Chavez pledges plastic houses for poor

[rooboy]

Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, has toured a house made of plastic and promised to build thousands more like it for the country's poor as he marked the creation of a national petrochemical company.

Chavez said the new Corporacion Venezolana de Petroquimica, or Pequiven, will step up production of products from plastics to fertiliser as it begins operating independently from the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

"We are going to turn Venezuela into a petrochemical power," Chavez said, wearing a hardhat as he visited a petrochemical plant in the western state of Zulia today. "From today on, Pequiven is independent."

Stepping through a model home with plastic walls built on the factory grounds, he touted it as an economical solution. He said such homes cost about 35 per cent less than those built with cinderblocks.

Officials today also signed a series of agreements for petrochemical projects, including one to begin producing the plastic houses. They said they will be able to produce 1,300 plastic homes this year, and as many as 30,000 next year.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/plastic-revolution/2005/06/26/1119724517718.html

[pdurod1]

1. Somebody put Chavez in charge of the tsunami relief effort in asia!

Tsunami aid 'went to the richest'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4621365.stm

[Mairead]

2. "such homes cost about 35 per cent less"

But Hugo, they last only about 1/100 as long. There are better technologies!

[1932]

7. Hopefully by the time they wear out, no Venezuelan will need to live in...

...a crappy small house, whether it's plastic or cinderblock, and they can recycle these.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

12. What types of economical homes are available to the US poor?

Besides trailers which many communities don’t permit or subsidized housing that some working poor don’t qualify for or cannot access in their geographical location. Are there prefabricated economical houses available in our country for working poor who might save thousands by doing some of the work themselves? Let me know, while I don't have much money I do have a lot of sweat to spend on acquiring a rudimentary shelter for an affordable price.

[Vladimir]

3. Plastic homes?

I guess the Venezuelans know what they are doing, but it still sounds weird. Must be some pretty goddamn advanced plastics.

On the broader point of the article, the focus on Petrochemicals in general seems a positive one - Cuba has demonstrated that you don't need enormous amounts of money to have a good high-tech industry (in their case the biochemical/pharmaceutical industry) and Venezuela has a hell of a lot more cash to throw around.

[tsuki]

4. 35 cents? They also degrade quicker.

[oscar111]

5. new oil firm: state or what?

called both indep of the current state one, and also called a National firm

?? Perhaps two state firms in friendly competition? That would be interesting. The idea i have seen of dividing all gov agencies into three competing units, has merit. As long as there are no trade secrets from each other. eg. the Forest Service would be split into red unit, white unit, and blue unit. Red, white and blue - like the flag.

BTW, plastic may degrade, but would be fine for temp shelter of any homeless, till cinderblock ones later.
We need a million of them.

PS not thirty five cents but percent IIRC

[Township75]

6. With how plastics warp and degrade in the presence of UV light..

he will be building them again real soon.

[KlatooBNikto]

8. Planned Obsolescence Hugo style!

[msmcghee]

19. I use marine grade polymers for boat building . .

. . that can sit in the sun and saltwater for years with no degradation.

But it does seem to me that homes built with natural (like stones, straw, etc.) rather than refined products should be more economical for the poor.

[greyl]

20. The Space Shuttles' "windshields are made of plastic. nt

[Township75]

29. And it's exterior has a teflon coating too,

but I really doubt Chavez is building these homes with the same budget that NASA has for one shuttle.

There are polymers that have UV resistance, but not alot do...most of the cheap ones don't.

[mbperrin]

9. Using their own fertilizer and other products for themselves??!!

Selfish bastards There's a Bush somewhere who needs to make an extra buck!

[mbperrin]

10. Here's one example of plastic houses

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3528716.stm

<from the middle of the article>He has spent the last 20 years, and millions of his own dollars, developing a building system that uses polystyrene.

"The polystyrene foam that we use is just like the stuff you drink out of," said Mr Haddock.

Testing materials

Polystyrene foam is a great insulator. It keeps cool things cool, and hot things hot. And it is also resistant to moisture, mould and mildew.

We built our first house in 1984," he said. "It was a 2,000 square foot house in Alaska, where we have the highest wind loads, the most earthquakes, and the heaviest snow loads.

"That house, I stayed in it the last two weeks, with my daughter. It's performing perfectly, no problems with it, and we do have buildings all over the world, pretty much, and it sounds like we may be going to a lot of other places." <more>

[Massacure]

14. Polystyrene is a nightmare to get rid of though isn't it?

Or am I thinking of a different type of foam cup?

[mbperrin]

17. Good question! I had to look up a bit.

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Polystyrene-Products-Recycling-PSPC.htm

The gist of it is that food service polystyrene is generally not recycle because of the expense of ridding it of food waste, but that recycling of other polystyrenes, like peanuts and blocks and so on, is way up. Interestingly, CFC's are not used in 97%+ of polystyrene production, which was an itch I had about it.

Thanks for asking!

[mom cat]

21. "In Afghanistan, the foam would be wrapped in a low-tech layer of chicken

wire then covered in a thin layer of concrete"(from the same article in the BBC): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3528716.stm
I would imagine that the thin layer of concrete would stop the UV light penetration and retard any deterioration of the plastic. I also guess that it would not be enough concrete to kill you in an earthquake thus making it far superior to center block construction. I don't like the idea of using that much plastic when we should be conserving petroleum products for the future. Perhaps some environmentally friendly alternative would do as good a job or better. I certainly hope so.

