There is currently a significant need for disaster-relief housing and other temporary structures. Shrinking natural resources and the increasing impact of natural disasters must be addressed. Savvy Structures Inc is pursuing innovative, inexpensive, environmentally friendly solutions that could easily be deployed anywhere in the world. The dual nature of consulting services with research and development will allow maximum flexibility in adjusting to and leading the market.

We believe the best disaster relief solutions are based on a sustainable design model. In our view sustainable design is a multi-faceted endeavor that considers local materials, traditional building methods, climate and culture in the structure design. We believe the structure should not only minimize its negative impact on the environment, but should be sustainable by the owner and surrounding community over time.

Earthbags (above) – sandbags or rice bags filled with local soil and/or rubble – are a potential solution for providing housing after a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane. We have done some preliminary compression and shear tests on bags filled with various materials in an effort to determine structural properties for the system. Please refer to the Geiger Research Institute for Sustainable Building at http://www.grisb.org/ for additional information on earthbag structures.

Determining the structural adequacy of existing and potential long and short term housing solutions through structural analysis is a key part or our research. We utilize both sophisticated analysis using computer programs (above) and simple common sense calculations to look at building systems.