The Summer 2012 Building Season

By the end of last summer's building season, we had the walls braced, the roof beams in place, and the metal roof attached.  The plan for this summer is to add the straw walls, the windows and doors, and the rammed earth floor.  Fortunately, we purchased and stored the straw at the end of last summer, so there is no need to wait for the growing season to be over before wall construction can begin.  We give thanks to St. John's Episcopal Church in McLean, Virginia for a recent contribution to the project and hope that others parishes and individuals will be able to contribute as well.

Construction Update

The post and beam walls for the coffee house are now framed.  The next step will be the roof construction.  Roof trusses have been ordered from a local lumber company and are scheduled to be delivered during the week of September 16.

The project is already attracting interest.  A presentation about the rubble trench foundations has been made to engineering students at a local college.  The students hope to schedule a visit to the site in the near future.

Generous Supporters

The Stronghold Project is made possible by the generous contributions of individuals and organizations.  One of the organization that has recently offered support is the Native American Ministry Team of the Diocese of Virginia.  The Virginia ministry team supports projects both with Native Americans located in Virginia and with Native Americans elesewhere.  The picture above shows members of the team on a visit to the Pamunkey Reservation in Virginia.   Episcopalians from Virginia also have a long history of involvement with the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in South Dakota.

The contribution from the Diocese of Virginia will be used to defer in part the costs for the straw bales that will be used in the construction of the coffee house.

Bob Prichard

"Affordable" materials can have unintended consequences

Here’s an explanation on why I recommended wood or fiberglass windows rather than vinyl for Stronghold: 

As much as possible, Stronghold will use materials

that fit the Cradle to Cradle® model of sustainability.

Material selection represents one of the biggest challenges for safe, affordable housing.   Products and therefore buildings designed for the lowest possible price have to make compromises in quality—from physical performance to “offgassing” (that affects indoor air quality) to life cycle concerns.   These tradeoffs often press against the limits of building codes and environmental compliance, with success being unintentionally defined as the worst environmental solution possible without breaking the law.  To make matters more confusing, almost all products seem to come with “green” claims (see greenwashing link below).   Mainstream society’s approach to affordable housing can even create unintended environmental injustice, where economic necessity creates increased environmental risk through exposure to more toxic materials.

At Stronghold’s Borderlands workshop in the summer of 2010, straw bale construction emerged as a solution that would provide the greatest long term benefit to Pine Ridge.  This conclusion was based in part on the economics of straw bale—that more economic benefits would remain on the reservation compared to a more industrial prefabricated house with 100% “imported” materials- especially as more houses are built.  Jobs and industry and knowledge would remain local.   

Another part of the workshop explored Lakota cultural values, from the meaning of “dwelling” to the spiritual interconnectedness of ALL things.  It is this idea that points away from vinyl and toward materials that can return safely to nature as part of a healthy human and environmental metabolism.  Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has a problematic life cycle in terms of human and environmental health, from its manufacturing chemicals to release of toxins in combustion.  Material selection for health has as much to do with the health of others affected during the manufacture or disposal as it does with health during the life of the building.   

Advanced material technology presents bigger challenges since much of it cannot return to nature without creating waste and health problems.   Not all materials in Stronghold can be held to the green standards of reused wood and local straw and mud plaster, but the project team will make thoughtful decisions.  Most products need to be designed to a new level of true recycling so that a the end of their use they can be taken apart and returned to either nature or industry—what McDonough and Braungart call “Cradle to Cradle” in their influential book (see link below).  Such an approach to materials (which has been a large part of my professional career) seems very much in keeping with the Lakota ethic.

For more information on PVC and health:  http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/facts.html

Cradle to Cradle® is a registered trademark of MBDC.   For more information follow this link:  http://www.mbdc.com/detail.aspx?linkid=1&sublink=27

An interesting read on “greenwashing,” an unintended consequence of the green revolution where manufacturers marketing has become misleading.    http://www.buildinggreen.com/live/index.cfm/2011/6/23/The-Nine-Types-of-Greenwashing

This link is really inspiring.  It’s an internet-based design brainstorm seeking ways for social business to help low income communities.  Check out the winning ideas:

http://www.openideo.com/open/how-might-we-improve-health-care-through-social-business-in-low-income-communities/winning-concepts/

- Mark Rylander

One aspect of our project is the use of local builders. Those who hope to help with construction on Native American reservations often bring crews of skilled labor from off the reservation. The approach can be an efficient one, but it does mean that local residents do not themselves gain experience with directing projects on their own. They may assist with low-skill tasks, but the supervision and skilled labor iare done by others. When the work crews depart, they take their expertise with them.

For the Stronghold Project, we are relying on local skilled labor. Thanks to a generous grant from the Evangelical Education Society, we are able to employ an instructor in the Applied Science program at Oglala Lakota College as a superviser and hire some recent graduates of that program as carpenters.

Bob Prichard

The Coffee/Gift Shop

We left the August 2010 conference convinced that what we wanted to do was to build some type of model structure that made use of sustainable forms of construction. We were, however, not initially sure what that structure might be. We talked over a variety of possibilities in monthly conference calls--a straw bale wrap around an existing trailer, a straw bale improvement to an existing church building, a shed that could be used to house tools and supplies for a small garden, a small model house, etc--before deciding on a plan that would dovetail with a local micro-finance idea.

Members of the Two Bulls family, who are active at Christ Church, Red Shirt Table, were hoping to build a small structure that could be used to sell coffee and handmade goods to tourists who pass along Route 40 (BIA highway 41).

We agreed to pool our efforts, planning for a staw bale structure that could be used as a cofffee and gift shop.

Bob Prichard

Digging the foundation

On Saturday, July 16 Mike (far right) and Rick Two Bulls (show above with Church of England priest Stephen Hoyle) met at the project site with Lenny Lone Hill of the applied science department of Oglala Lakota College to talk about digging the foundation.   The plan is to dig a 42" trench and to fill the lower portion with local stone, while the upper portion will be of concrete. The technique is designed to limit expense and to limit the size of the carbon footprint of the construction project.

Bob Prichard