Newsletter 6 / English version
March 2015
IFRC-SRU
Testing cold climate shelters
UPCOMING EVENT SRU team in the cold climate shelter
In January / February The SRU team spent three weeks in temperatures between -15°C and -30°C down to a perceived -40°C (with a wind chill factor of -44°C) to field test the cold-climate tents developed in the course of the year within different projects. The development of the extreme cold climate shelter for Mongolia as well as the field testing were funded by British Red Cross in support of the Mongolian Red Cross Society’s (MRCS) contingency planning in case of an earthquake striking the capital Ulaan Baatar. The field tests were facilitated by MRCS and the Mongolian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). A total number of ten tents were included in the tests which were set-up:
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The standard family tent
● The improved dome tent with winter kit, (a family tent under development by a consortium of UNHCR/IFRC/ICRC to become the new standard)
A winter-tent solutions donated by a Canadian supplier
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● Five variations of the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) winter tent, experimenting with different layers of innovative insulating materials ● The final prototype of the TRC winter tent developed by SRU ● The prototype of the winter tent developed by SRU for the cold climate context in Mongolia.
While the standard family tent was included in the tests to
establish the baseline for the minimum performance, the Canadian tent from one of the market leaders in cold climate shelters, was meant to serve as reference for high-level performance of winterized shelters. According to our knowledge such comparative testing of different tent or shelter models has not been done before by any other organization. Based on our preliminary re search on human comfort parameters including recommen dations of the World Health Organisation and other sources, we established 15°C as the minimum temperature to provide thermal comfort. The test-methodology was set up to collect quantitative as well as qualitative data in order
Conference on ‚Winterization’ Luxembourg, 20–21 May 2015 IThe IFRC-SRU will host its fourth annual conference in Luxembourg on May 20 and 21, 2015. Answering to the demand from the field and the interest confirmed in the topic during last years conference, the focus of the conference will be on “Winterization”. IFRC-SRU will present its research on insulation materials and the results of the testing of 10 tent models in Ulaan Bataar in January/February 2015. Contributions from Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies and other humanitarian actors as well as from researchers on aspects of humanitarian shelter interventions in cold climates are still welcome. Please feel free to contact us with your proposals. As the venue has limited places, please make sure you register for the conference here: www. shelter-database.org. ■
Overview test-site
burning stoves the CO2 and CO levels, as well as ventilation rate were recorded.
to evaluate the performance of the tents within three categories of criteria: Logistical, Technical, Human comfort. For the logistics part the measurable criteria like weight, volume and unit price were recorded for each of the models. Of equally high importance however are the more qualitative criteria of how to transport and handle the package and how fast the shelters can be setup by unskilled volunteers with only the tools provided within the shelter package. These indicators were recorded through observations, questionnaires with the volunteers involved, as well recording the set-up time for each model. To record the technical performance a variety of different measurements were taken under different circumstances. For the thermal performance, the air temperature and humidity was recorded over several 12h periods in differ-
ent locations in each tent. The first test run was done with electrical heaters and the further ones with the commonly used coal stoves all fired with the same amount of coal (preweighed portions) at the same intervals of time. Furthermore surface temperature and humidity of the different materials were recorded at different times of the day to give insight on condensation as well as the transmissivity of the materials. To assure appropriate airquality inside the tents with
The temperature tests with burning stoves were run in all tents to establish which tents could assure a minimum temperature of 15°C throughout a night time heating period. As the second round of test was done with volunteers sleeping in the tents over night, the first round served to exclude tents that would not provide a minimum of thermal comfort. Only three tents made it over 0°C and only the two SRU designs actually kept a temperature of 15°C and even higher. These were tested by NEMA volunteers who slept in the tents and recorded their feedback on a whole set of comfort and usability parameters. Finally additional test were run to investigate interior illumination as well as noise levels. Parameters that are not criti-
cal for survival but quite elementary for overall comfort and frequently flagged in beneficiary feedback collected throughout previous tests. Altogether 18 different tests were conducted and over 300,000 measurements recorded largely by automatic data loggers and the weather station that was et up on the site to provide the reference temperature and humidity data.
