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Homo Urbanus Infelix

Home Sapiens is only 120.000 years old and only recently he started to build something that might deserve the name village at about.


9.000 BC


3.000 BC

It had taken about 6.000 years for cities of more than 100.000 people to develop. (Jericho,Ur,Babylon,Harappa,Mohenjodaro,Memphis, Thebe,Yin,Shang,Mycenae, Knossos ,Ugarit,Rome) . Rome was the first great metropolis which boasted in 300 AD to have a population of 1 million.
Cities development is synonymous with human development. Living together meant security and trade, exchange of ideas and innovation. Only the rich benefited. Most Roman and many city-dwellers throughout history lived in squalor. Towns were crowded, unsanitary; people were malnourished and diseases spread fast, they were vulnerable for epidemics/pandemics.


1800 AD

3 % of the World Population (WP) lives in cities.

 

1900 AD

13 % of the WP lives in the cities.Only 100 years later,


2007 AD

> 50 % lives in cities! In Malawi, Ethiopia, Uganda 90 % of this urban population lives in SLUMS.


2008 AD

Nearly all rich country cities worry about transport, pollution, energy crisis, poverty, criminality, lack of security. Slums and other informal settlements account for more than 50% of urban areas in Cairo, Dar As Salaam, Addis, Lima, Recife,Sao Paulo, Manilla , Kinshasa, Mumbai, Joburg , Cape Town ,La Paz and one can go on and on. As the world becomes increasingly urban, it is essential that policy workers understand the power of the city as a catalyst for national development. Cities have to be able to provide inclusive living conditions for ALL their residents. Everyone has the right to the city, to a decent living environment, to clean water, sanitation, transport, electricity and other services . How to manage this is arguably one of the greatest challenges facing humanity.


2017 AD

There will be 500 cities with > 1 million inhabitants. Western hemisphere cities however show a tendency to decrease.


2020 AD

Cities like Delhi, Dhaka,Jakarta,Lagos,Mexio,Mumbai,New York,Sao Paulo,Tokyo will have > 20 million inhabitants.


2030 AD

60% of the WORLD POPULATION lives in cities! 40% of the cities with > 1 million residents and 15 of the 20 mega cities lie on or near the coast, where many are at real risk of flooding. With the present climate change and rising sea levels, a disaster is ahead.
 

Why Responsible Governments, Bilateral and Multilateral Organisations should opt for the Veerhuis Building System to solve the acute and chronic housing problem.

“ Everybody has the right for proper shelter“ (UDHR* (1948) art 25.1)

And Central Governments are supposed to do their utmost best to implement these Human Rights.

According to the World bank reports ( 2009) it is estimated that the Emerging Economies in the “Third World” will be in need of Billions of Dollars to counteract the consequences of Climate change.
Most countries have a housing problem, both chronic and acute. That housing problem has to be solved. In the traditional way this is virtually impossible and therefore an innovative way of building is mandatory. The Veerhuis Building System and the Veerhuis Concept offers such a possibility.

The essence of the VeerHouse ( VEERHUIS ) is the use of an already existing insulation material – Expanded Poly Styrene ( EPS) – as a full fledged building material for the “SKIN”( the outer shell) of the building only, thereby replacing bricks, stones, cement, concrete and wood considerably.
The Veerhouse Wall system fits all different types of frames:
• Wood
• Concrete
• warm steel
• light weight steel ( LWS) ,which is the preferred frame in the Veerhuis Concept.

Although the material exists already for quite some time and has many applications in the industry the Veerhuis idea is unique because of its simplicity, its innovative character and the extreme , even global consequences it can have on the building and construction industry, the environment, the energy situation, the Millennium Developments Goals and even the post-disaster reconstruction (PDR).
Polystyrene is a by product of the oil refining process and 1 kilo of oil used for insulation (EPS) saves 150 kilogram of oil used for energy in cars with its concomitant CO2 emission. The use of all properties of the EPS by Veerhuis explains the useful and innovative effect of this material as a building material.
Advantages
Advantages of the veerhuis concept
EPS and LWS are light in weight, which makes it easy to work with, diminish heavy transport, save energy, cause less tear and wear and produces less fine dust. Foundations can be lighter in construction ,saving time and money. Because of the light weight it is possible to make floating homes. Heavy machinery like cranes is not longer required which gives the following advantages.

