And Then There Were Walls

May 18 – May 22

View at Picasa 20-May-2009 14:12, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 8.0, 4.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 64

What a busy week!  Having the concrete portion of the foundation done really opened the door to a lot more action on site.  The first big project was getting started on the roof trusses.  The roof will be almost completely constructed on the ground prior to it being craned into place, so it was important to have a nice strong, level platform to build it on.  This in itself was quite a task but once complete, the trusses were erected at a furious pace all week.  Almost all are in place and braced now, but there is still a lot to do in terms of sheathing, strapping and installing the metal finish.  Oh and we can’t forget the living roof portion either.  There is a low pitched section of roof over the north end of the building that will house native plants, and effectively help the building in the heating and cooling department.  It’s something that many of us are very interested in and excited to get moving on. 

View at Picasa 22-May-2009 13:06, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 6.3, 4.7mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 64

 On Wednesday David Elfstrom paid us a visit to talk about the mechanical systems of our project and buildings in general.  He is an alumnus of the course, and has parlayed thats experience along with his engineering background into a business focused on lowering fossil fuel use through a systems ecology approach to a building.  I think I speak for the entire class when I say that it is important to have successful alumni like David to inspire us to aim high.  He definitely opened our eyes to some new and exciting methods and technologies in his presentation which ended just in time for us to head over to site and see the erection of our prefabricated straw bale walls.

View at Picasa 20-May-2009 13:55, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 6.3, 5.8mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 64

The truck arrived with the first four panels that were lovingly constructed in the shop last week.  One by one, they were hoisted and lowered into place by one very skilled boom operator and a bit of brute strength on our part.  After a panel was set, the form was removed and a stick framed wall section containing a window or door opening was set in place and secured to the foundation and straw bale wall.  Braces had to be secured as well to ensure that the extremely heavy walls stayed upright.  Everything happened pretty fast and many hands were required to keep things moving.  It was a great success as the panels all fit well and turned out beautifully.  The forms were sent back down to the shop to begin round 2.

The crame lifts the walls on to the foundation. MVG View at Picasa The crame lifts the walls on to the foundation. MVG20-May-2009 14:50, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 7.1, 11.9mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 64

The four panels were all installed on the east foundation, so there was more fun in the shop on Thursday and Friday trying to get the four wall sections for the other side done so they could cure over the weekend and be delivered next week.  Since the forms were already made, they just had to be washed and put back together again.  Then the 2×6′s that are used to link the straw bale sections to the framed sections were added and meshed along with the top and bottom plates to ensure that the plaster forms a secure bond with the wood portions.  The bales were fit to the forms which includes trimming and adding more straw in places where necessary.  The bottom layer of plaster was poured, the bales were buttered  and laid into place, and the top plaster layer was added, vibrated smoothed and textured.  That makes a rather long and arduous process seem pretty simple.  It was a lot of work and here’s to hoping these four turn out as well as the first ones.

View at Picasa 15-May-2009 17:30, NIKON COOLPIX L11, 2.8, 6.2mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100

The last big task for the foundation crew was also started as earth bags for the rounded south wall and the two interior walls that will help support the living roof were started.  For those unfamiliar with earth bags, they are grain sacs filled with slightly damp earth and tamped to ensure structural stability.  They can be used in a brick formation or in long sausage like courses.  We have opted for the second and it is amazing how straight and square you can get a seemingly rounded bag if you want it, and how they still can lend themselves to circular applications such as our rounded wall as well.  Between levels or courses, barbed wire is inserted to minimize shearing and shifting of the layers. 

View at Picasa 21-May-2009 14:08, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 7.1, 4.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 64

There were also some other visits to the site this week.  Our electrician was around getting things for our permanent power hook up ready to go.  As well, there was a big cheque handover to take care of on Wednesday so our friends from Camp Kawartha, CHEX and Peterborough Distribution were on hand.  We received a grant of over $27,000 to fund our renewable energy systems and couldn’t be more pleased about it.  It is so great to see such a large sum of money going towards a worthy cause and hopefully the exposure and education provided in the future at the centre will lead to many more donations! 

View at Picasa 21-May-2009 13:03, NIKON COOLPIX P80 , 6.3, 13.4mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 64