Experiments and Experiences with Alternative Techniques and Adapted Building Methods
Friday, April 29, 2022
by Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch, IPC, FPAC
BACKGROUND
With increasing international activity from 1990, which started in Pakistan and then continued into Cameroon, Colombia, etc., new challenges were encountered in the field of construction methods and technology.
EXAMPLES
In the TTTC of the AeFeA (NGO) in Pakistan, solar cookers, solar dryers, windmills (Savonius principle), hot water heaters, also a power box, for applications in rural areas and able to be locally produced, i.e. also without electricity and special tools, were made available and accessible not only to the villagers, but also to student visitors for educational purpose.
The objects were made in small quantities, distributed and sold and explained in lectures and workshops - from Adamkot in the south to Bahawalnagar to Abbottabad.
In the case of building methods, foremost the “women's center”, a competition for building samples was carried out, with a jury, awards and an exhibition. Not only experiences from excavations in the ancient city of Harappa by M. Kenoyer (three-layer wall construction used 5000 years ago, today referred to as passive solar architecture) were used, but also tests carried out in the wind tunnel of the TU Berlin before building, in order to ensure natural ventilation and air circulation cycles; The village and the planned development were modeled in accordance with the results of the study.
Different materials were used for the buildings (mud bricks, hollow bricks, solid wall and combinations with insulating material, also upside-down clay pots). The temperature was measured regularly at fixed points in order to use the experiences for later buildings (Lahore, D.I.K.). The experimental buildings in Lahore (PCC and BNU) were financed by the German Embassy and the IPC, the one for DIK (flood victims) by the Rotarians and with the help of the SES. The objects for the flood victims also considered results of developments in adapted technology. The building experiments in the BNU led to establishment of an Institute for Experimental Buildings (IEC, see www. ...).
The requirements for AT (alternative technology) and AB (adapted, climate-friendly construction) were different in Pakistan, Cameroon, Colombia, but similar in prevailing conditions (lack of tools, lack of electricity, etc.).
In Bamenda/Cameroon a permanent exhibition for AT and AB was created in the Center for Adapted Techniques (CAT, NGO), with workshops, lectures and presentations from Douala to Bafoussam to Maroua. A cooperation with the BUST led to the founding of the IAM; CAT's work has received several awards and it has been praised in press articles, the crown was thereby the establishment of RUC / Royal University Centre.
With the support of the then GTZ, as well as the IPC, also with the support of the SES, Misereor, etc., CAT-clubs were established in the districts of the former NW province; the Kids-Club in Bamenda conducted and still conducts environmental workshops, despite the turbulent situation in the English-speaking areas.
In Colombia, TM (ONG) Saboya was able to bring awareness about AT to the people in the town; Through cooperation with a workshop in Chiquinquira, equipment was manufactured for schools (to explain and raise awareness of the students about AT) and remote Fincas (independent of power supply) and introduced for use. A particular success was the branch in Leticia on the Amazon with the assistance of the National University in Bogota (including a course for environmental technology as a run-up to an exhibition in the Museum Leopoldo Rother with material from Germany ). IdEpeT, an institution for like-minded people, was established in project and partner locations. In Colombia, the project work was supported by IPC, DGFK, Misereor and SES.
EFFECTS
If one asks about the achievements of the activities outlined, then, according to spectacular reports in the media, they are visible in everyday life. Everyday life includes coping with the normal demands of life and dealing with other developments. People in rural areas in particular are subject to enormous information pressure from the cities. In order to appear open minded, ideas are being adopted which are usually not compatible with the environment. There is a certain tragedy in the subsequent realizations of the townsfolk, whose previous influence on the rural population had already had a negative impact on the environment. A certain traditional conservative attitude can be helpful here, but it will be difficult for the willing and affected to maintain it.
A remarkable example was the experience in a Pakistani village - one lived there, in today's sense very environmentally friendly, was economical with water and fuel! And all this without much dependence on the urban areas.
CONCLUSION
All in all one can say: Good ideas require the right point in time and a minority that lives what it considers right and environmentally friendly!
Labels: Bamenda, Berlin, Chiquinquira, Cultura e V, DGFK e V, FBTC, FPAC, IPC Cheyenne, Lahore, Nauen, Prof Dr Pintsch, SPAETcolombia, SPARC project, SPATHcameroon
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 8:45 AM,
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The importance of pse * project initiatives
Monday, August 9, 2021
by Aaron Pinsker and Norbert Pintsch
For the theorist, theory is a merciless work program. Success means having created the appropriate and plausible phrases after doing intensive work. It's a good feeling to live with, mobile and pecuniary!
The society, represented by its heads, leaders, agents, honors this and uses the phrases in good faith and for good things. The country needs keywords!
The representatives, leaders, agents of institutions and organizations need this help in order to become active in their fields.
Even if we don't like it, the reality is quite different and dramatic. The more theory there is, the more theory grows out of it - it is almost like fertilizer; however this fertilizer is of an artificial nature and it sticks more and more to the practical problems , commonly referred to as Practice!
Globalization makes the problem frightening! The theory, actually a tool to understanding the problem on a local and regional scale, is used unknowingly for standardization and that neglects the particularities of the region. It is rather understood to be universally and globally applicable. Why does'nt anybody tell me that?, so the call of a resident of old-people home suffering from dementia!
The seemingly problem solutions are always based on the usefulness. Usefulness is a result of political-social-economic* compulsions, with the additional issue that we lose our feet on the ground. Taking on these compulsions is a mammoth task, which is therefore not touched upon. That would involve too great corrective measures.
There is no reason to leave it at that, there are even solutions available, but they do not fit into the conventional grid; the main reason: the lack of pse * benefits!
Initiatives that benefit the general public are rare. If there are some, then they are politically, economically and religiously based and financed. This means that selflessness in initiatives is practically impossible. A popular question in such rare projects is: Who is funding this? - If the answer is lacking a reference to religion or politics, this unsettles the questioner. It cannot be what cannot be! The participants in such projects have shown that a) there is this attitude of selflessness and b) this unites strangers to the pse * and makes possible what actually does not work for the reasons mentioned.
A tedious job, far from theory, adapted to the local possibilities and the local, traditional culture, which represents the wealth of a region and works even better when the "foreign" participants bring their skills into the effort without appearing to be missionaries!
Labels: Aaron Pinsker, Berlin, Cultura e V, DGFK e V, FPAC Lahore, Nauen, Njini King Caro, Norbert Pintsch, Omar M Ali, Ricardo Coslez, SPARC-Project
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9:42 AM,
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