Detailed project
NB: this form is filled entirely by the ones submitting the innovation.
What is the issue addressed?
Our innovation has a direct impact on 80% of the 17 sustainable development goals of the UN's "Accelerate 2030" program. We won this global competition in 2018, and we are again selected to represent our innovation in Geneva next March. Using this open source technology we believe it is possible to create a 15 gigaton CO2 "carbon sink" over 10 years while creating sustainable local jobs, a higher quality of indoor life, and a higher level of public health than concrete/metal/chemical insulation while generating sustainable and local "economic" profit. Which pillar(s) of the Circular Economy are mobilized in your project? 1. Sustainable supply: we only use natural raw materials, without any transformation or chemical contribution, coming from local agriculture (wheat straw, barley, rice, lavender, reeds...), local silviculture (non-precious wood), and local clay mix (that we mix according to our needs). Our production does not generate any waste, we recycle our straw and wood sawdust into biomass briquettes to feed our drying ovens for plasters. Our construction sites do not generate any toxic waste. 2. Ecodesign our production lines (GMP: Green Manufacturing Process) require very little energy (250kw/H for 1 m3 of finished product compared to 18,000 kw/h for 1 m3 of reinforced concrete), our products generate enormous savings in CO2 released into the atmosphere, For example, a 100 m2 house built with our ekoblocks saves about 30 tons of CO2 by "trapping" wood and straw and uses only 500litres of non-drinking water to make coatings, while a 100 m2 house made of concrete, metal, glass or rock wool, BA13 produces about 20 tons of CO2 and requires 10 tons of water to assemble it. 3. Industrial and territorial ecology: Our GMPs are designed to be manufactured and installed locally in industrial wastelands and reused without great transformation with low-cost and low-tech assembly techniques. No need for large amounts of local energy. We employ skilled and unskilled labor, we buy materials locally, and the prefabricated buildings serve the local market. 4. The economy of functionality For specific or punctual needs, we can install ephemeral local GMP, mobile with structural maritime containers 5. Responsible consumption: Our buildings are passive from the outset or even positive. They consume 5 times less energy than the French RE2012 standard, the clay coatings and perspiring walls create 60% of hygrometry in the indoor air and give users healthy air quality and superior to that of the outside without mechanical ventilation, without VOCs, and without dust. Ideal for asthmatic children but also for increasing the life expectancy of users and preventing respiratory diseases... 6. Longer life expectancy: our buildings are designed to last at least ten generations, especially when built on a well-ventilated foundation (piles, stone crawl space), unlike buildings made of reinforced concrete and other toxic products from the petroleum industry which are not designed to last more than 50/70/100 years according to the legislation in force in different countries. Built in 1921, the oldest wood/earth/straw house in France is in Montargis. It is in perfect condition. Other identical examples exist throughout the world, in particular in Yemen or Egypt. 7. Recycling: In 150/200/250 years, if our buildings have to be destroyed, the structural waste can eventually be left on site to return to the earth according to the "cradle to cradle" principle. What positive externality(ies) are sought/claimed? - Drastic, immediate, exponential reduction of the needs in Energy, water, and sand for the production of buildings (shortening of the logistic chain, suppression of mining, reduction to the minimum of sand dredging, no more "clinkerization", less health risk for the workers, fewer risks and pollution of transport of materials and manpower on site thanks to prefabrication. Revitalization of rural areas where wood, straw, and clay are found. Increase of the indoor air quality for health, division by 5 minimum of the operating costs in Energy of the public and private buildings, private and collective, disappearance of 30 to 40% of the air pollution and the emissions of GES... Which specificity(ies) of the economic model? - Our business model is based on the entire value chain in all global markets. From design through production to turnkey construction. The difference with the wild capitalist model lies in the diversity of the members of the future RAINBOW "ecosystem" (see next paragraph). In the context of global development, the countries of the North (already economically developed but highly polluting) represent 20% of the volume of the 250 billion m2 to be built by 2030 (sources UN habitat). The southern countries (either in the process of strong development - BRICS - or in extreme demographic growth) represent 80% of the real human needs to sleep under a roof, but also the largest part of all kinds of risks: pollution, public health ... The idea of global development is based on Pareto's law: 80% of the profits on 20% of the volume of the northern countries to start and structure, then 20% of the profits on 80% of the volume in the southern countries. First, prove the efficiency of our processes and products in the North at economic conditions at the market level, then distribute it in low-tech and low-cost, or even in open source on a large scale later... Which cooperative dimension(s)? - The RAINBOW "ecosystem" is intended to become an open, cooperative, and participative structure on a global scale. I often use the example of the metastasis development system in the human body to explain the principle of what we want to do. The economic, energetic, financial, political, demographic, health, and other tissues are sick, and as long as they have the energy this disease will continue to develop. If we recover this energy (the time of citizens, responsible private companies, public authorities, their goodwill, their empathy, their capacity for introspection, their money, their free spaces, their needs to build, and their resources in general...) and federate it by motivating them to become "shareholders" in a project that really makes things change positively and quickly, we will have created a new form of international cooperation based on diverse groups. What are the specificities of the governance? RAINBOW ECOSYSTEM has a vocation to develop exponentially at the international level. It seems necessary to me to continue to mix nationalities, backgrounds, and specialties of the members, including managers, as we did during the whole R&D phase in Ukraine on the one hand. Having been a consultant on the behavior of groups at work for several years after having done a DU in ethology with Boris Cyrulnik, I am rather inclined to let the managerial ecosystem organize itself in a natural way with a non-hierarchical system and operating modes giving responsibility to autonomous actors in the field. The organization/organizational chart should be as "flat" and broad as possible, and strategic decisions should be made in "non-inbred" diagonal groups. The management committee (or the body dedicated to making strategic decisions) must be rotating, leaving room for the expression of ideas from the members...all this will take shape in time and naturally and interactively.
