Capstone

Sustainable Home Building Supply Solution

Sponsor: Care for Life

Team: Sustainable Shelters

Coach: Andy May

Students: Christopher DeLange, Clark Skousen, Jared Geddes, Boyd Black, Jon Wright, Matt Blank, Harold Abell.

As monsoon season hits around parts of Mozambique, many villages can be exposed to raw waste as latrines collapse and overflow. Sustainable Shelters developed a better latrine solution that would not collapse under harsh weather conditions, be feasible for villagers to afford, and could be easily built.

Fossa Alterna, a method from firing bricks from termite mound mud, was the solution in creating a sturdy and water resistant material for building different structures specifically in Mozambique. This mud is found in all of the villages and contains a higher clay content which would work in creating a more sanitary latrine and help with other villager needs and make it affordable and accessible for everyone. In the design of the bricks, the students shaped the ends at 105 degrees to make them more functionable and hold them into place.

The solution was tested in Mozambique to ensure that there was no erosion and collapse. With the help of Sustainable Shelters, disease and sickness can be more fully avoided with the building of these materials for in-ground latrines and other village needs.

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2008/2009 Projects

• ATK Launch Systems
• Boeing (Auburn)
• Boeing (Everett)
• Burr Oak Tool, Inc.
• BYU
• Care for Life
• General Mills, Inc.
• Schlumberger
• Sustainable Energy Solutions, LLC
• Varian Medical Systems