Does The Building Code Grasp Tighten?

Okay, you know the drill.

If you desire to live in a home of your own crafting, especially one that uses alternative materials and alternative building practices. you already know that you may have a long road to hoe, to get from where you are – to where you need to be.

I’ve spent the last few days taking care of Joshua as he starts rebounding from his accident, and it’s allowed me to catch up on my reading – 10-15 minutes at a time. If you’ve ever had a three year old, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

If you happen to have a sick three year old, you have my profound sympathies. Oy, what a handful!

A friend of mine, Laren Corie (of “Little House” fame) recently addressed the implementation of Universal Building Codes (and IRC/IBCs) by more and more States across the US.

I thought it was so interesting that I thought I’d get permission to post it here, in order to stimulate some discussion.

[Editor's note: The content is Laren's. The reformatting is MINE and I take sole responsibility for screwing up a very good post.]

So without further adieu, I give you that “Sage of Small Places both Near and Far”…

Laren Corie.

Most states have a mandatory, universal residential building code.

They did not used to. They used to allow the people to make their own choices about what kind of house they lived in. New York also appears to be the only US state that require ALL working drawings, for virtually any work on a home, to carry a seal from a New York State licensed architect, or structural engineer.

There are also minimum house size requirements. They are part of the state codes. They require a minimum size (conditioned floor area) usually of 700+ to 960ft², which means that you can not build a Little House, then add onto it. Building and living in a LittleHouses is ILLEGAL. in most of the United States.

A LittleHouse is outlaw housing. In most states you must “permit” and build 700+ to 960ft², as a minimum, right from the start.

Then there are energy efficiency requirements. I am definitely a strong advocate of energy efficiency. But, why is Winter efficiency requires for a Summer cabin, or a hunting cabin that only is occupied a week or two per year. And, why should such a structure be required to have fossil fuel or electric heat, a well, a septic system, and an electric system, that has a minimum amperage? There are also mandatory plumbing requirements that you will be forced to follow, or you will be considered a criminal, and risk government actions.

Unfortunately, unless you move into an existing house, your dream may be fraught with peril. Most states did not used to micro-manage every little bit of work that people do to their homes. In fact, most had no residential building codes, especially for owner builders.

But, it creates jobs for bureaucrats, that need offices, and lawyers and accountants, all to tell you how to live, while claiming that it is for your own good.

But, you don’t get to make the choice for yourself, you stupid, incompetent children ;O)

You need a government bureaucracy to tell you that you must live in what THEY decide for you.

And, that is what is most important, to both them, and to you. This  is an issue of a RIGHT to personal freedom, as long as it does not physically endanger others.

But, we are now in an era where “money” has more rights than people do. When you build a house that does not enhance your neighbor’s property values (their “money”) they can even sue you. But, they generally do not have to, because the government shares their interest (not yours for freedom) because it collects property taxes, and bigger, more expensive houses, bring in more tax dollars.

It has only been recently that New York state has adopted the extreme law that virtually all building, and home improvements, require working drawings that carry the seal of a NY state licensed architect or structural engineer.

I think we can all figure out what lobby wrote, promoted, and got that sucker passed. It is nothing more than blatant nepotism, for the sake of taking your money and placing it in the pockets of a special interest group.

I just read, only yesterday, that Indiana, one of the last bastions of owner-building freedom, has now adopted a universal mandatory residential building code. That is how the building departments can bring in necessary cash, to support themselves after the building bubble, which they had used, as an excuse, to overly bloat their departments. Now, they want to maintain them, but they do not have enough work.

So, they need to create work, where they had none before. It does not matter that things were just fine without them. Who pays? Not the bureaucrats that got the government into debt.

No! They not only do not pay, they actually get paid.

Who pays, is owner-builders (and really all homeowners), and everybody loses another huge piece of personal freedom.

We deserve a “RIGHT” to freedom of shelter choices, such as the RIGHT to build LittleHouses, as long as it does not endanger the lives and physical safety of others. Instead we have laws (building codes) such as minimum sizes, that only feed bureaucracies and banks. Who says LittleHouses are not political?

[Editors Note: Replace "LittleHouses" with "ISBU Houses" and the same exact sentiments apply, in my view. Laren is exactly right.]