Lighter construction, saving money, saving energy, less fatalities at work,less low back problems or other work related health problems, less LTA´s( lost time accidents) and better gender friendliness.

 

 
LWS has the highest strength to weight ratio
of any building material. It is very strong		 Strong
The materials are relatively cheap Diminished Costs
EPS is the perfect insulator Therefore it reduces, without any active change in human behaviour the energy consumption of the “house” during the full operational life time of that house (80 years or longer) with 60%, with no extra maintenance.
 As long as there is a direct correlation between energy and CO2 emission the above mentioned energy Reduction will lead to Decrease in CO2 emission.
 Polystyrene and LWS are reusable and recyclable,
and therefore they produces nearly		 NO solid waste generation.
They are fire retarding / fire resistant Safer
They are earthquake resistant and therefore Ideal for Post Disaster Reconstruction in seismic active regions, but also in other disaster areas for reasons mentioned in this same article(weight,floating, no suffocation ,lower killing factor etc).
There is no production of hazardous gases. No Ozone, no asbestos, no fibres, no CFC´s, no dust, no smell, no formaldehyde and no Radon.
EPS does not disintegrate, does not rot, is not
hygroscopic, causes no mould or humidity
and bugs ,rodents and termites do not like it.		 The house is healthier.
EPS and LWS are resistant to frost and heat Can be used in all climates.
They are very easy to handle and flexible in the
design		 Therefore it fits all cultures and architects.
The materials itself are not carcinogenic and
causes no allergies		 Healthier for the Consumer and the Labourers.
Because it is easy to work with and light in
weight, construction can go 4-6 times faster		 Labour costs decrease, the house is cheaper.
Training in the techniques of Veerhuis is simple
and fast, while there is no need for expensive
sophisticated tools		 which makes it an excellent system for less advanced and less affluent countries where many unemployed and non trained workers are available
Because this VEERHUIS CONCEPT
eliminates to a large extent the use
of sand, cement, bricks,water and wood it is		 Eco-friendly, diminishes deforestation, diminishes depletion of natural resources and saves water.
Polystyrene 100SE contains 95 % air. The
material is supplied in the form of beads which
after steam application expands with a factor 80.		 The end result henceforth is an eco-friendly , low cost, low energy , healthier, safer, stronger, better , low maintenance and high quality house suitable in all climates and all cultures and suitable on a Global level in poor and rich countries.
It can be produced easily at nearly every
location on earth.		 LOCAL PRODUCTION
Easy production
Because the amount of cement is reduced with at least 80 % or more there is an additional reduction in the emission of CO2 Extra CO2 emission decrease
Bricks have been used for about 6000 years,
consuming clay and other soils and require a
lot of energy to produce;		 Save valuable soil and energy
Slums,favella´s,shantytowns are on the increase due to increasing urbanisation and the foresight for 2030 is such that > 35 % of all city dwellers will have no decent home. Veerhuis opens the possibility for a solution of the slums and the creation of Cities without slums. MDG 7,target 11
 It is evident that the present building techniques and capacity are not able to solve the abovementioned problem If applied in the proper way and with enough political will of the affluent countries, The Veerhuis Concept can do it!
Most of the building boom will take place in the third world. UN Habitat estimates the need on 900.000.000 homes in the coming 25 years.Due to the simplicity of the techniques, the limited costs of investment, the excess availability of Polystyrene Beads, the tremendous gain for the environment
and the fact that local production of the material has to be done in the countries themselves, by their own people, this will lead to.		 Investment, job creation, transfer of knowledge, poverty reduction, transfer of skills, energy saving, decrease in global CO2 emission, regaining dignity and pride
If we can succeed in the provision of
decent homes for the homeless, it will have a
tremendous positive impact on all the agreed
Millennium Development Goals , on a safer
world and a decrease in migration.		 Supports all MDG´s
WIN-WIN Scenario's

