.
Image 4 - The Uber Shelter's kit-of-parts
The second problem could be the weight of the shelter packs. As of now, the six shelter packs weigh between 497 and 700 pounds. As a shelter for up to four individuals, I calculated each pack to be divided by four. This would equal to 124 and 175 pounds per person. However, there are a number of situations that would require a lighter pack weight. These situations could include: less than four individuals living within the shelter, one of the individuals, living in the shelter, being a child, a member having some form of disability, and one of the four being an elderly individual. Due to this, the type and amount of materials that are incorporated into the shelter design wound need to me modified to lower the average pack weight to between 100 and 125 pounds.
The last problem that would need to be redesigned is the current cost of the shelter’s materials. As of now the shelter’s materials cost $14,200. Even with the average FEMA trailer’s cost equaling $70,000, I believe my shelter’s cost, like its weight, needs to be adjusted. Although, no matter how much I would like my shelter to be able to compete with the cost of most shelters used in Haiti, my shelter is designed for a United States application; therefore, requiring more complicated elements and materials. This in return greatly increases the shelter’s cost.
Image 5 - A labled isometric of Inno Vida's fiber composit panels
The second element was to provide a shelter design that could fit multiple environments, geographically and atmospherically, within the United States. After researching Rafael Smith’s Uber Shelter, I realized that the proposed shelter’s floor level would need to adjust, to some extent, for a change in grade. Over the shelter’s 28 foot length, the floor level can be adjusted up to three feet in height. Unlike Rafael Smith’s shelter, the proposed design, for a United States application, would need to provide the inhabitants with the option to create an independent shelter. To achieve this, a 350 gallon cistern system is incorporated into the shelter to store greywater, in the case that the area’s water supply became disconnected after the natural disaster. In addition, the shelter could be incorporated with solar gaining fabric and a solar storing battery.
Image 6 - How a cistern system works
On the other hand, if not in need to replace the area’s water or power supply, these two elements could help to lower the inhabitants’ monthly water and electric bill. In addition, the type, size, and position of the fenestration can also decrease the inhabitants’ electric bill. Due to each zone differing in how a building should be designed, the type, size, and position of the shelter’s fenestration and type of fenestration controls will be modified for the shelter’s desired location within the United States four climatic zones. The shelter’s interior and exterior color scheme varies depending on the shelter’s location within the United States. In the Southeast, the shelter would be a light yellow color with a reflective finish. In the Southwest, the shelter would be a light tan color with a reflective finish. In the Midwest, the shelter would be a light green color with a reflective finish. In the North, the shelter would be a dark color to absorb the sun’s energy.
Image 7 - Type of fenestration control used in the proposed shelter and village buildings
There are three possible issues that, if redesigned, could help make the best possible shelter solution. The first problem is to provide multiple exterior aesthetics within the same environmental zone. The reason for this is because within the hot-humid zone, the pastel colors of Florida might not work as well as it would in Southeast Texas. To solve this problem, each zone will provide the displaced individuals with the opportunity to select various color schemes. In addition, a shelter would need to be designed to fit the North’s cold zone.
Image 8 - The pastel colored homes of the Southeastern United States
The second problem could arise is to design a stronger shelter within both the Southeast’s hurricane zone and the Midwest’s tornado alley. In both zones, during a severe storm, the most hazardous places to be, besides laying in a ditch, is within a mobile-type of home. Therefore, certain precautions need to be taken or added to increase the shelter’s safety during a strong storm. To accomplish this, hurricane straps would be incorporated into the shelter to secure it and its roof to the ground. In addition, storm shutters would be incorporated into the shelter packs, if located in a needed zone, to keep debris from penetrating into the interior spaces. If the interior spaces become penetrated, the extreme pressure difference, between the interior and exterior spaces, could cause a total collapse of the shelter.
The third problem could be the current way of connecting two shelters. Due to the fact that the two exterior walls, when being connected, do not make direct contact, moisture, mold, and bugs could make this half inch space home. The possible mold and bugs could cause health problems and increase stress levels on the inhabitants. To solve this problem, any holes and openings between the two walls would need to be sealed and caulked to prevent any penetration from unwanted elements.