-Laren Corie-
Natural Solar Building Design and
Solar Heating/Natural Cooling/Energy
Efficiency Consultation Since 1975
www.ThermalAttic.com
www.EarthWeekPlus.com

Read my Solar house design articles in:
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www.essnmag.com

Home base-LittleHouses YahooGroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LittleHouses/

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WoodGas

Founder-

RefrigeratorAlternatives YahooGroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RefrigeratorAlternatives

My Music – www.MoonlightRed.com

Yeah, he’s a freakin’ expert at everything…

I suspect that Loren practices Brain Surgery and AstroPhysics as hobbies when he gets bored. …

Comments?

Daddy… I broke it.

When we were kids…

We were convinced that if you jumped up and down on your Mom’s bed…

If you jumped up high enough… You could almost touch the sky.

Um….

I’m sad to report that this is NOT true.

All you’ll “touch” is an ambulance and the local Emergency Room.

Please. The sky is way up there for a reason…

It’s to fuel your dreams, not empty your parent’s pockets as they fuel the local medical complex…

As much as he’d like to… my three-year-old son Joshua can’t fly.

And I suspect that Dad cried (watching his son in agony) almost as much as Josh did from his broken foot… from the Exam rooms, to the X-Ray rooms and then to the treatment rooms.

The staff at Biloxi Regional’s Emergency Center (especially  “Dr. George” and “Dr. Judy”… ) treated Josh like a prince, in spite of the fact that he was as mean as a demon, after all the poking and prodding. He was in pain, he was angry and he just wanted his daddy. And, I needed them. They delivered.

I’m grateful to them… Dr. George Loukatos is a ROCK.

“Doc Judy” is one sweetheart of a Triage Doctor. She treated Joshua like he was her own child. I can’t say enough about these two.

And I’m secretly grateful that Joshua  passed out from exhaustion when I finally got him home, much later that very, very  long day…

Now… we’re off to see a Pediatric Orthopedic Specialist to see if Joshua needs surgery…

Let’s be careful out there…

The tears you save may be your own…

Posts will be interrupted for a few days. Josh needs me.

It’s Alive… It’s Alive… Pass the Plasma… Cutter!

Many of you know that we’re consulting into the Epic Creative Co-op Shipping Container Studio build, just outside Houston, TX.

I’m happy to inform you that our project has recently been picked up by DWELL magazine and I’m hearing that it may get picked up by even more publications as it nears completion.

I just talked to Vic Cherubini, the Mastermind behind the metal monster…

Vic says:

The project is coming along nicely.  Today we got a good jump on getting the R-panel on the roof.  It will be finished up by Wednesday of next week and then we begin working on the exterior walls.

I had the guys take a break today and did a panoramic photo of them in the big video production room.  This is the kind of photography we specialize in.

Vic and I have provided the readers of RR with an exclusive look at the project, before we release the images to the rest of the media.  Sometimes it pays to be involved directly, huh?

Just click on the links below to view the pano.  These are large files and make take a few seconds to fully resolve. When the panoramic photo loads, you will see a double rectangle in the lower right side of the screen. Click on it and the pano will go full screen.  Use your mouse to click and drag around the room, and your scroll wheel to zoom in and out.

Seriously… I urge you to click through to look at the panoramic photographs. I can’t do them justice here on the RR system. Drag your mouse around on the image to change the view. Amazing stuff… Almost… EPIC.

(Oh, stop groaning… you were thinking it, too…)

green screen video production_room –

This is a pano showing the guys involved in our project.  In the pano you can get a good feel for the size of the video production studio.  We will be insulating the walls with cellulose that should keep us cool and keep the sound under control.

epic creative Co-Op – Rental Unit_2 –

This pano show the interior of rental 2, which is comprised of three containers.

[Editor's note:]
Vic notes that it will give you a good understanding of what two containers look like that have the common walls removed.   I’ve seen this at least a hundred times and it never  ceases to amaze me that you can take a few metal boxes and create spaces like this, with ease.

This rental unit also has a balcony off it which is shown in the next pano.

balcony for Rental Unit 2 for Rental 2 –

Our second rental unit in the epic Creative Co-Op will include a 40’ wrap around deck.  Last week we installed the safety railing and wire rope. We will use spray foam to insulate the container under it, and the decking will be plywood with an anti-skid coating applied to it.

It’s coming right along. Soon, instead of working day and night, 7 days a week to get the building finished… Vic’ll be working 7 days a week inside… trying to pay for it!

And, I’ll be trying to talk him into taking a few days off… We’re not getting any younger…

It should be noted that all these images are Vic’s -  ©2010 epic software group, inc.

