Long Way Home’s mission

is to break the cycle of

poverty among youth in

developing communities by

•Creating educational

opportunitiesTecnico Maya Vocational School

•Cultivating civic

interactionSimajuleu Civic Group

•Encouraging healthy

lifestylesParque Chimyá

Recycling

Typical method of trash disposal

Lago Atitlan

San Juan Comalapa

population 39,000

Town centerDept. of Chimaltenango

4 slides of comalapa

Why Comalapa?

• 71% unemployment rate

• Few educational and work

opportunities after 6th grade

• Guatemala has a population of 14.02

million and over 400,000 youth are in

gangs, which is about 2.8%

Tecnico Maya Vocational

School

A practical demonstration of transforming waste into a

• structurally sound

• eco-friendly

• low-cost structure

Curriculum will teach new industries that will keep a

cycle of environmental hygiene ongoing and provide

jobs for Comalapa today and tomorrow

Partnership with community

Collaboration with Tecnico Maya staff

Masterplan

vocational workshops

construction: ongoing

projected completion : spring 2010

carpentry/masonry/electrical/welding

alternative construction

primary school classrooms

construction: begin winter 2010

projected completion : spring 2011

K-6th , standard government curriculum

with additional mayan focus

small business entrepurnurship

Tires are collected from Chimaltenango, 30 miles away

Excavation

Retaining wall

Foundation trench

Foundation is filled with gravel and gravel-filled tires

Crew uses sledge hammer to pound tires

with earth excavated from site

Window with earthbags and bond beam formed

Completed bond beam

“There are more tires than trees on earth. Why not build with something

we don’t need to survive?” - Mike Reynolds, The Newshour Show with Jim

Lehrer, 2009

6 principles of an “Earthship”:

Water / Electricity / Sewage / Comfort / Food

1. Incorporating the CONCEPT of the 6 principles into planning and

design. Using second-use materials and heating/cooling with out fuel

as much as possible.

2. Incorporating SOME of the METHODS of the Earthship into new

design and/or retrofitting existing structures.

3. Incorporating ALL of the METHODS, ie. building an Earthship

*one story, small , unattached structures

*parks – pavilions, sheds, bleachers

*residential homes, garages and sheds, extending into the

suburbs

4. Use trash from areas where unable to build earthships to build in

locations where earthsips are already being built . A sophisticated

recycling + rerouting system would allow cities another way to

engage in the effort of using less natural resources in addition to

alternative building practices.

Other considerations:

-Codes + permitting -Higher quantity of materials

-Legal system -More access to collection facilities

-LEED

-Regulation + testing

The Mass State Building Code allows for tire construction under the

section for “Alternative Building”. Each code official has his/her own

right to make their own interpretations and rulings about the code.

“Every state follows the same Uniform Building Code. This code has a

clause that allows for alternative methods "not covered in this

document." It states that alternative methods must meet requirements

and standards of those presented in the UBC. Your objective would,

therefore, be to illustrate that Earthship Biotecture meets and exceeds the

standards put forth in the UBC.” -earthship.net

-Quantity of materials

-Access to collection facilities