Pierre Greenway from the HASSELL Perth studio recently travelled to the Philippines to work with the MyShelter Foundation on the Litre of Light project. He met with the Executive Director of MyShelter Foundation and social entrepreneur, Illac Diaz, to learn more about this sustainability initiative which is helping to improve the standard of living in his country. A Litre of Light is a sustainable lighting solution that uses an extremely simple technology to light up the inside of homes without using electricity or fuel.

The solution consists of solar lights which are made with empty plastic bottles that are filled with a mixture of water and bleach. The bottles are then set half-way into a section of corrugated tin roofing. The water refracts light, the salt slows down evaporation and the bleach prevents mould from growing in the bottle, allowing the mixture and bottle to last for several years. Once installed, the bottle can provide light equivalent to a 50 watt light bulb on a bright day. The project has been successful in lighting up thousands of homes in the poorer villages across the Philippines and the MyShelter Foundation plans to light up a million residences by the end of 2012.

During his time in the Philippines, Pierre also had the opportunity to visit two other MyShelter projects: the Bottle School and the Bamboo School. The Bottle School is constructed from plastic PET bottles in lieu of bricks. This is a creative way to up-cycle used plastic and glass bottles, however, the building still faces challenges – for example, the rain water collecting in the bottles is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The Bamboo School was constructed using bamboo, a concrete slab and a few concrete sections of wall. The school was designed to allow air to flow through the building so that in the event of a typhoon, the winds can move easily through the porous building and minimise stress on the structure.

Pierre's trip was sponsored by the Knowledge and Sustainability group at HASSELL. As a result of his involvement in the Litre of Light initiative, HASSELL has been invited by the Diaz family to design a community centre for the elderly in San Pablo in the Philippines. By combining HASSELL design expertise with local materials, process and knowledge, we hope to design a structure that will withstand the elements and demonstrate good sustainable design.

—

—

Share Del.icio.us
Pinterest
Linkedin
Facebook
Twitter
Email Article