Live From Ground Zero…

One of our readers (we’ll call him “D” – he bought “the book” and even kicked in a few bucks to help support the blog )  says:

“I live in Tokyo, and come from NZ, Canterbury University in Christchurch is my university.

I’ve got friends both here and in Christchurch who have lost their houses and friends of friends who have lost loved ones. As you know NZ is heading into winter and Japan is in deep trouble.

The govt here has asked for 33,000 prefab houses. you probably don’t know this but there are still people living in prefab housing from both the Kobe Earthquake 1996, and the Nigata Earthquake 2004.

Japan’s summers are very hot and humid and winters are frigid – from what I’ve learnt container housing is going to be better in every possible way for these people up north.

An issue is that insurance for natural disasters in Japan is prohibitively expensive and less than 5 % of the buildings destroyed will have any type of insurance – 400,000 people without shelter and most with out the financial means to rebuild -

I have a friend checking with the prefab association here to get an understanding on the specifications and requirements and am researching myself what is needed.

Permanent structures have very tough earthquake laws and regulations and a normal shipping container does not qualify structurally, I have a japanese architect who has redesigned the basic shipping container to make it qualify to meet the regs, he has a chinese company using higher grade and thicker steel in the outside frame. he has a couple of places in Tokyo.

Prefabs do not have these strict requirements and I think (research needed) that containers will work well.

Do you have any ideas ?

Kind regards,”

“D”

***

Hi “D”,

First, thank you for your support. But let me point out that you don’t have to donate to ask for help. Ever.  At least not here.

That said…

Funny you should ask…

My design teams are currently working with two different aid foundations as I type this, developing “modular” housing from ISBU stock, for export to Japan and NZ, as a direct result of the earthquakes.

I DID know about the prefabs pre-exisiting in Japan. In fact, I’ve been to Japan MANY times. Not only did I live there as a child… I actually lived there as an adult for a few years, back when I still had hair.

I completely agree with you that the ISBU based housing would be a very good solution to Japanese problems in the northern part of the country.

I’ve consulted into a few Japanese ISBU projects and we have (in the past) and are now having the same problems your local architect has, meeting Japanese Earthquake code using standard boxes.

However, we didn’t go the “Design a new box” route;

We added box steel to the rail/frame assemblies to increase rigidity so that boxes on the ground there could be used as build assets.

Our numbers are demonstrating (on paper) that we’re getting closer to a solution that would be applicable in a seismic zone like “The Ring of Fire… and Japan specifically.”

Several of the “pilot boxes” are in earthquake zones in California, albeit they haven’t been tested by anything close to a 9 (on the Richter scale)…

The primary concerns are that just using thicker steel actually increases the odds of stress fractures in a big shake when you assemble these in a “honeycomb” formation to create the kinds of density required.

I know that it sounds odd, but the computer models so far bear it out.  We NEED the flex that the boxes will provide, to keep them from becoming shrapnel.

Our belief is that by adding box steel between the rail and frame assemblies, you can cost-effectively create housing solutions using local labor and local materials.

(Editor’s note: The idea is to create a cage inside a cage… “like the roll bars on a truck”. Done “right” – it’s an effective and inexpensive “fix”.)

To that end we’re currently building a prototype to mount on a “shaker table” at a University that we’re negotiating with… to test the theory.

I’m currently trying to raise the funds myself to make this possible.

If we’re right (and we think we are), the Japanese could start building housing rapidly, perhaps even using the boxes that the foreign aid arrives in, as a “starter course”...

Our biggest concern isn’t even BUILDING the boxes… it’s the transport, with many of the roads in question being “impassable”.

If you read the blog, you know that our hearts and prayers are with you guys as you weather the storms you’ve been faced with.

Anything that we can do to help… will be done, and it still won’t be enough.

Again, you’re in our prayers…

Alex Klein

***

Okay, anyone else out there got any ideas?

These are serious problems that aren’t going to solve themselves.

Anything that we can do to help is going to make the lives of thousands of families better…

If you can help, PLEASE… do it.

Shaken, Not Stirred…

As Japan reels with the punches;

(It should be noted that this post was actually “ghostwritten by ‘an unaware’  (as in “I didn’t tell him first”) Tony A, one of the guys out there in the ether that I really, really pay attention to. All I did was cannibalize it to give it that “Man, that Ronin is a jerk…” flair I’m so famous for… Tony, I apologize in advance…)

Mother Nature continues to pummel Japan with wave after wave of aftershocks. Some of these, in fact most of them of recent, have been 6.0 or better.

