By Ming Zhang, CELT virtual intern
Although most of us have never set foot in a refugee camp, we have all seen the pictures and heard the reports: refugee camps are muddy, overcrowded, unsanitary, and badly planned. To cap it off, they tend to be terrible for the environment- their crowded conditions encourage pollution and waste contamination, dirty water, and poor energy infrastructure. To address these issues, the Rocky Mountain Institute, along with other innovators, have come up with new designs for what a refugee camp may look like in the future.
The first design is of compostable dwellings: tents made from treated cardboard which is intended to last for a couple years. The cardboard itself contains the essential materials for starting a garden, such as mulch, fertilizer, seeds and microorganisms. After about a two-year period, the cardboard disintegrates and can then be plowed into the ground to start gardens, helping refugees settle into their (hopefully more permanent) new living facility. The seeds included in the cardboard shelters are appropriate to the location of the camp, but all shelters will include seeds for salt-absorbing trees that can desalinize the soil and help prevent erosion.
A second type of refugee home, invented by Vinay Gupta and based on an initial design by the Rocky Mountain Institute, is called the hexayurt. This dwelling costs only $200 and can be built by three people in two hours. It’s insulated with aluminum-faces insulation boards for comfort, and lightweight for portability. Most importantly, the hexayurt can be equipped with services such as one solar panel per 40 homes to help residents charge their batteries and electric lights, sanitary water, small appliances, and cooking and heating. This can divide 100,000 refugees into 1000 camps because the homes don’t require a large centralized plant to provide energy or other services.
A hexayurt designed for refugee camps. Source: openarchitecturenetwork.org
Although these designs have not yet been put into use, they are compliant with current UN refugee camp regulations and the hexayurt has been approved by both the US Department of Defense and the American Red Cross. It is hoped that sometime soon that new technology, smart materials and renewable energy will help refugees live as comfortably as possible with the least negative impact on the environment.