Técnico Maya Environmental School
An environmental and vocational school utilizing rammed-earth and repurposed trash, built by Long Way Home, in partnership with the community and hundreds of international volunteers. This educational complex exemplifies the potential of building with waste materials in an impoverished area.

Project Type:
Architecture

Project Mission/Goal:
Increase awareness of the environment and/or address climate change.
Respond to our growing need for clean water, power, shelter, healthcare, education.

Project Description:
The Técnico Maya Environmental School, an educational complex in rural Guatemala, is a practical demonstration in reusing the abundance of discarded materials for low-cost, anti-seismic construction. Reused, rammed-earth tires are transformed into the walls of classrooms, water cisterns, and retaining walls. Reused glass bottles become skylights and windows, and trash bottles line the seams between tires and form non-load bearing walls. The thin-shell concrete roofs double as a rain water harvesting system and active solar panels provide electricity.

These structures are robust in their structural integrity, and their flexible elements offer additional resistance to seismic activity. Due to the thermal mass properties of the earthen walls, the structure absorbs passive solar energy to provide warmth from the day’s sun at night and a cool interior temperature during the heat of the day. As discarded tires collect standing water and breed the mosquitoes that carry malaria and Dengue, pest control is an additional benefit of their reuse. Finally, the educational value of community exposure to waste reuse empowers the population and fosters environmental stewardship.

The alternative construction methods used to create the educational spaces and the curriculum of the finished school are closely aligned. The Primary school curriculum will have an environmental focus, while the Vocational school curriculum will include skilled trades, alternative construction, renewable energy and small business administration. Once open, the school will sustain itself through contracting student Green Building teams to residents and local municipalities. This will allow the students to gain practical experience during their education, while also bringing the benefits of their skills to the 40,000 residents of Comalapa. This school will graduate students equipped to be entrepreneurial environmental stewards and lead their community to a safer, healthier, and greener future.

This is a low-cost development strategy, appropriate and affordable for rural, low-income residents. Using mostly locally sourced waste materials and on-site dirt in construction allows for minimized materials costs. This means 80% of the construction budget is spent on labor, keeping more money circulating in the community rather than putting it into cement production and logging operations. Even before classes are offered the construction of the school complex creates jobs and limits out-migration of at-risk youth. Additionally, the environmental decontamination of building with repurposed waste materials leads to both restored ecological integrity and improved human health. Ridding the landscape of litter adds to its aesthetic and recreational value; beneficial both to Guatemala’s tourism industry as well as to the local population.

Video(s):

Links and Captions:
http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/2010-finalists-project06.php
http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/comunitario/Reciclan-ven_0_321567852...
http://longwayhomeinc.org/en/photos.php
http://catorcekt.wordpress.com/

Project Details: (Please complete as applicable)
Project Location: San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala
Date(s): Jan 2009- Jan 2014
Project Phase: In Construction
Client:
User Client:
Description and Number of Beneficiaries/Users: 400 K-12 students
Major Funding:
Concept/Lead Architect(s)/Designer(s): Adam Howland, Construction Manager; Ericka Temple, Architectural Designer
Project Architect(s)/Designer(s):
Structural Engineers:
Electrical/Mechanical Engineers:
Contractor/Manufacturer:
Additional Consultants: AfH-Boston, Engineers Without Borders
Total Cost/Cost per Unit: To date: $100,000 Total Projected: $400,000
Area (if applicable): 14,011 SF
Other:
Photo/Image Credit(s)
File Specifications:

Nominated by: Ericka Temple

Location