The earthquake was so powerful that it actually moved the main island of Japan 8 feet. 8 feet.

The March 11 2011 Japan quake made the Top Five for earthquakes in recorded history… for the PLANET.

Scientists say that it caused the earth to shift on it’s axis. Several inches. 10, in fact.

This shift will affect the earth’s rotation, directly affecting day/night cycles.

I don’t want to stir up additional controversy and fear, but…

Holy Moley…

The Japanese people are fleeing the areas around the  Nuclear Power Stations like they were being chased by Godzilla.

Japan’s Primary power sources (not giant warehouses filled with sushi-fueled Energizer Bunnies as some may claim) are getting the bejezzus beaten out of them as the coolant systems for the radioactive cores begin to fail catastrophically.

Two-japanese-nuclear-units-still-at-serious-risk

Let’s examine this for a moment.  The motors that actuate and run the cooling pumps are powered by the power grid.

And in times of power failure, like when the entire grid is down.. um… like after an earthquake…  what happens?

Well, the pumps are run from backup diesel generators. “Easy peasy”, as the mechs on Bob The Builder would say…

(I know, I know… but I have a three year old whose DVDs are slowly brainwashing me. I use terms now that are just frankly bizarre!)

But the diesel engines to run the backup generators were taken out by the tsunami.

Ah crap! Now what? Is there a “Plan B from Outer Space?”

Of course there is.

There are backup battery banks put into place that can run the cooling pumps.

But here’s the hitch. They only supply enough power to run those pumps for 8 hours. And, that 8 hours was up a long time ago, when you take things like nuclear fuel rods into perspective. Now what? More batteries?

I’m thinking that those Japanese leaders need to get the Wii and Nintendo people into gear working on suspending the laws of physics until somebody can ride into the rescue… or… they could contact those “Ceramic Coatings” guys… they suspend the laws of physics regularly…

Tony asks:

“Was the Army Corp of Engineers involved in the design and development of the Japanese Nuclear Power backup systems?

I mean…  because it has evidence of their expertise written all over it.”

(Editor’s note: I was asking myself the exact same thing…)

As another guy I listen to regularly (Bob K – NOT to be confused with Bob The Builder) pointed out:

“The weak point of the system as described, which may not be complete or correct, is that if the pumps or the piping fail then the whole system fails, regardless of mains power, diesel power, or batteries. The drawing on the page shows an emergency water supply system, but of course the water mains need to have pressure for that system to work, and they may not right now, and it would at some point not be a closed system because the water would need to be re-circulated away from the plant and back into the environment, quite possibly contaminated.

Bob adds – “Speculation on my part, I am not in that business.“

Bob goes on to say:

“Murphy never sleeps, never rests, merely waits for opportunity. Man complicates, overdesigns, underbuilds, and continually tests limits. Murphy, eventually and always, will have his day.”

I want this embroidered on a pillow. Seriously. Hell, I’ll hang it on the wall. Truer words were never spoken.

And, as Murphy chooses his time and place, we all hold our breath and collectively pray for the Japanese people held hostage by this grim situation.

If you can help… do it. Please.

Ronin

My apologies to both Tony A and Bob K  on “that other list” – for “swiping their pearls” to hang on the neck of humanity. I know you guys and gals hang on my every word… but sometimes it just pays to listen to “the smart guys”.

Image credit: NRC – Nuclear Regulatory Commission Archives

Calling ALL “Corten Cavalry” Members: Japan NEEDS Us. NOW.

Mother Nature is REALLY mad at us…

It’s like she’s lost her mind…

The earthquake in Japan is a devastation, to be sure.

We’ve just begun getting a good handle on how we’re helping Christchurch, NZ and now this…

This morning, amidst the ruin of shattered and fire-ravaged cities… Japanese nuclear powerplants started going into self-destruct mode, a result of damage from the March 11th earthquakes and their aftershocks.

I’m hearing that people fear the cores will start going into “meltdown.”

Luckily, what I’m hearing from friends in Japan is that so far is that the radioactive cores are still intact. Thank the heaven’s…

However, that situation may change. Let us hope and pray that it doesn’t.

Debris swept by a tsunami near Sendai Airport in Japan after a massive 8.9 magnitude quake hit northeast Japan this morning.

