Green Affordable Housing in Indian Country

In Response to Requests for Technical Information......

A Brief Overview of Our Thoughts on Sharing and an Invitation to Collaborate
Notes from Green Team Retreat December 2007 (Full text of "Our Thoughts on Sharing" at bottom of page).

We have come to understand that the only effective way to disseminate the "Northern Light Straw-Clay" construction techniques will be old-fashioned face-to-face communication and "hands-on" learning opportunities. If you are interested in participating in an upcoming workshop, please send a brief email describing your experience and intentions to the Project Coordinator (Sue at sathering@wisc.edu). Priority consideration for scholarships or reduced fees will be given to requests from professionals who have a track record in "green" housing, preferably "green affordable housing", and ideally those with an opportunity to build green affordable housing on the near horizon. Workshop fees for all other participants run between $100 and $200 per day. Print and digital reference materials will be provided to participants upon completion of the workshops, but will not be available separately.

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FYI: Forbs Magazine alerts builders interested in "Low-Income Tax Credit" contracts to "go green":

http://www.forbes.com/2004/12/08/cz_ae_1208beltway.html 

The team of professionals whose shared concerns and combined experience guide the "Green Affordable Housing in Indian Country Tech Transfer/Jobs Training Initiative" are in the process of exploring opportunities to disseminate our "Northern Light Straw-Clay" construction technology in response to requests from others who are interested in "green" construction. We have discussed all the various options - training manuals, textbooks, videos, lecture-demonstrations, workshops, etc. However, we are left with a central concern:

The quality and proportions of the natural materials we use in wall construction were refined and tested to perform in the severe climate of the Upper Midwest. Our research and experience has shown that these wall sections perform to documented standards when careful attention is paid to on-site quality control during production and installation, and very importantly, when careful attention is paid to regionally appropriate design and construction practices (Report on Design Coalition's Light Straw-Clay Wall Sections from USDA Forest Products Research Laboratory FLP is posted on Design Coalition's website: http://www.designcoalition.org/features/lansing/research/Ktesting.htm).

We have no reason to believe that these construction methods and materials will not perform well in other climates, if this level of on-site quality control is achieved and regionally appropriate design and construction practices are followed. However, our print and digital materials are prepared as reference materials for professionals who are already have experience with our Northern Light Straw-Clay construction methods. Thus, access to these materials alone does not assure quality outcomes. Rather, our experience in teaching these techniques convince us that these reference materials, even if followed with the most careful attention to detail by the most experienced and informed professionals, are not sufficient by themselves to produce buildings that will perform to these documented standards. We have come to understand that, until the principles of northern light straw-clay construction technology are more widely understood by actual use, and the specialized equipment commonly available, the only effective way to disseminate these techniques will be old-fashioned face-to-face communication and "hands-on" learning opportunities.

However, we want to find ways to disseminate information about this technology to the general public and to collaborate with experienced designers, contractors, and builders who are concerned about "green housing" in general, and "affordable green housing" in particular. Thus, we are exploring the possibilities of how we might include others in our ongoing research and dissemination initiatives, specifically upcoming "hands-on" workshops.

We have secured funding to produce a series of hands-on workshops over the next few years in conjunction with the ongoing "Green Affordable Housing in Indian Country Initiative."  Our funders recognize the fact that our new developments in "green" design and technology, specifically in affordable housing, have outpaced mainstream educational opportunities available to the construction trades. Because of our track record, and recognizing the value of the "Northern Light Straw-Clay" methods, these funders have asked us to expand our Wisconsin-based tech transfer initiative so that training is available to designers, contractors, and builders working in and with First Nations communities across the Northern United States.

Our funding sources cover most of the costs of these trainings - multi-day workshops of this type commonly cost several thousand dollars to produce. We are continuing to explore ideas about how to cover the additional costs of including others in these workshops. We do not want the costs to be prohibitive. However, it would not be possible (nor indeed, ethical) to subsume the costs of training others under this existing funding. Thus, we propose the following:

Scholarships and Reduced Fees for Potential Collaborators:
One option we are considering is opening these workshops to a limited number of professionals as "Visiting Scholars," with the understanding that they will support the "Green Affordable Housing in Indian Country Initiative" by sharing their subsequent experiences with us and other interested professionals, and by contributing a portion of their subsequent earnings, in the form of tax deductible charitable donations to these ongoing efforts (see "contribute to the project" on this website). Visiting Scholars will be expected to cover the costs of their own travel, lodging, and workshop materials. By inviting designers, consultants, and builders from around the world to participate in workshops as Visiting Scholars, and participating in the creation of a "green construction information exchange network", we will simultaneously be forwarding the mission of our funders by helping make "local talent" available wherever green affordable housing initiatives are being considered.

Designers, contractors, and builders who are interested in participating in an upcoming Green Affordable Housing in Indian Country Workshop as Visiting Scholars should send a brief email describing their experience and intentions to the Project Coordinator (Sue at sathering@wisc.edu). Priority consideration will be given to requests from professionals who have a track record in "green" housing, preferably "green affordable housing", and ideally those with an opportunity to build green affordable housing on the near horizon.

For Other Professionals and Non-Professionals
We welcome the opportunity to familiarize other professionals and non-professionals with the principles of "green" home design and the methods and materials of "Northern Light Straw-Clay Construction." Our First Nations colleagues will occasionally collaborate with us and host hands-on workshops in conjunction with construction of a model "green affordable home" in their community. In addition, Design Coalition, our non-profit architecture and community development partners, will occasionally produce workshops in conjunction with "Northern Light Straw-Clay Construction" projects being built by independent builders and do-it-yourself homeowners.

Workshop fees range from $100 to $200 per day. Brief tours of construction sites, for groups of all ages, may be arranged with no charge. If you are interested in arranging a tour or participating in upcoming workshops, please send a brief email describing your experience and intentions to the Project Coordinator (Sue at sathering@wisc.edu).