The Carbon house

The Love Shack

Features:

-a cross-pollination of ideas between industrial design, apptech, architecture, desert research (eg. Earth Ships, Hexayurt), architecture, horticulture, permaculture and biochar ('Permachar') and a bit of Rock n' Roll

-adaptable to most biomes and highly weather-proof structures

-Lavo Green Hydrogen system powered with semi-transparent Perovskite solar PV cells integrated with transparent PolyPIU 'CarbonPIU' insulated polycarbonate panels on most structures except for central living quarters which has an earth covered roof for thermal mass/insulation.

-Vertical walls in living quarters and on S aspect of hexagonal greenhouses could be made from biochar-filled biocomposite which could also be substituted with Carbon fibre 'massless batteries' for extra/even primary energy storage. Deployment of Lavo systems or 'massless batteries' in architecture/transport will drive cost down. I would like to see a basic Lavo system for less than AUD25k.

-the triangular roof panels on the hexagonal greenhouses could double as motorised/manually raised air vents to help regulate temperature and humidity

-Permachar Wicking Modules (PWM) (the northerly aspect within a sloped greenhouse) with Kon-Tiki 'Rolls' biochar kiln in foreground ready for some coppiced acacia feedstock, which can be planted near the shack (seedballs/seedlings) or available in the wild in many drylands areas

-each hexagonal greenhouse and inter-connector could have different micro-climates with controllable temperature and humidity suitable for 4 season growing, and could also house hydroponics, aquaponics, microgreens and seed propagation. The STEMinds 'Eduponics Mini' Smart Agriculture kit looks very promising for monitoring a range of metrics suitable for hydroponics, aquaponics and beyond (www.crowdsupply.com/steminds/eduponics-mini).  Also, why not grow some flowers too? Manual pollination would be required for some plants...

 -the inter-connecting greenhouses, between the hexagonal structures would have climbing plants eg. spinach, passionfruit, beans etc. on trellises erected on the inside next to the vertical walls

-rainwater harvesting on all the roof spaces (slightly raised at the centre) can be stored in an underground tank providing domestic water and supplying the plants

-an outdoor kitchen could be established using acacia pellets produced with a pelletiser to run TLUD stoves, along with a solar oven from GoSun or simply made with cardboard and Al foil.

-for an online 'Love shack' a 'Starlink' UFO could be installed on the roof of the living quarters. 'Starlink' will eventually provide broadband internet access all over the world

-no fracking required!!

PermacharBnB

Features

  • Welcome to the Anthropocene! Appropriate housing and preparation/adaptation for a 3+ degree global average warmed world for which we are currently on track despite a globalisation slowdown due to COVID-19. But, if we don't exceed more than 2 degrees or even 1.5 degrees global average warming, it would be an over-engineered design and a sustainable way to live anyway!
  • Another 'love shack' space experience on Terra Firma/Eaarth. This design is closer to what might one day be built in space, or even initially as a prototype in the South Australian desert
  • Extremely resilient climate-proofed hexagonal structures. Note that the outer structures will provide some wind protection for the central living quarters
  • The dimensions of the overall design are scaleable
  • A 'Green Aluminium' alloy for the structures' exoskeleton
  • For the domestic structures and connecting passageways, a double wall with air insulation could be cooled with water vapor (active/powered cooling with reversible fans) during hotter days which will also cool down the solar PV cells (like a fan on a CPU heatsink). At night, heat could be pumped from the air gaps into the living quarters if needed given that it can get quite cold at night time in the desert during the cooler months. The air gap could also interface with the greenhouses for additional air heating/cooling. Note also that biochar breathes though testing would need to be done on the biocomposite suggested in the next point.  Nevertheless,  there will be some passive/unpowered heating and cooling which could help regulate indoor humidity/water vapor content. It may be that too much water is lost through the outer domestic structures (though the graphene base layer in the PV cells may prevent water from passing through) and that sandy loam (retrieved from the bladder holes) poured into the air gaps will do a better job. In this scenario, the living quarters could still take excess heat from the greenhouses for night time heating. The whole temperature control system could be controlled over WiFi via a smartphone app.
  • Biochar-based green epoxy resin biocomposite panels (inner hexagons) and for the outer hexagons, passageways and roofs, biochar-based green epoxy resin biocomposite with a sandwiched/middle layer graphene surface (adding strength to the panels, providing the base layer of Perovskite PV cells for EC and possibly preventing water leakage from the air gap) and printed C- based 'Hot carrier' Perovskites on the outer layer. The middle and outer layer could be printed with a 3D Carbon-based nano-ink (made from converting biochar to turbostratic graphene in a 'flash graphene' process pioneered by Rice University, USA) in a nano-printer (which may not yet exist - possibly science fiction at this stage). An R&D issue is how to attach the base layer to the biocomposite.
  • The Perovskites then feed electricity into a Regenerative Hydrogen Fuel Cell System (see page 'Overview of Permachar systems') for solar energy charging/storage/discharging to appliances. I would be interested to know, would the panels be giant hailstone proof? Probably not much of an issue in the desert but maybe relevant in higher rainfall areas...
  • Insulated polycarbonate panels eg, 10mm for the 'GreenHouses', made from hemp bioplastic
  • 3 different North-facing (if you're in the Southern hemisphere) Greenhouses with unique microclimates (1,2,3) using 'Eduponics Mini' kits and recirculated water, like a Wardian box, which could use a range of systems such as microgreens, hydroponics, aquaponics, vertical walls etc. Coarsely milled biochar eg.5mm diameter could be used as a growing medium to replace perlite or vermiculite which are often used in these systems.
  • Raised hexagonal pyramid roofs for solar collection and water harvesting with gutters + biochar water filtration
  • Underground rainwater/bore water storage in bladders (available at 'Measured Irrigation') dug underneath the 'Bathroom/Laundry', 'Kitchen' and 'Greenhouses'.
  • Multifunctional 'Living quarters' for work, recreation and sleep
  • Airlocked structure with air circulation and filtration using biochar (charcoal) filters integrating temperature and humidity regulation plus Oxygen produced from plants in the greenhouses
  • Humanure toilet + biochar ->fertiliser->Greenhouses->plants->food, medicines, Oxygen; and biomass->TLUD (Kitchen)->biochar
  • Starlink communications for internet access/whatever you can get locally