Thousands of families are at risk following the massive earthquake and aftershocks, the resulting tsunami that continues to wash ashore causing massive destruction, and now the forced evacuations due to the dangerous conditions at the nuclear power plants damaged by the quakes.

Here at RR we are continuing to closely monitor the situations closely as the potential for additional damage exists. I talked to a friend in Los Angeles this morning and he’s telling me that the surf is “monster” on their beaches. I can only assume that this is a direct result of the tsunami, which will be felt in many countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, including the West Coast of the United States.

Please help as you can.

My biggest concern right now is for kids. Children are always the must vulnerable to these disasters. They really, truly need our help and support.

There are many agencies preparing aid and materials for the Japanese. As we identify them, we’ll let you know how you can contact them DIRECTLY to lend your assistance.

Time has never been as crucial for children in Japan and around the Pacific as it is at this very moment.

Please, again… help as you can.

Ronin

My apologies in advance for the lack of image credits. I have literally hundreds of them coming across my desk and I’ve somehow misplaced the notes. If you took it, tell me and I’ll give you the credit. Thanks!

Moving Metal Monsters…

Moving ISBUs in the New Age;

Oy. I’m getting grief again from the naysayers. Again. Freakin’ AGAIN.

Look, here’s the deal. Dad always said that: “In order to stand out, first you have to stand up.”

So, I say what I think and I back it up with whatever is required.  I am usually going against the grain and I get some lumps, but I leave some… too. Hey, I admit that I’m a “Maverick”. I don’t run with crowds, I don’t just “buy into the party line” and I frequently “confront authority” if I think it’s time someone stood up. I have scars and skeletons, just like everyone else.

I come from a family of “The Fierce”… US Marines.

And, many of you know that I’m “the only Jew in Mississippi”, at least it seems that way sometimes. My lumps have lumps.

But, I don’t get intimidated. I don’t care if you’re from an ISBU Group/Association/Mutual Admiration Society/Club, or you have “lawyers”. If I think you have your head up your (you-know-what), I’m going to say so. So, don’t expect me to kowtow, cave, two-step,  or start waving “corporate flags” just because you start calling me names or attacking my family ancestry, okay?

That said, lately my mail is running about four to one, hate and spewing.

• I’m getting grief because I’m not concentrating the blog solely on ISBUs (referring to the recent earthquake and disaster relief in Christchurch, NZ, for example).
• I’m getting grief from Builders and developers who claim I’m personally killing the economy by advising families to build their own homes.
• I’m getting grief from people who are certain that I’m teaching people to live in big metal ovens, likened to “Mad Max” crematoriums. (The inference to the horrors of Jewish History isn’t lost on me…)

Now, they’re saying that there aren’t any ISBU surpluses because;

“There aren’t any ships in existence capable of plying the brine, carrying “all those excess” ISBUs for anyone to carve up into your idiotic deathtraps.”

And wait, there’s more;

“Since there are so few ships capable of carrying this kind of cargo, there can’t be any extra boxes. Ronin, you are full of crap.”

(quote/unquote)

Gawd, apparently there are a lot of morons in the world and frankly… I’m getting kinda tired of them singling out MY blog.

So, this is an “open letter” to all the naysayers and morons who have been hammering me lately with ridiculous email.

You know who you are…

I’m sorry, I just have to say it;

Some of you naysayers are just stupid. I can forgive ignorance, but it has to hurt to live in a gene pool that shallow. Please, PLEASE… don’t reproduce, huh? The world has enough idiots.

First, Anyone who has ever taken a drive along the coast in any major seaport can see the evidence of what I’m talking about with their own two eyes, if they just take the blinders off.

Second, at any given time, there are literally hundreds of thousands of these containers in transit, being carried like remoras or lampreys across the Seven Seas. It’s a twenty day trip from China to England, for example. And the route gets hammered, virtually non-stop.

Third, there is so much demand that shipyards are pushing the very boundaries of shipping ports, trying to build the largest ships possible to stuff with TVs and MP3 players headed to Walmart and points beyond.

Fourth, consider the one-sided trade balance in the US. We get, but we don’t SEND. So, the boxes (which are cheaper to reproduce than actually retrieve) end up sitting empty for LONG periods of time before they just “go away” to get carved up by “mad scientists” like ME.

Fifth, all you have to do is turn on your cable TV and look at what is being built. They do have TVs in your part of Mayberry, right? It’s the big squarish box that talks to you when you’re spending your pennies buying all those cosmetics (probably designed to camouflage your genetic deficiencies) on the Home Shopping Channel.