the Veerhuis Concept adheres to the C2C (cradle to cradle) doctrine and the 3R principle:Reduce,Reuse,Recycle and to the Slogan of UN Habitat
“do it better, do it faster and do it with the communities”

In the concept of the Veerhuis , it is mandatory that all materials needed should be produced in the country itself, leading to job creation, reduction of poverty, and transfer of knowledge. Due to the local production in the country and given the light weight of the materials it will now be possible to set up a Home Factory which will enhance the speed of construction. Already now the speed of construction of a Veerhuis home is 5 times faster as the construction of a traditional house. In a home factory - due to more efficiency - that speed can increase with maybe another 40%. With such a home factory at last the Governments will be able to solve the Housing Problem that exists and it also at the same time creates a Tool to be used in case of acute disasters (flooding, landslides, earthquakes etc). See chapter VEERHUIS Approach (Annex1).

 

In the following figures all positive advantages of Building with Veerhuis are shown, including some realizations of Veerhuis Bouwsystemen.

 

Fig 1 : advantages of the Veerhuis construction

 

 

Fig 2
In this scheme the Win-Win scenarios are shown.
Although this diagram is valid for the whole world, special emphasis is placed on the THIRD WORLD. Please see chapter Today’s crises (Annex2)

 
 
VEERHUIS Approach (Annex1)
The Veerhius approach, A NEW GLOBAL APPROACH TOWARDS HOUSING IN DISASTERS.

 

 Chronic Disaster  Acute Disaster
Slums Earthquakes
Shantytowns Floods
Favela's Hurricanes
Refugee Camps Fires
  Wars

 

The worst disaster
The worst disaster is the disaster created after a so called successful acute disaster relief operation, where people have to stay in tents for years or when they are “forced” to move to the informal settlements- slums, shantytowns, favela´s – because of lack of proper management and organisation. They end up in the chronic disaster.

 

Nearly all countries have a chronic or an acute disaster or BOTH !
Shelter is the single overriding issue in both types of disaster.
IT IS ONE AND THE SAME PROBLEM

PDR stands for Post disaster Reconstruction; To solve the global housing problem we also need Pre Disaster Construction(PDC) . Let us coin a new abbreviation.

PDCPDR: Pre Disaster Construction and Post Disaster Reconstruction.

PDCPDR is primarily a Government function, and it is most effective when the affected individuals and communities actively participate in managing their own reconstruction activities in accordance with their own reconstruction plans.
With limited capacity to deal with PDR and PDC, the management structures put in place should be supported by training programmes to adequately prepare them for their roles. PDCPDR requires an institutional framework that identifies the specific agency with overall responsibility for managing this task, and other supporting agencies responsible for the range of specific services to be provided: A National Shelter Unit

The goal for PDC is the prevention of new slums and the “eradication, transformation or upgrading “ of existing slums
The goal for PDR is to shorten the period between Emergency shelter and Permanent Shelter

The end - responsibility to tackle both problems should be in the hand of the governments , assisted (if necessary) by NGO´s and if needed also by the International Community. The International Community should help all nations to enable them to solve their own problem and to reduce the dependence on outside “organisations”.

What is required?
A) Local production of the needed building materials
B) Training of the local people and training of the trainers
C) Cooperation on a global or regional level.



