SEED Foundation Inc

LNBG LLC

SEED Foundation Inc.

Housing Program

Overview

Ecovillages are people-based initiatives to model sustainable, low-impact, human settlements. They are applicable to both rural and urban settings and accessible to all. Eco-villagers utilize green energy technology, ecological building techniques, and human-scale design to reduce exploitation of natural resources, facilitate community self-reliance, and improve quality of life. Medical clinics will be included in the development of each village. These medical clinics can assist in the care management of other local villages.

They are about the creation of new settlements as well as retrofitting existing villages and urban areas. An ecovillage is designed in harmony with its bioregion instead of the landscape being unduly engineered to fit construction plans. By thinking in terms of bioregions, sustainable settlements are planned considering water availability, the ability to grow food, and accessibility.

Many projects use the principles of permaculture for creating integrated, interactive and efficient systems for structural planning, food production and social needs in their community. Ecovillages are human scale, (somewhere where you can feel you know the others in your community), fully featured settlements, (comprising housing, businesses, agriculture, culture, etc. as appropriate to the local setting), in which human activity is integrated harmlessly into the natural world, supports human development and can be continued into the indefinite future.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of ecovillages around the world that have been living true to their values, even if it means not quite meeting the building codes or zoning laws according to their local government. Global Ecovillage Network defines ecovillages as “Alternative experimentation laboratories, with food production, ecological buildings, a resources center, a reception place, or artistic workshops. The aim is to create, together, a convivial and fair way of life, with a minimal ecological trace becoming more socially, economically and ecologically sustainable.”

There are examples of Ecovillage Zoning and Sustainable Development Testing Sites in Taos, NM, Portland, OR, Eugene, OR and British Columbia. There are many more with pending legislation across the globe.

Modular in design and scalability.

There are a number of benefits in using ISBUs – inter-model steel building units – for home building or residential projects. Otherwise known as shipping container houses, these sturdy, steel structures are a captivating idea.
Shipping containers are made from special steel in order to be strong enough to withstand rough conditions at seas and long exposure to outside elements while being able to protect the goods stored inside. They are made to a standard set of measurements in order to be stackable the world over. There are three sizes – 20 feet long or 40 & 53 feet long. Each shipping container has a width of 8 feet and a height of 8 feet 6 inches or 9.6 in high cube versions.
Because of their uniform size, large number, and the fact that they were built to last, it became important to consider alternative uses for containers that began to stack up in back lots and shipping docks. Years ago, the military explored their potential for portable operation centers. It wasn’t too long, however, before their low cost and ready availability attracted the attention of architects and builders with a unique need – safe, fast, inexpensive construction for hospitals, office space, apartments, and homes.

Besides the obvious quality of building material, there are several eco advantages to the use of this component. Globally these containers are discarded after their service life is finished. They are then used for artificial reefs, thrown in landfills or melted for scrap. The availability of these containers globally reduces our need to manufacture from virgin materials which are precious resources for the future of the world.

Benefits

The benefits of using ISBUs for home building are hard to ignore:

·  Environmentally friendly approach to building as you make use of existing materials rather than require additional trees to be cut down for building lumber.

·  Less expensive than wood construction – particularly if you use used shipping containers.

·  Faster build times as containers are pre-fabricated.

·  Easily expandable – often compared to building with Legos because the containers can be stacked on top of each other or side by side. One or more walls of a container can be removed to increase a home’s interior space.

·  Fire resistant

·  Mold resistant

·  Resistant to insect damage

·  Ability to stand up to strong winds and heavy storms and have been tested category 5

The thought of living in a shipping container home evokes images of cold, tight quarters in ugly, metal boxes but the finished product is usually anything but ugly. Add other elements such as stone and glass and complete the outside with special paints or coverings and you easily end up with sleek, sophisticated, styling and crisp lines.

All of our projected use containers will be painted with an exterior ceramic particle paint which blocks UV rays and deflects 94% of all heat from the sun. The interior will be painted with a similar paint which will have greater anti-microbial shielding from all forms of bacteria and fungus growth. This micro coating will help maintain comfortable temperatures inside the homes.

The placement of the containers can be performed in several ways to accommodate local surroundings and to reduce the impact on its precious flora and fauna. The units can be placed on top of pre-stressed concrete pillars, poured foundation, on top of a block foundation or on a wooden platform with walk around decking.