Oy. And wait, there’s more;

I know you’re gonna have to really stretch your brain cell (singular) to get your head around this, but…

A new Container Ship is being crafted by Daewoo in South Korea.

At $190 million dollars a copy, this over 400m long vessel will dwarf those that have come before.

This container ship (larger than any ever built before) will carry 18,000 Shipping Containers at a time. 18,000.

Man, my back hurts just thinking about this number.

The next largest ship being used today, the Emma Maersk (and I think that there is only one of them in that configuration as I type this) is capable of carting just over 15,000 containers around the globe.

This NEW “Triple E class” vessel will be the largest vessel ever built ANYWHERE, I’m told.

(Anybody know how large the largest US Naval Aircraft Carrier is?)

We’re talking about a ship so large that you could build a hockey stadium, a football stadium, and a basketball stadium into it and still have room left over… to haul TV Sets.

You could build a small city inside it. EASY.

“Mad Max meets the Med”… I can’t wait!

Where was I? Oh yeah…

The NEW ship is BEING BUILT as part of a 10 ship order, with 20 more vessels optioned on the back end.

And, they’ve learned a few things since building their last “Corten Collosus“.

The new vessel will be extremely energy efficient and I’m hearing numbers like “a 20% reduction in operation requirements and fuel”. More boxes, less fuel. That’s all good, right?

And for all you “Carbon Junkies”, check this out:

The first ten ships are being built “for sure” according to sources I have and they’ll be plying the high seas by 2013. I’m told that they’ll finish the first run of ten vessels in 2015.

(It’s hard for me to even imagine the scope of a shipyard capable of building that many “monumental” vessels in such a short time. I have to hand it to the Koreans!)

The guys I spoke to are telling me that the “optioned” vessels are already “being carefully considered” and will probably begin construction in 2015.

This means that if all these Corten Carriers get built and deployed, at any given time they’ll house over 4,000 miles of containers, placed end to end. We’re talking like 540,000 Shipping Containers.

Remember that the radius of the Earth is 4000 miles.

Again… placed end to end, we’re talking about a train carrying ISBUs that would stretch from Dallas, TX to Alaska, or Detroit, MI to Paris, FR.  You could do a “Corten Clad” Great Wall of China and still have ISBUs left over.

And that’s just THIS fleet. Combine that with the massive number of vessels that are still operational and you have enough containers moving to keep us in Corten to cut up for generations, despite what “those trying to ride the green wave” will tell you.

I’ll have “Corten Pumpkins” to carve until I drop dead!

And when these monster ships are “ready for scrap” they’ll yield enough metal resources to create almost 200,000 Harley Davidson Motorcycles!

This is the stuff that dreams are made of!

Thank You, Daewoo!

(Didn’t mean for that to rhyme, but what the hey… I’ll take it!) 

Just so you know: I’m gonna start posting some of the really stupid, hate-filled email I’m getting. I’m going to include “the works”. You know, your email addy, your IP address, etc.

I want to make sure that MY people know who you are. Heaven forbid one of them should accidentally reproduce with you. It’d drag their family trees back into the primordial ooze.

You know who you are, and you’ve been warned.

A SMALL Act can accomplish BIG Goals… ;)

Hi Campers!

Okay, don’t get me wrong. I love selling my book!

The proceeds from the book ARE indeed helping families build ISBU homes all over America!

But even more than that, I love that it’s opening doors for discussions, dialogs, projects and promise. It’s not just inspiring families, it’s inspiring kids, too! Follow along and you’ll see what I mean.

Case in point;

Recently, I noticed that I had a “double purchase” by a book buyer. Now, that’s a good thing. But… they were within several breaths of each other.

Now, I have a Vista driven PC that gives me fits constantly. So fearing the worst, I fired off a quick email to the book purchaser, trying to get to the bottom of the suspected problem:

***

Hi William,

I’m going thru the day’s reports, and I see that you purchased my book; “Introduction to Container Homes and Buildings“.

First, thank you. I hope you enjoy it.

However,  I see that you purchased TWO copies on-line through E-Junkie – about 9 minutes apart?

On March 1, you purchased the first copy at 7:44PM

Then, you purchased an additional copy on the same day, at 7:53PM

Was this your intention or did you somehow get billed twice?