Image 9 - The beauty of a destructive tornado
The third element in the proposed thesis project is to provide a predesigned shelter village. The first step, when choosing a sufficient village location, is to fulfill all the needed requirements. The first requirement is to locate the village in close proximity to a major highway, railway, waterway, or airport. By doing this, the shelter and all of the needed supplies can arrive to the village without having to travel long distances. The second requirement is to have enough acreage for both the shelter village and a recreational park. To provide a comfortable village for the inhabitants, twenty-one acres is needed. On the other hand, twenty-three acres is needed to supply the inhabitants with the needed recreational aspects to keep the villages’ youth away from drugs and violence.
Image 10 - Cargo boats, the best solution to transport the temporary shelters (if the decimated area is near a waterway)
The last requirement is to provide secondary village options in the case that a natural disaster were to damage to the predesigned shelter village. The secondary villages would probably resemble the villages developed by FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. These secondary villages could be developed in area such as parking lots or open fields. In addition to the three above elements, an office building is added to the village to provide a buffering zone between the village’s inhabitants and the area’s community. The office also houses a number of needed elements including: offices, the inhabitants’ files, and a conference room. In addition to the office, a multipurpose building is incorporated into the village. This building will supply the inhabitants with a number of elements including: a dining hall, a grocery store, a laundry mat, and two classrooms. By doing this, the inhabitants will not have to travel long distances to get the needed elements to live comfortably in the shelters village.
After designing the proposed temporary shelter village, there could be three possible problems that would need to be rethought before put it into practice. The first problem that could arise is the expandability of the village in the case that a natural disaster affects a larger community or a stronger natural disaster occurs. The current shelter village can house 100 temporary shelters which occupies 6.25 acres of space within the village. To better fit the possible needs of a devastated community, a larger site would need to be chosen to supply the area with an additional 75 to 100 shelter plots, if needed.
Another possible solution would be to build multiple predesigned villages around the city in the case of a larger population. The second problem that could arise is the amount of time it could take to get the village site operational. In a perfect world, once a city purchases the shelter village plans, they would include the sewer, water, and electric, as well as the interior roads as part of phase one. The problem could arise when needing to add in the vegetation and the shelter plots. To save time, the shelter plots could be made of course and fine gravel. On the other hand, the vegetation, if planted before the tornado was to strike, could destroy and rip up the newly added plants.
Image 11 - the South elevation of the Multipurpose Building
Image 12 - An interior perspective of the Multipurpose Building's classrooms
The third problem that could arise would be to discover other uses for the village’s shelter plots when it is not in use, due to the fact that the majority of the time, the village will not be in use. The area that will not be in use is the village’s shelter plots. When the shelter plots are not in use, they could be used as open grass area and picnic areas for family and community gatherings. In addition, a campground could occupy the shelter plots when the village is not in use. However, the recreational areas, the shelter office, and the multipurpose building houses spaces that can be utilized for various activities.
Image 13 - The Multipurpose Building's playground area
Image 14 - The shelter village's basketball and tennis courts
In the end, after extensive reviewing, the design of the proposed temporary shelter will comply with most of FEMA and Red Cross’s temporary shelter design guidelines, rules, and codes. In addition, after modifying the above problems and concerns, I will be sending the proposed designs to both FEMA and Red Cross for their review and a possible solution to the increasing natural disaster occurrence within the United States.
Image 1 - http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/z9AWOe-FXsO
/FEMA+Trailer+Park+Residents+Facing+June+1/EGUqu0iJHyJ/Catherine+Dean
Image 2 - http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5EPlNoFF86k
/TZvqOYRi4bI/AAAAAAAABr0/GjW8RihEc94/s1600/5.jpg
Image 3 - http://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/landing_page/
Haiti-tents_web.jpg
Image 4 - http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_40DijKgP5Tg/TMi_KoFXjVI/AAAAAAAABaI/6kG-
dO6mezA/s1600/DSCN2746.JPG
Image 5 - http://puredesignstudio.net/spectrum6/wp-
content/uploads/2010/03/building_components_panel.jpg
Image 6 - http://kab3ey.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cistern_diagram.jpg
Image 7 - http://www.arafurafabrications.com.au/upload/products/sun-screens-darwin002.jpg
Image 8 - http://www.terragalleria.com/images/us-ca/usca35550.jpeg
Image 9 - http://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/images/pages/N456/Tornado.jpg
Image 10 - http://www.madridteacher.com/Activities/Files/images/ships-and-boats/container-
cargo-ship-by-Aynali-on-wikipedia.jpg
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