First conclusions: The first observations and analysis of the tests clearly point at the importance of considering the different cladding element with regard to their main function. That means prioritizing different features like insulating factor, airtightness, reflectivity for the different materials used for the floor, walls and roof. Furthermore, special attention needs to be dedicated to all openings as well as seams and closing systems like zippers. Finally, the position of the stove within the shelter is critical.
Briefing the NEMA volunteers
Test set-up for the test with volunteers
IFRC-SRU will be presenting the test methodology and the results in more detail at the annual conference on “Winterization”, May 20–21 in Luxemburg. ■
UPDATE: Technical Shelter Workshop Bangladesh In 2011, The IFRC SRU conducted a first documentation of shelter-practices in Bangladesh, mainly in the flood and cyclone prone plains in the south of the country. The research, mostly technically oriented revealed some critical opportunities to improve sheltering, such as widely introducing the practice of cross-bracing, or adapting sheltering better to local construction practices. In 2014, the IFRC SRU had the opportunity, to expand this research to more remote regions of Bangladesh. Supported by Local shelter response to a hazardous site in the Rangamati area
“Friendship”, a well established Bangladeshi NGO, based in Dakar the regions of Sylhet, Rangamati, Cox’s Bazar and Gaibandha were studied. Seven days of fieldwork allowed to deepen the research, and identify specific vulnerabilities such as areas prone to landslides or the char land (islands). This fieldwork was followed by a four day national workshop with a large representation of technically oriented members of the shelter sector including representatives from the Department of Disaster Management
Workshop Designing Sheltering Systems IFRC representative demonstrating the shelter kit to the workshop participants
and the Housing & Building Research Institute, from six local NGO’s, eight INGO’s, the IFRC as Shelter Cluster lead during Emergencies and UNDP as Shelter Cluster lead outside of Emergencies. The participants came from eleven different regions of Bangladesh. The Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Luxembourg Red Cross provided funding for both the fieldwork and the workshop. The objective of the workshop was, together with the primary shelter actors in the country and with the support of the
The workshop also explored the use of traditional versus modern industrial materials
Government, to expand and consolidate technical shelter knowledge in Bangladesh, towards the development of national shelter strategies. A group field visit and a know ledge bazaar were organized for the workshop in addition to the presentations, working sessions and plenary discussions. Key-messages on topics such as emergency and recovery sheltering, site organization, structures, cladding and technical capacity building were formulated and strategic preferences agreed upon. (for full report see IFRC-SRU.org).
Opening speach by Runa Khan, CEO of Friendship Bangladesh
One of the main outcomes of the workshop is that further and more systematic consolidation of shelter knowledge would present a great leap forward in improving sheltering responses in Bangladesh. The workshop was concluded with recommendations as to the way forward in terms of developing national shelter strategies, on the basis of the conclusions already obtained in this workshop. Bangladesh Government is following up on the recommendations by prospecting to hold another National Consultation in April 2015. ■
Bangladesh Technical Shelter Wokshop Participants
TEAL – Sheltering Course 2015 (Temporary Architecture, textile technology, Lightweight construction) As experts in humanitarian shelter solutions the SRU were invited to participate in the event organised by the Technical University of Milan. The main goal of the course was to stimulate students to apply a “lightweight thinking” both in the design and in the construction phases; this means to not use an obtrusive approach on the built environment -focusing on temporary buildings instead of permanent ones - and the landscape in general - focusing on the use of minimal mass and construction materials- to be used in the most resourceful way. Different themes were approached though a set of lectures that dealt with sheltering design adopting a multidisciplinary approach. The University of Milan is considering to have PHD students collaborate with SRU on the development of emergency shelter solutions. ■
Breaking News: Shelter database online! After a long and somewhat bumpy road the first version of the Shelter Database is finally online! It is still a work in progress but already gives a good idea of what it will become and the incredible value this tool will have for all of us who work in sheltering, be it immediately after disaster, during reconstruction or even for long-term impact evaluations.