I want people to be happy with the book… not overcharged for it, for whatever reason.

Please let me know if this was a mistake, so I can refund your purchase price.

And again, I hope that you enjoy the book. It is my sincere hope that it helps families prepare for any trials we may face.

My Best Wishes,

Alex Klein

***

Shortly thereafter, William replied:

***

Hello Alex

Thank you for your attentiveness to your business operations and for your honesty.

Your assumption that the two closely timed purchases of your book may not have been intentional was correct.  It was not my intention to purchase the text twice.

When I placed the initial order, Pay Pal indicated that everything was fine and that the purchase had gone through.  The very next Pay Pal screen stated that the transaction had not been completed and that I should close out and go back and place the order again.  I did that the second time and had the same results.  I was frustrated because I had told my students at school that I would obtain an ebook on container home construction.  I found shortly thereafter that the book was now available to download, which I did.  I was pleased because my students now had materials with which to work in preparing drawings for the design of a container home which we were ultimately hoping to fabricate at our high school (Timken Senior High School in Canton, Ohio) and have this home sent to Haiti.

There are many things which we do not know about, regarding the implementation of such a project.  We don’t know who we would be best to provide with such a structure, how it would interface with the infrastructure in Haiti, if such an infrastructure exists (in all or in part), what steps we would have to take diplomatically, and etc.

If you have any suggestions or leads for us to pursue in attempting to execute this process, we would be pleased to try to follow up on them.

Thank you again for your honesty and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Bill S****
Project Lead The Way pre-engineering teacher
Timken Senior High School
[personal info deleted by editor]

***

The book isn’t just helping families begin the path to building a home with ISBUs. It’s actually helping teachers “REACH and TEACH”. Not only that;

This teacher actually has the audacity to urge his students to commit “acts of charity and kindness”.

What? Somebody better put a stop to this!;)

THAT is exactly what I’d hoped for, from this book. I could not be MORE pleased.

So, being a glutton for both punishment and praise (imagine that!) I fired another salvo across Bill’s bow.

Why? Because here’s where it get’s good.

***

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the response and your kind words.

More importantly, thank you for assisting to instill in our youth that there is a larger picture, that there are those in need who can be helped in times of crisis, if you just dedicate a portion of yourself to it.

If “the few” dedicate a little effort to bringing aid to those in need…  it quickly adds up to a LOT.

It is the underlying message of the blogs and books that I write. At least, I hope that it is, my writing abilities (or lack thereof) taken into consideration…

What’s your timeline for the construction of this project?

How large a home are you thinking of constructing? (1) ISBU? (2) combined to form a larger space?

There are considerations and frankly, some are formidable. For instance, ALL modifications to the exterior Corten Paneling must be done on the ground, in Haiti. No shipper will move your box once you’ve cut holes in it for doors and windows without considerable cost and “due process”.

The insurers of cargo won’t cover a modified container without a lot of hassle. That really makes any off-shore effort fruitless, as by the time you’ve covered all your bases, you could have done something different on the ground in Haiti, more cost-effectively.

Even the large aid organizations and foundations have run headfirst into this wall. I know, as I’m on most of their speed-dials apparently.

There are work-arounds, but they’re diplomatic and time intensive.

That said, I’ll assist you in any way that I can.

Let me ask you… is the Haiti project “tied” to Haiti? Or is it simply an exercise in providing aid in a charitable manner?

The reason that I ask is that there are many impoverished families here in the US (i.e. families living in the Appalachians, Native American Indian reservations, etc…) that are far more easily reachable… and the project stays close enough to provide continued inspiration and reward.

I’m currently working on a project to use ISBUs in combination with earthbags to build a series of homes for Cherokee Indian Families in the “Great Smokies”…

[Editor's note: This project will parallel an ISBU schoolhouse being constructed on the same property. I'm also involved in a multi-family settlement in Colorado that will be constructed along the same ISBU/Earthbags lines.]

One ISBU runs down the center of the project, containing Kitchen, Bathroom, Laundry room, Mech rm, et all – and then earthbags are used to construct “wings” on either side, tripling the size of the structure. It’s really quite simple and utilizes building practices readily mastered by almost anyone.

More importantly, it’s FAST. You can “assemble” a home in a week, once the ISBU is prepared…

Or you could even build a unit for a Mexican family in a border town. Any of these options would also allow for a trip to the site to set and then “open” the home for the new family.