The Hexagon House

Features

  • Permafert-covered roof (with native grasses) and Permachar Wicking Modules (PWM) (with herbs) over main living quarters. Water tanks would ideally gravity feed the 'house' eg., if there was a bore, water could be pumped into a header tank next to the 'house' and feed water to the greenhouses and bathroom/laundry and kitchen. Failing that, bladders, possibly in series, could be buried underneath the main structure all the way around aka underneath the 'Living quarters' and main greenhouses. Water can be collected from guttering on the roof of the living quarters and at the outer base of the main greenhouses, filtered with biochar and maybe gravity fed into the bladders. 'Solar' pumps could then be used, connected to each bladder/bladders in series to provide water on demand throughout the 'house' where it is needed
  • NW/N/NE facing (If you're in the Southern hemisphere)  large greenhouses with unique microclimates. The outer panels would be built at 70 degrees from the ground sloping up to flat roof panels on the inner section. The panels would have an insulated 20mm air gap and made from transparent ?hemp-based polycarbonate with semi-transparent 'hot carrier' Perovskite solar PV cells (3D printed) embedded onto the outside of the material on one side, which will face the sun. Another option could be solar PV integrated panels made by 'ClearVue' (www.clearvuepv.com/for-customers/greenhouses/). The panels would supply electricity to chainable Regenerative Hydrogen Fuel Cell System modules (that are internally modular for hardware updates and maintenance + updateable firmware) for power to the whole 'house'.
  • As with the 'PermacharBnB', an 'Eduponics mini' setup could be used in the greenhouses for climate control, microgreens, hydroponics, aquaponics etc.
  • 'Green' HW350 'Corten'/'Weathering' steel (using 'Green Hydrogen' for Iron reduction) for an exoskeleton on the greenhouses so the panels can be easily slotted in. Also, Corten exoskeleton on the living quarters' roof could be used to support roofing iron/other panels for the permafert and PWMs
  • Triple glazed glass rectangular windows (2) could be placed between the living quarters and NW and NE greenhouses for light and aesthetics. Also, the windows could have a vent that could be opened and closed for passive heating of the living quarters at night time during the cooler months
  • The red rectangles represent doors
  • Maybe 12 foot (4 metre) ceilings, which will provide a heat trap at the top and reduce the indoor temperature in the living quarters
  • Outdoor courtyard for R&R plus an additional central greenhouse for growing aesthetic plants with a central area for 'tea'.  Could also be used to grow some intensive bush tucker
  • CharEarth besser blocks could be made with machinery eg.using a modified hydraulic press and mold, pneumatically or hand operated (human bioenergy) or powered with bioenergy (pyrolysis) cogeneration via a thermal block attached to the base of the 'Rolls' cone for electricity. Or, in the future the 'Rolls' could have a 'massless' thermal block cradle to collect the waste process heat.  The CharEarth blocks, double walled, would fit out all the vertical walls found in the 'Living quarters' and the middle hexagonal structure. Some/all of the soil used could be retrieved from the water bladder holes for making the blocks, using the soil (with some clay content (?) and if that's not possible, importing locally mined clay.  Failing that, I'd argue the block material is inappropriate for the site) to put out the fire in the Hawaiian 'lu'au' pit. Both the biochar and soil would ideally be crushed and compressed in one action in the block machine.  The blocks would also breathe for humidity and temperature control inside the house
  • Biochar, for the Permafert roof/PWMs/Greenhouses/CharEarth blocks could be made on site with a 'Rolls' kiln and 'lu'au' pit. If building in the Aussie desert, Acacia spp. or other native species could be used for biomass/feedstock
  • A 'lu'au' pit(s) could be used to make a soil and biochar combination that could be sent to the block making machine
  • The 'Rolls', not only could work as a power source, but also produce designer biochar if there is water access eg.bore, dam, river etc. for in-cone inoculation. After the cone is drained, the biochar is dried a little (how much depends on the hammer mill design) then milled and added to Permafert middens for the living quarters roof, greenhouses and PWMs. Once the main 'house' structure is built, it could start collecting and storing rainwater to input into the 'Rolls' in the case of no water access. Additionally, the CharEarth blocks will probably need water for the outside render
  • The bioenergy powered (eg.'Rolls' thermal mass block/electric) hammer mill would have a combination of hammer settings for different grades of biochar
  • Humanure toilet + biochar ->fertiliser->Greenhouses->plants->food, medicines, Oxygen; and ?biomass (or acacia feedstock pelletised)->TLUD (Kitchen)->biochar
  • The lighting would be a combination of natural and LEDs
  • Starlink communications (which is now online in Australia) for internet access/whatever you can get locally