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Houses Made of Paper for People

New Design For Homebuilders to Renovate Slums or Disaster Housing

Jan 15, 2009 Martha R. Gore

A newly designed paper pre-fabricated house being developed for slums in the world's shanty-towns or disaster areas can be cheap, sturdy and livable.

The idea of houses built out of paper was discussed in the year 2000 and not much was heard about them until recently when Gerd Niemoller, co-founder of a Swiss company, The Wall AG, has patented material that can produce a 387.5 square foot structure for about $5000.

The Past Research for a Paper House

Eight years ago, Gordon and Laura Solberg ) wrote a long article about innovative homebuilders erecting homes out of papercrete, essentially industrial-strength material and made of recycled paper or cardboard, sand and Portland cement.

Papercrete has been independently rediscovered a number of times since the 1980's by James Moon of Tucson, Ariz., Eric Patterson of Silver City, New Mexico, and Mike McCain of Crestone, Colorado. Actually, it was patented back in 1928 but the patent expired unused. In 1999, Andy Hopkins build a 512-square foot house in Crestone and Virginia Nabity erected an 800-square foot addition to a straw bale house in Cortez, Colorado. (Mother Earth News, April/May 2000)

New Paper House Designs

A newly designed paper pre-fabricated house could change the face of shanty towns and disaster effected areas. It can built quickly, is made of paper, making almost instant housing. Gerd Niemoller, of the Swiss company, Wall AG has developed the cellulose material the houses are made of. He has named it the "Universal World House" which can be produced in the countries where they are needed. The sticker price for the 387.5 structure would be about $5000 each. (Spiegel, 1/13/2009)

The material used in the construction of the houses mimics the honeycomb pattern used in the manufacture of airplanes and other products for which both weight and strength are important factors. Instead of using aluminum and other alloys, Niemoller used resin-soaked paper processed to form thin, light, yet strong, panels. The material is an excellent insulator and is flexible which makes it appropriate in areas at risk in earthquakes. The company would deliver the machines to manufacture the panels along with the raw materials and the building could be done by the local population.

The concept of the paper houses will soon be tested in Zimbabwe where they will be built in conjunction with the German aid organization World Vision and in Nigeria, 2,400 houses will soon be constructed. The hope is that this can be the answer to to the miserable living conditions for those living in slums the world over or those whose housing has been destroyed during a natural disaster.

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The copyright of the article Houses Made of Paper for People in Green/Simple Living is owned by Martha R. Gore. Permission to republish Houses Made of Paper for People in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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