Climate Change has brought about an unprecedented number of natural disasters of never before seen power and intensity. This trend is predicted to only increase in the foreseeable future. This Project will reduce suffering, dislocation and potential medical emergencies in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster. It will also promote long term rebuilding efforts and overall disaster resiliency while treading lightly on the environment.
In the face of growing displacement, economic hardship and loss of life due to increasingly powerful natural disasters, create a reliable system for providing necessities to families and groups of people in affected areas. Promote the well-being, recovery and rebuilding efforts of disaster victims by distributing renewable energy generation, water purification and shelter in the form of pre-designed Solar Shelter Kits. Kits would be used for as long as needed, then cleaned and reused.
Produce and distribute Solar Shelter Kits (SSKs) to families struggling to recover in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, or as they rebuild over the long term. Each SSK consists of an insulating, hard-walled, temporary structure complete with water filtration for a family of four and a solar generator capable of running small appliances or medical equipment and storing energy for nighttime or rainy-day use. SSKs can be cleaned and stored for re-use several times over their ten-year life.
The SSK program could benefit thousands or Puerto Ricans. Due to the long life and the fact that an SSK can be stored indefinitely, resiliency in the face of more frequent and more powerful storms is achieved along with greater long term impact. Repeated uses further increase the benefits of the SSK system. Each deployment of an SSK represents a smaller carbon footprint, less fuel use, fewer water containers in the landscape & oceans, fewer disposable tent/shelter solutions in landfills.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
