Building of a sustainable ecological village in the Amazon - Related projects and activities

Abstract

The location and implementation of a Green Materials and Processes Program centered in environmental themes-, at Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), has gained momentum with the "First Amazonian Meeting of Green Materials and Processes", held on August 18-20, 2008, in Manaus, Amazonas, at Universidade Federal do Amazonas. This motivation was mainly the result of a project of a multi-family house village-, utilizing green building processes and comprising rain water utilization and ecological sewage treatment. Besides traditional construction materials (cement, sand, clay, wood, and ceramic tiles), bamboo based wall panels were used. Wall panel structures were prefabricated with a wood frame, whole bamboo culms placed as studs and bamboo strips on the outside. Wood and treated bamboo elements were dried in a solar drying kiln. Concrete blocks were used for foundation placing the wall panel at 20 cm above ground level. Plastic sewage pipes were installed below ground. After wall framing and bracing, roof framing took place using wood elements covered by clay tiles. Water and electrical pipes and fixtures were installed in the wall framing of the building according to plans. Earth of high clay content from the construction site was mixed with bamboo chips, and filled into the wall gaps. This bamboo-clay mixture produced a lighter and more stable filling than regular clay soil abundant in the region. After drying, usual plaster was applied to protect the wall. An industrial residue (hydrated lime of carburet) was used to paint the walls. This prototype ecological village comprised of eight houses was constructed at Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, in Manaus. The group being consolidated is involved in establishing a Doctorate Program at UFAM, and initiating research in areas such as high performance green composites (Professor Anil Netravali), modification of cellulose surface by plasma and layer by layer deposition (Professor Juan P Hinestroza), preparation and utilization of cellulose nanofibrils (Professor Orlando Rojas), and concrete-cellulose fibers (Professor Romildo D. Toledo Filho). Copyright © 2009, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.