funding for cob code project (Re: [Cob] cob in vancouver)

[Jonathan Walther]

Ian, if your group needs funding to rent the seismic machine and build
appropriately sized cob structures for developing the code, I have some
possibly relevant information.

Tonight I met Tim Pringle, Executive Director of the Real Estate
Foundation of British Columbia.  If I understood him correctly, they
give grants and funding to projects that promote sustainable and
environmentally friendly land use in British Columbia.

I discussed the merits of cob with Tim tonight, and although he said the
foundation wasn't funding any cob projects at the moment, my impression
was that if someone submitted a good proposal and made a good case for
it, that could change.

Ian, I feel you could make a very good case that your project does
contribute to sustainable and environmentally friendly land developement
in BC, and so I feel your group should be a shoo-in for funding.

If you come up with a plan, please share it with the mailing list, but
more importantly, please get in touch with Tim.  His phone number is
604-688-3669, and his email address is tpringle at radiant.net.

If you would like someone to join in on developing a proposal to submit
to the Real Estate Foundation, I would be happy to assist.  I'd hate to
see the Vancouver city code start requiring all kinds of two-by-fours
and rebar in the construction of a cob house when cob houses are already
earthquake resistant without them.

Jonathan

PS: there is a small cob building at the mental hospital on Cambie
street, on the west side of the street, near 52nd Avenue.  It looks like
a chapel, with stained glass windows.  Anyone is free to go look at it.
It is very solid.  I believe builders cooperated with city officials and
made good headway in winning their support for cob construction; this
just needs to be followed up on.

On Sat, Feb 28, 2004 at 12:39:27AM -0800, Ian Marcuse wrote:
>Hi Jonathan,
>
>You make a good point. While I am a freedom lover at heart, there is no
>way to build cob over 100 round feet in public spaces in Vancouver (nor
>in private space) without a permit or code. At this point the code
>folks are not getting too involved. They are just curious and our
>structure is under 100 round feet. They are also very supportive.  What
>has happened on the Gulf Islands here in BC is that the permits folks
>are allowing cob buildings which is good but they have to be built with
>post and beam, thus non-loadbearing, which is perhaps bad.  So it is
>kinda like a compromise. We are building a loadbearing cob structure
>and I am hoping that we can show/prove to the city engineers and code
>folks that it is solid, and with some testing behind us, perhaps we can
>get approval for a larger fully loadbearing and officially permitted
>cob building the following year in Vancouver. I feel confident that as
>long as we build well, engineers will be comfortable allowing cob. The
>problem on the Gulf Islands is that the permits people knew nothing
>about cob apart from a little they read, so they went with what they
>knew. It is likely that we will be beefing up our building a bit,
>particularly around seismic concerns, which are important here in
>Vancouver. This shouldn't take away from the spirit of cob building
>(its affordability, use of local materials, hand-built, etc.) but will
>go a long way to allieviating the fears of engineers and code people.
>
>Does anyone know of any cob buildings in cities in North America that 
>were built in public spaces (or private) that received permits? What 
>are people's experiences with city officials?
>
>
>
>>On Thu, Feb 26, 2004 at 09:12:42AM -0800, Ian Marcuse wrote:
>>>Our city administration here in Vancouver is now ready to develop 
>>>code for cob here in the city as we have engineers and code 
>>>developers working with us. I have been putting together resources 
>>>for them. Does anyone have experience developing cob code? I 
>>>welcome any thoughts and ideas on developing a cob testing program 
>>>that we may be able to undertake at the University.
>>
>>Please please please don't let them overload cob with so many
>>restrictions that a young fellow wanting to build his house for $20k no
>>longer has that chance.
>>
>>Otherwise, that is great news.  I've been wanting to build a cob house
>>since I saw that little cob chapel being built on Cambie street.
>>
>>Jonathan
>>
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