Unit Features

Large sqft of interior space

Reclaimed water containment

L.E.D. Low impact 12v lighting

Kitchen with cook top, sink, storage and refrigerator

1-5 bed rooms

1-3 bath rooms

Sliding glass doors and Hurricane Shutters

Community provided hot water

Community provided potable water

Community provided purified water

Community provided electricity

Community provided Biogas

Direct community sewer access

Community Provided Services

Geo Thermal hot and cold water

Geo Thermal heating and cooling

Methane Digester for human, animal and community waste

Methane processor for converting waste into bio gas, fertilizer and fuels

Recycling center for breakdown and separation of all materials

Food production and farming facilities

Medical care facility and village wellness center to assist other villages locally

Job training and educational center for visitors and residents

Eco Village management training center

Property and Housing location

The image below is from Google earth. The housing project will be located on a 40 acre piece of prime property donated by First Interstate Group Ltd. director Ralph Huang. This is prime real-estate located very close to the capital city of Belmopan. This will be used for the pilot project. The village phase 1 will be the main entrance from the Western Hgwy. This facility will be cleared for staging of materials and the setting of foundations for the first houses to be placed. The first phase of the project will encompass the following core utilities ;

Medical Clinic Community Methane Digester Geo Thermal heating/cooling

Power generation center Fresh and waste water processing.

Proposed Designs

The images below are some of the designs being considered for the project. As you can see the plans are only limited by the imagination of the builder. The ability to add on further rooms as families expand is never a major project. The commercial use of the same modular construction can have many uses in the eco resort industry.

Resort style Villas with shipping container pool

Summary

A model village of this type of construction has been utilized in over 70 countries for everything from public and student housing, to office buildings and schools. The idea is not new; it has been accomplished since the 1960’s when military engineers first deployed entire hospitals in interlocking suites. Since then, the shipping container has been servicing all forms of housing for millions of people globally.

The village becomes a training facility which enables other local groups to be trained to perform certain aspects of the construction where jobs will be created. The strategy of expanding the villages to remote areas is very possible with the help of surplus military transporters which are designed to carry these units across most terrain. Once a village is proposed, a team will be trained in all aspects of maintaining, constructing and delivering these homes.

SEED Foundation will provide a complete package of all that is needed to build our model village including a list of donors and special tax forms for US and EU donors.

Below is a container hospital and clinic which is fully operational in Sudan, the concept is proven and the project’s success weighs on the acceptance of change.

Hurricane proof Green Hydroponic Houses

Equipment and Materials list

·  Bio char Kilns

·  Material Handling Chippers and Tub Grinders

·  Utility Vehicles

·  Wheeled Loaders

·  Tracked loaders

·  Tractor Trailer

·  Chain Saws

·  Welding Rigs

·  Copper tubing

·  Steam Pipe

·  Black Pipe

·  Fire Brick Ceramic coated

·  Bio Diesel Distillation equipment

·  PH, TDS, CH o2 Testing systems

·  Micro lab Bacterial solid tester

·  Micro Turbines 30 kw -60 kw

·  Micro Turbine Spares

·  Plumbing and fittings

·  Heat Exchangers

·  5+ miles of schedule 80 6” High pressure water pipe,

·  15000 feet of 2” main pipe

·  20000 feet of ½-3/4 local pipe

·  Electrical Wire

·  Electrical Fixtures

·  Prefab Doors and Windows

·  Interior and Exterior paints

·  Steel ducting and HV/AC units for each house

·  Cement mixers

·  Concrete forms for local manufacturing

·  Shipping containers

·  A separate medical supplies list is being developed for each clinic location

Project status

Currently our foundation is formed to provide donors with tax deductions which will reduce our overall cost to construct and deliver materials to the location. A future sovereign tax credit offering will be generated by the eco villages themselves with Carbon Credits created by the village operation.

Our land has been chosen, pre beginning soil samples are being collected as are eco samples to ensure the base eco system is viable for our site needs. A construction overview and detailed materials and options available for each unit will be included in our next publication separate from this proposal.

Interested companies here in the US and EU are standing behind our request for donations in the way of materials, shipping, equipment or financial. The general interest generated by the GOB, induced further action on our part to consult with urban planners to bring the project to the next phase.

Project Merits

The overall merit gained by creating a model eco village is to stimulate the local creativity and to provide an ecofriendly solution to housing the masses safely. The byproducts of the village are sold as commodities to other villages nearby as well as on the global market.

The increased village footprint reduces the village carbon footprint each day by processing in a single location. Shared co generation of utilities and clean water sources are able to bring a better quality of life to local villagers. Micro medical facilities within each village will create a more focused healthcare system which connects villages through the government health care system.

. University study programs will be created as to invite foreign universities to cooperate work with the project and learning institutions to create their own sustainable model. The foreign institutions will be able to gather their materials locally and ship to contry for implementation

Future Phases

Once the initial model village is completed, our intentions are to make the village a turnkey item, which can be island or land based resorts, government housing, detention centers, medical facilities, emergency shelter, and commercial shopping centers. The list of designs and uses are almost endless. In future developments we will incorporate a larger utility generation facility and processing plant for agricultural waste. These commercial ventures will also be shared with the village co-op and operated by the trained village staff.