How?
Provide every Country or the megacities with 1, 2 or 3 Complete plants.(Loan,grant,PPP).
A complete plant consists of:
- The EPS blockmoulder
- The Light Weight Steel profile machines
- A mortar mixing machine
- A factory hall
- Some auxilliary equipment

Total investment : 1-1.5 million Euro´s per plant

Building system
• Use the Veerhuis Building System.
• The construction is earthquake, hurricane and fire resistant
• Local Production of the necessary building materials is easy
• It is simple and training can be achieved in 10 days
• Construction of the building is 4-5 times faster
• Extensions can be implemented in all directions without problems

The Plant
• One plant can produce per shift of 8 hours 6.000 homes of 40 m2 per year
• Life time of the plant = 20 years
• 3 shifts during 20 years can result in 360.000 homes
• With 3 plants: 1.080.000 Homes !

Home Factory
• The light weight, the simplicity of the system, the speed of construction, the availability of local labourers, the high WANT and NEED for many homes in a rather confined area – a disaster area or a slum area- make it worthwhile to consider the option of a HOME Factory, either permanent or mobile.

Advantages
• You can work in two/three shifts
• You are independent of the weather conditions(winter, rain, hurricanes etc)
• You can deliver a constant standard of Quality
• You reduce the transport problems
Delivery of homes: By crane, by car or through construction at site

Needs
• 1 Plan
• 1 Coordination mechanism
• 1 system for monitoring and evaluation

 



The set up should be in analogy with the health care system
I mean the following:

The Hospital
• Is standardized
• Is always prepared
• Has the knowledge/specialization
• Has the equipment
• Has the manpower
• Has the skills
• Has always a stock of needed materials
• Can always ask back-up from other hospitals
• Can instantly switch from elective to acute care!

National Shelter Unit
• Must be standardized
• Must be prepared
• Must have the knowledge/specialization
• Must have the equipment
• Must have the manpower
• Must have the skills
• Has always a stock of needed materials
• Can always ask back-up from other Units
• Can instantly switch from chronic to acute disaster(disease) conditions

Global or Regional use of one System has great advantages in case of assisting each other:

• Same or similar languages
• Same skills and techniques
• No delay
• No rivalry
• No overcrowding
• Cheaper

Due to the advantages of the Veerhuis System it is possible to start with a semi permanent shelter - skip the transitional shelter- that can be made permanent after the acute phase has been handled.

 

See the Veerhuis solution in Disaster Areas(PDR).

 

A semi-permanent shelter
2 labourers construct this house in 3 days

See Projects for examples of the houses.

 
VEERHUIS Solution in PDR

Immediate Local production of Light Weight Steel frames by a mobile unit , that fits in one container and has its own generator.

The capacity of one machine : 15-20 homes of 50 m² per day. Per year: 5000

Needed raw materials , low volume: galvanized steel coils quality S 320 GD

 

These frames are Earthquake resistant and hurricane proof. Assembly time is about 1.2 hours.
The can be covered by canvas or tarpaulin sheeting.

 

After the acute relief phase
- finish the home with the usual products available
or
- do it in accordance with the Veerhuis System.

By providing this base unit you have already laid the basis for the post disaster reconstruction of an earthquake resistant and hurricane proof permanent home, skipping the transitional phase. As shown on the photograph, the construction and strength allows another unit on top of it or attached to it. The end result (artist image) could be the following: A global House.

 
 
 
Today's crises and the Third World (Annex2)

The Third World, the developing World, is crucial in the fight against the present day crises. And they need all our support to be able to assist us in finding a timely cure for these crises. If we do not enable them to help us, we are in for a disaster. Not us and not immediately but certainly our children and grandchildren.
Present day crises are :

 

 

    World1+2 Third World
Energy Increasing demands and rising costs  +  +
CO2 The developing world will develop and like China, India and Brazil produce an enormous amout of CO2, unless.... CO2 does not need a passport.  +  +
Shortage of homes               900.000.000 homes needed by the year 2030    +
Deforestation  Continues    +
Natural resources  Become depleted    +
 Migration Increases    +
 MDG When will we make real progress    +
 Disasters On the rise    +
 Economy  In crisis  +  +
 Population growth  Continues  +  +
 Wars  Are now mainly fought in the third world    +
 Terrorism Is likely to increase due to export of wars and increasing poverty  +  +
 Biofuels  Food for fuel? Increases poverty and cost of living  +  +