Now we need your help and feedback to take the next steps. Please follow this link and have a look at the database to the test-server: http://www.shelter-database.org Here you will be able to consult the Shelters already documented in Haiti. To enter your own shelter, you can create your user account and login, and you will have access to the online entry format. The
key data needed to enter a new shelter are the GPS coordinates and the name. You can try it out, save your test shelter and modify it later, upload photos and documentation and fill in as much information you are ready to share into the provided format. The Shelter will only be published online after you confirm the submission and we activate it to be published. After publishing you will still be able to
modify your entries. Feel free to test and try! Your feedback on any aspects of the database; be it the documentation method, user friendliness of the interface, search criteria etc. is most welcome! Please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think! ■
TESTING IN PROGRESS the new standard family tent
retardant cladding for higher safety and also explore insulation options for winterisation options. In 2013 comparative testing of three different prototypes was undertaken by the consortium in three different locations (see IFRC-SRU Newsletter 3). Based on the findings a new prototype has been developed.
Project Update
RECAP The main objective of S (P)EEDKITS is to develop kits of different size and complexity for a number of humanitarian applications, shelter, water and sanitation, communication and medical infrastructure as well as d ebris recycling and software tools to support warehousing and rapid deployment. S(P)EEDKITS targets a smart (re-)design of existing/novel kits via smart packaging and introduction of the latest technological developments from a wide range of domains. Within the S(P)EEDKITS project SRU is in charge of the shelter development component of the project. The solutions are to be optimized for rapid deployment while at the same time providing “seeds” for the long term self-recovery process after a disaster. SRU is overseeing the design, development and testing of four types of shelters that correspond to different uses from family to community scale. Flexible to be combined in various ways the proposed types should serve to cover the all shelter needs during emergency operations. WORK IN PROGRESS: The first phase of the development of these shelter-types,
has been dedicated mainly on the cladding materials. Various materials were tested to compare their performances regarding the relevant criteria (weight, cost, strength, durability, water-proofness, thermal properties). New materials like thermo-regulating fabrics were also explored. Some of the main results were presented at the cladding and fixing conference in September 2014 (http://ifrcsru.org/conference-presentations/ cladding-and-fixing-conference/)
Final field testing to confirm the performance as well as beneficiary satisfaction will be undertaken by IFRC-SRU according to the established methodology and beneficiary satisfaction survey questionnaires. The testing in hot climate is taking place in Burkina Faso
during March, April and May while the cold climate testing is planned for end of the year in Pakistan. The field testing will conclude this joint R&D project and the specifications for the final model of the new standard family tent are expected to be ready for entry in the Emergency Items catalogue by the beginning of 2016. ■
The following types of shelters are under development:
Clever roof: an ultra-light weight unit to provide first protection against rain and sun, for families but also for aid-workers e.g. during distributions etc. SmartTARP: based on a 3D textile structure that can provide a versatile material for the affected populations to use in combination with other materials or shelter components to set up an simple shelter as well as to repair or (re-) build) their homes. Multipurpose unit:
Based on these findings we are developing a “membrane selection tool” to support decision makers to better understand the implication of their choice. Currently the focus is on the optimization of the structural elements for the different shelter types as well as their inter-connectivity. For the clever roof and the smart tarp the structural elements needed for stabilisation are being optimized. For the multipurpose unit a structure without guy-ropes is envisaged. The mobile modular unit’s the performance facing harsh context with wind and snow loads has been examined through a series of lab-scale tests and is already drastically improved. A new prototype scale 1/1 has been built and is ready for testing in a field location to obtain the end users feedback and finalize the development. ■
designed to be used for example as a small medical unit, a dispensary an office, an orphanage, and for any other activities generally requiring more space than the family unit.
Mobile modular unit: the idea is to create a medium size warehouse unit of 120sqm to provide covered space for multiple humanitarian uses at a lower cost/ sqm than the commonly used 250sqm warehouse-tents. As per need, the light structure can be reinforced to withstand snow loads.
Contact ifrc-sru@croix-rouge.lu IFRC - SRU Cité Henri Dunant 10, L-8095 Bertrange Tél. 27 55 - 89 02 Supported by the Red Cross Societies of the BENELUX
Layout: www.titrobonbon.de
During 2011 a consortium of IFRC/ ICRC and UNHCR launched a Research and Development (R&D) project with the goal to develop a new standards family tent model with improved performance regarding weight, stability, usability, comfort and safety. The aim is to propose a light weight self-supporting structure, to reduce logistics cost, provide fire-