How is the problem solved?
we design, produce and install prefabricated buildings only with natural raw materials. The local production requires almost 0 energy, and 0 waste, and uses local resources to satisfy the local construction market. The product = good for health...etc. We have a significant, global, and immediate impact on the 20 issues described in the Team for the Planet action matrix: - on the x-axis: zero emissions, energy efficiency, sobriety, capture - on the y-axis: energy, industry, transport, agriculture, building
What is the customer target?
The global market B2B, B2C, B2G... We can transmit/sell/rent/donate/open source 4 skills: - design, manufacture, delivery and maintenance of regional turnkey production plants (GMP). We plan to create one per 300/500 kms radius. - detailed architectural catalog of "EKOBLOCKS" parts necessary for the construction of any prefabricated building. We plan to "train" architects and other project managers to use them in their primary approach with their clients. - Architectural adaptation, structural design and costing of any building by our own network of design offices "RAINBOW ECOSYSTEM". We plan to create one per country. - The local sale, the transport, the installation of any turnkey building by the signboard "Maison & Nature". We are planning a distribution mode in the form of a franchise in the Northern countries which represent 20% of the world construction volume by 2050. The development on the market of the Southern countries (big volumes/low margins) can be imagined in the way "Robin Hood" with other modes of distribution which will be studied according to the local needs. * We have 4 other areas of expertise to develop in the long term: - the development of an international client/supplier network, the certification of installation teams, engineers, production workers, and network salespeople, as well as the education of self-builders, architects, students, and schoolchildren... - the implementation of AI on all internal flows: from prospecting to customer renewal through BIM design, localized pricing, orders, online payments, but also factory quality control, logistics or information to the end user in his building on his energy consumption, indoor/outdoor air quality.... - The R&D center on future products (mass stove, integrated geothermal energy, mobile buildings, 3D prefa, ekoblocks for roofing in natural products...) open to the outside world in open source.
How is this solution different?
We design and produce prefabricated "ekoblocks" of large sizes if necessary, based on standard size panels. They leave the factory already insulated + clay coated on each side, electric ducts, evacuations, fluid passages, windows and shutters can be already installed. Our "GMP" process is certified to French standards. High performance: Super thermal insulation R = 8. 5 = also acoustic 54 dB = Excellent fire behavior REI 120 = Excellent thermal inertia = Permeability to water vapor µ = 1 very important = 60% Permanent hygrometry = Excellent hygrothermal regulation 80 kg/m3 (density) : λ useful = 0.040 - Liquid water storage potential up to 300% of the density of the clay plaster = Airtight = zero thermal bridges = Excellent resistance to heat wave (3 cm external plaster clay, lime, sand + Straw bales + 5 cm internal plaster of raw earth) much better behavior than monomur bricks = The results of the thermal tests carried out with dry straw (0% Relative Humidity) and wet straw (50 and then 90% RH) are: 0.064 (0% RH) ≤ λ useful ≤ 0.069 to 0.072 (90% RH) The thermal performance of straw alters very little in the presence of moisture. This information is of primary importance since we work with straw insulating fillings, in perspiring walls. Economical: 50/70% savings in heating/cooling/ventilation compared to the European building standards = 15 KW/H/m2/year consumption observed in real. Our buildings are passive and / or positive with the contribution of low energy production = speed of design / production / assembly eg 120 m2 delivered out of water out of air in less than 90 calendar days (designed BIM REVIT / produced in factory / transported / assembled, insulated, covered, interior partitions, exterior joinery installed, interior / exterior plastering, floor / wall heating / hydraulic heaters, mass stove combustion, electrical ducts anti EMF) Ecological : 100% natural, renewable, recyclable, neutral carbon balance at the end of life = 1200 m2 of RAINBOW ECOSYTEM buildings = 300 tons of CO2 saved (resellable according to the Kyoto agreement) = 10 times less water used than reinforced concrete = 50/100 times less grey energy to produce than reinforced concrete = 5/7 times lighter than reinforced concrete and 2/3 times heavier than wood construction in general = almost zero chemical products used nor in the factory neither plastic packaging on site = aesthetic comfort and "soothing" = customizable color = zero waste in the factory thanks to the recycling of 100% of the biomass to make briquettes that are used to fuel our own mass combustion stoves that dry our coatings = demolition at the end of life after use by 5 generations, non-toxic waste disintegrated naturally without the need for depollution according to the principle "craddle to craddle" Healthy, good for your health : our ekoblocks are breathable, 18 hours of phase shift = excellent indoor air quality = zero VOC emissions = no need for VMC = stable hygrometry rate around 60% = natural protection against mold = emission of negative ions and decrease of serotonin (depression and anxiety) = neutralization of electromagnetic waves = almost zero static charge = no dust deposit = negative carbon balance excellent collectively to avoid the disruption and global warming = no Faraday cage effect = phonic effect inside "cocoon", no external noise perceived from inside