 

The Building Boom will take place in the third world. …900.000.000 homes are needed( UN Habitat 2003).In the traditional way, this is impossible and undesirable. Production in all sectors will increase and “polluting industries from the North” will move to the third World. Father Profit beats Mother Nature ( Thomas Friedman).Energy consumption will explode.
The positive effects of Proper Housing on the Millennium Development Goals


 
Energy
 
ENERGY = HUMAN DEVELOPMENT = ECONOMY
And maybe according to the Law of Einstein: E = mc²
Energy = mass of population x consumption ²


The World population increases, their consumption © increases and more energy is needed. At this moment the affluent rich person has a c-factor of 32, the Emerging person has 15 while 3.000.000.000 people on this globe have a c-factor of 1-3. The fastest growing group of people with an increasing c-factor is the middle class of the emerging markets and one can expect that 1.800.000.000 people will ascend to the first group of c-factor 32.( Thomas L Friedman. Hot, Flat and Crowded. 2008); The demand for Energy will increase and the question arises whether Mother Nature can handle this.
We all agree that the most sustainable energy is the energy you do not use.

Even if the Climate Change is hype, more energy is required to develop the rest of the world, which is their right and which nobody can stop. And we all have agreed that All Humans are equal, and that nobody has the right to violate their rights.
Finally the fossil fuels will be exhausted, so much is evident.
At present the discussion concentrates on Nuclear and Hydrogen energy. But also uranium and some other usable minerals are finite. The exploration and production is costly, polluting and energy consuming. For a short period it might be advantageous, but the safety, the waste and the dismantling of ageing plants is very expensive and costs a lot of energy. If for example we want to provide all needed energy through nuclear power , we have to construct one nuclear plant every day during 36 years. Count your profit.
Hydrogen energy has no future aswell. Hydrogen is no naturally present commodity. it must be produced with lots of energy and danger. It also needs natural resources and leads in the end to loss of energy, unless you use renewable energy in the process.An extra reason why we have to switch to renewable energy.
Oil is also too precious to be used for combustion. It should be sold in a pharmacy, said an ex minister of oil of Saudi Arabia. Be clever and use it for the production of medicines, clothing, pesticides and fertilisers and also for the constructions of houses.(See underneath).In the future we might need it together with gas and coal for the peak flow..
Is that possible? I mean, to use oil for the construction of houses? Yes!!! You can build a house with air and oil. And at the same time reduce the demand for Energy and save natural resources.

 

 

 

The WIN-WIN scenarios are given in the next figure

 

This is only one of the new innovative ideas that lead to an improvement. There are many other ways of reducing the energy consumption, partly by active behavioural changes of the consumers, partly by more efficient technologies. But if you really want to have an impact, it is wise to choose your point of intervention at the right place, the cause of the problem you want to cure.

 

Concluding:
In line with the Trias Energetica( TU Delft,The Netherlands),the best way forward is to reduce the energy demand, and the most impact is to attack the energy leaking houses and convert them into Positive Energy Houses. Active and “passive” behavioural changes can play an important role. Better technologies are necessary.

 

It is evident that for the future we need a mix of energy sources: For example we have to increase the amount of renewable energy, we also can use partly biomass and bio fuels on the condition that the poor do not suffer. Fossil fuels most likely are still needed for the peak flow. Oil should be used for better purposes than combustion only. Liquid CO² (CCS) certainly also has a place in the fight against climate change.

We have not inherited the globe from our parents,
But we have it on loan from our children.
(Native American proverb)


Dr. Jacques Veerman.MD.DTM&H. Adviseur Veerhuis BV 20 sept,2009