Trust me when I tell you that seeing the reaction of the family receiving the home is something that you never ever forget. It will change the way you think and the things you do, for years to come.

Anything that I can do to help you foster this is at your disposal.

I’ve refunded your entire purchase price for both books. Consider it a “thank you” for the work you’re doing helping our youth build bridges…

We need more teachers like you.

Thank you for sharing this with me. It’s appreciated.

Best Wishes,

Alex Klein

**

And then… I realized that killing the transaction probably killed the download link to it as well, so I was forced to reveal myself as being “in error…”

And we all know how I HATE having to do that!

So, another email followed;

**

Man,

Sometimes I can be a real idiot! Maybe I should do all this paperwork in the daylight…

Bill, I replied…  to your reply (e-i-e-i-o )…  and refunded your entire purchase price, but I neglected to ask it you’d actually successfully downloaded the book! Oy.

Having no clue as to whether or not the refund will lock the download path (it’s never come up before), I’m sending you a copy of the book now, to insure that you have it.

Sorry for being disorganized. In my defense… I have no defense…

I could blame it on my three year old, but I’d be fibbing…

Here you go.

Enjoy. And again, thanks for sharing your project with me.

***

I figured that’d tie it all up… but no… Bill’s prolific.

***

Hello again Alex

Thank you for your responses.  You were also more than kind in providing the refunds.

[Editor's note: "Por Nada..." Look, people who know us and people who read the blog know that we don't have a lot, but we always have enough to share... especially in instances like this.]

I really appreciate your insight into the difficulties of shipping a modified container to Haiti.  I also was pleased to hear your suggestions to consider some alternative possibilities such as providing a container to an Indian reservation (I know of some missionary work on reservations, etc).  We will look further into some of those possibilities.

In the next week or so, I will try to send some .jpeg files from student work on container home work that they have done.  They will be .jpeg files as I would imagine that sending CAD files to you would be of little good as they were done primarily in AutoDesk Revit software.

Again thank you for your help and great information.

Sincerely,

Bill S****

***

Okay, here’s the deal. This proves that helping others is simply a state of mind and heart.

Anyone can reach out and help their neighbor, if they really want to.

And “crisis and hardship” are everywhere. I mean, if you’re following the blog, you know that beyond helping families and others build, we’re up to our necks helping families in New Zealand after the recent Christchurch Earthquake.

If schoolkids can do it…  if WE can do it, so can you.

I want to publicly thank  Bill for his service to his students. Each step taken to help “even one” paves that road just a little bit more for “others who need help”. Someday, that road will stretch farther than an eye can see…

And, Bill’s promised to keep us informed as to his progress, so I’m sure that posts will follow!

This might just be a great project to nurture…

So, Bill is the Ronin’s Hero of the week…

Bill, you have my thanks and my admiration.

Stay tuned.

Of Castles and Cabins – Made of Corten…

People ask me why anyone would spend the amount of time I do, helping other families build homes out of cast-off metal boxes.

And sometimes, I wonder the same thing…

But it’s email like this that brightens my day and reminds me that if we all work together to make our families “better”, if we all take more self-responsibility by exhibiting more self-reliance… the world gets better as a by-product.

Every family deserves a roof over their head.

I don’t care if you’re in Bangkok or Bakersfield, our children need a safe place to grow up, strong and ready to take on whatever world we leave them with…

It doesn’t have to be a “Corten Castle”. It can be something as simple (and even elegant) as a “Corten Cabin”.

I could look at Paul Stankey's "Corten Cabin" all day!

But be it Castle or Cabin, built out of strong Corten Steel, it’ll do everything it can to kick Mother Nature’s butt, when she goes on a tirade.

And, while I’m still breathing, I’m going to do everything I can to help families achieve that.

John F. says:

I read your book today and found the whole thing really inspiring. I’m just hoping I’m not a complete chicken, and can use that information some day…

6:07 PM Mar 1, 2011

Hi John,

Thanks for the kind words.

You CAN do it. You just need to keep it manageable and take small steps.

These are really just metal modules that you “pre-build” and then assemble later.

The beauty of ISBUs is that you can start small and then continue to add on over time (making sure first that your design allows it).

Pick a project that isn’t going to drive you in over your head (like maybe a small backyard studio or guest house that can be integrated later into  a larger structure) and you can actually teach yourself the skills required – inexpensively and at your own pace.

You CAN do it. It’s your desire and dedication that will define you!

Best Wishes!

To all of you.