Separate ventures non village attached will also include waste water processing, production of Biochar, alternative fuels such as bio-diesel and bio-gas. These ventures are commercial ecofriendly projects which will assist the local infrastructure and re-establish biodiversity to the fragile eco system. The commercial production of Biochar will also enter Belize into the Carbon Credit production market while producing exportable commodities.

We anticipate licensing commercially available solutions for these ventures as to not have a learning curve while in our first year. Eco responsible companies like 3R ENVIRO TECH which produce zero emission pyrolysis equipment. All of the equipment specified for each project has already been field tested and has operated successfully in local bordering nations. The project initiation from eco village to utilities and manufacturing is planned to be a two year project.

Our foundation has viewed all aspects of agriculture as the future of a Eco Villages and Eco Friendly companies can produce everything that’s needed to be self-sustaining. While with the assistance of other foundations and international universities we will make this project a reality.

The Budget Overview plan does not included the property purchase roads and community infrastructure.

Budget overview for Phase 1

Eco Village modulated costs / Price per unit / Units
Requierd / Cost
DIRECT HOUSING COSTS
Shipping container / 2,400 / 148 / 355,200
Plumbing / 375 / 96 / 36,000
Electrical / 245 / 96 / 23520
Footings 6 each / 200 / 576 / 115200
Ceramic Paint / 270 / 596 / 160,920
LED Lighting / 258 / 148 / 38,184
Solar Panels / 960 / 200 / 192,000
Inverter 2500 w / 835 / 48 / 40,080
Windmill 500w / 668 / 50 / 33,400
Bio Digester 3000gal / 18,950 / 1 / 18,950
Biochar Kiln / 140,000 / 1 / 140,000
Methane scrubber / 1057 / 2 / 2,114
Methane Storage Tank / 1904 / 4 / 7,616
Community Fuel Cell / 11000 / 2 / 22,000
Sliding Doors / 272 / 288 / 78,366
Windows / 93 / 385 / 65,805
Community Inverter 10kw / 23,000 / 2 / 46,000
Plasma Torch / 3900 / 2 / 7,800
Welder MIG/TIG/ARC / 12590 / 2 / 25,180
Paint spraying Equipment / 5600 / 2 / 11,200
Appliance Package Low Energy / 2,957 / 48 / 141,936
Cable Tie Down Kits 3 each / 271 / 200 / 54,200
Rigging Jacks / 5200 / 2 / 10,400
8" schedule 80 water pipe / 17000 / 1 / 17,000
6" schedule 80 drain pipe / 17800 / 1 / 17,800
2" schedule 80 water pipe / 3800 / 1 / 3,800
3/4" schedule 40 water pipe / 2607 / 1 / 2,607
Micro Turbine / 155000 / 2 / 320,000
Grid wiring per mile / 13,780 / 2 / 27,560
Cost for Phase 1 / 2,014,838
cost per unit / 39,000
units required / 13,000
Each village contains 48 homes / Cost / 507,000,000
Management / 5%
25,350,000
Indirect Costs / 4,805,000
Project and Management fees / 535,350,000
Total Cost / 540,155,000
Indirect Equipment Costs with increased budgets per phase
INDIRECT HOUSING COSTS / Phase 1
Shipping of materials / 115,000
Ground Transportation / 55,000
Site preparation / 40,000
Bulldozer 6LGP / 35,000
Excavator 218 LGP / 45,000
UNIMOG Container crane / 40,000
Military 8x8 MAN KAT Carrier / 60,000
Rigging Crane / 30,000
LMTV COE Tractors on/off road / 70,000
Tub Grinder and Shredder / 105,000
Ditch Witch pipe layer / 25,000
UNIMOG FLU419 SEE Tractor / 45,000
UNIMOG U140 L Fire /Water Truck / 48,000
UNIMOG U1550L Transporter / 65,000
Well Derry Truck Mountable / 30,000
Bucket Truck / 35,000
Electrical monitoring equipment / 12,000
Bio Science Lab onsite / 10,000
Fuel Storage tanks / 15,000
Biofuel Blenders with filters / 10,000
Hydraulic hose repair station / 15,000
mechanical tools and spares / 100,000
Misc. items / 45,000
Machine Shop Central Repair Station / 145,000
Machine Shop Mobile Unit / 95,000
Medical Clinic / 65,000
Worker Housing and Wages / 120,000
Volunteer Housing and Care / 145,000
Cement Mixers and Pump Trucks / 185,000
Mobile operations and rigging Phases 1&2 / 1,805,000
Phases 3 on will require increased equipment / approximately $875,000
Phase 10 on will require increased equipment / approximately $640,000
Phases 18 on will require increased equipment / approximately $1,425,000