[Save] Solar Survival Shelter

[George Mokray]

Before 2000, I assembled an emergency kit.  It includes an 
international orange plastic tube tent, a mylar mummy bag, a 52" x 
84" sheet of "survival wrap" mylar reflector, a magnesium fire 
starting tool, and a sealed container of water treatment tablets 
among other things.  It's like my "drop bundle" as Heinlein and 
Butler name it in their science fiction novels, the pack you pick up 
as you head out the door one step ahead of disaster.

For a long time, I've wondered what a solar homeless shelter would 
look like and even imagined a solar homeless shelter design contest.

The materials might include a sheet of clear plastic, a sheet of 
black plastic, and a sheet of reflective foil;  packing materials, 
cardboard and paper for insulation; string, wire, broomsticks and 
scrap lumber for structure.

These are all the necessities for solar energy collection - black 
absorber, foil or white reflector, and clear barrier for the wind.

And isn't a solar homeless shelter another term for a tent?

In the 6/27/99 NY Times Magazine article on rebuilding Kosovo, two 
housing kits the international agencies distributed were described.

Kit 1
intended to help families construct a single habitable room

75 square meters of heavy plastic sheeting for temporary roofing
40 square meters of clear plastic sheeting for temporary windows
2 wood boards for window frames
60 one meter wood strips to secure the plastic sheeting
20 meters of adhesive tape
2 kilograms of mails, various sizes
staple gun and staples
hammer
crosscut hand saw
shovel and bucket
Cost per kit:  $200

Kit 2
intended to winterize a single room

one interior door and frame
one or two glazed windows
spray foam insulation for sealing doors and windows
floor insulation
stove
Cost per kit: $325

Could a solar refugee shelter provide space heat and hot water, 
cooking, even waste treatment?  Isn't that what's needed?

The 9/21/03 NY Times Magazine has a photo essay on refugee camps. 
I'd guess that things haven't changed much in four years but maybe 
it's time they should.