[mbperrin]

11. Here's another example

http://www.ecdevjournal.com/pubs/1998/art026_98.htm
<from the middle of the article>
The first home manufactured from the System was erected in Germany back in 1992. Today, there are single and multi-family homes, schools, factories, medical centers, hospitals, car washes and other types of structures made from the System in over 40 countries around the world. In all four corners of the globe, builders are quickly becoming aware of the advantages of the System.

Structures made from the System are virtually maintenance free, can be constructed quickly without the use of heavy equipment, have proven themselves durable against hurricanes and earthquakes, are affordable, and are less expensive to heat and cool. As one industry observer commented, "Vic is the Henry Ford of the building industry," revolutionizing the way we build, not only in North America, but around the world.

When asked about his vision for the system, Vic responded, "We are offering the world a way to build faster, stronger and more affordably, through partnerships around the globe." He added, "There are many areas of the world growing so quickly that conventional building methods just won't allow them to satisfy all their needs for houses and commercial buildings." <more>

[murray hill farm]

15. and how much of our homes now are built of plastic...

how much pvc goes into any new home...the best and longest lasting decks are now made of wood look alike plastic deck boards...and are used in all the homes in the south...the petro that is available in venezuela..is going to be used for venezuelan poor...wood eating termites are tremendously destructive in central and south america to anything containing wood. cinder block rots...go visit a central or south american country...but it last longer than wood. if venezuela has the tecnology and the basic ingredients to build homes from plastic and use the type of polymer materials that are now used in the southern usa for stronger decks...this is brilliant, really.

[Robb]

13. Seems like he read Ecotopia

...my dim memory remembers something like this.

A book everyone should read, by the way. Author Ernest Callenbach's vision of Washington, Oregon, and northern California cutting off ties w/the rest of the nation and going militantly green. :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Well at least he isn't cutting down trees

in rain forests.

Or is he?

[DS1]

18. It's great that he's doing this, but the 'new petrochemical power' quote

makes the hairs on my neck stand up

[1932]

23. Why?

[DS1]

25. More pollution

in the long range.

[1932]

26. I suspect that Chávez isn't talking so much about increasing demand

as he is about keeping more of the money made from production in Venezuela, rather than having Texans and Dutch people get rich from Venezuelan production.

So long as people are paying $60 pb for oil -- and regardless of how much is produced -- Venezuela is entiteld to become a leader in figuring out how to produce and sell (and, apparently, use) oil.

I also vaguely remember reading an article about how Venezuela is seriously interested in finding cleaner ways to burn oil and in more environmentally friendly ways to conduct the extraction and production process -- I think I read that at Venezuelanalysis.com under the section on the oil industry.

[Judi Lynn]

22. How could plastic possibly NOT outlast what the urban poor in Venezuela

are forced to call "home" now? You may remember hearing heavy rains take all the houses down the hill in catastrophic mudslides, and, as you can see, fires can devastate the whole area.



The photos mperrin provided look a damned sight better than this.

I've read that there isn't enough room to bring in machinery to create level foundations, so they pour concrete floors on poorly leveled lots which split, leaving part of the house on one level _{and another part somewhere else.} And, you can forget decent plumbing and sewer systems.

All this has been just fine with the ruling class all these many, many years. These people could rot in their shanties for all they care. Hugo Chavez is an absolute godsend to Venezuela's masses.

[NuttyFluffers]

27. thanks, sensibility should prevail here.

wood = loss of trees, rots, etc.

cinderblocks = good construction mostly unavailable for poor, bad for earthquakes, generally poor insulation compared to other materials, etc

plastic = great insulation, cheap, easy to form, can prefab, good for earthquakes (depending on the plastic, though), but potentially poisonous in fires (but it could be a kind that has an outrageously high melting point...), and comes from burn fossil fuels (but they are being burnt anyways, so might as well do something with the waste)

i love plastic, fantastic material with an unbelievable array of molecular construction for various uses. can't wait 'til we officially transcend into the Plastic Age (still think we are in the Steel Age, still basis of our infrastructure).

stamped earth would be nice, as another poster suggested, but tends to be expensive in labor costs, req. of knowledgeable constructors, and materials in trying to set up the mold for proper stamping of the earth. and then you need to get geologists to examine the hillsides for mudslides and where to pull out the earth -- and find out how much has to be imported from somewhere else for safety reasons. in the way the barrios are i really don't see a massive stamped earth project as feasible as plain ol' cheap plastic homes. wish it were, but i doubt the logistics for this problem.

[VegasWolf]

28. Yes, good for Chavez. At least he is trying, Bush's plan relies on a

folding cardboard box. OH Sorry, Bush has NO plan for the poor.

[pdurod1]

30. Hey, those

are $million homes if they were in California...

[quaoar]

24. Rammed earth homes would be better

It's a low-tech, labor-intensive building method -- ideal for places like Venezuela. All you need is suitable soil. And the insulating factor is far superior to plastic.

http://www.rammedearthworks.com/

[sleipnir]

31. Related Story: Chavez tours Disneyland "World of Tomorrow!"

and is impressed by all the other worthless crap from the 50's that never came true or was at all fucking practical.

Really, I do love Chavez, but this seems a bit odd. Not to mention the toxins that go into producing plastic. Someone needs to buy this guy a clue when it comes to the future of the environment and the best use of petrochemicals.

[NNN0LHI]

32. And we give our homeless people concrete and steel bridges to live under

Chavez must be a real cheapskate.

Don

[Maddy McCall]

33. Y'all understand what Chavez is doing. He's sending notice...

subtle notice...but still notice, to the US that Venezuela will expend it's on petro resources on its own people.

You got to give it to Chavez. He's fucking bold. :D

[spinbaby]

34. Giant Legos!

Seriously, can you imagine how great it would be if we had a full-sized Lego building system we could build real houses with?