1. Lightweight Biochar Concrete Roof
2nd generation
4 Walls – Customer
Ithaka Institute – Material Sponsors
Sarah Brownell- Faculty Champion
John Kaemmerlen- Faculty Guide

2. Agenda Introduction Project Background Problem Statement Use Scenarios
Current and Desired State
Goals and Main Deliverables
Constraints
Use Scenarios
Requirements
HOQ
Benchmarking
Risks
Project Plan
Jenn

3. Introductions Team Member Role Mary Korycansky Project Manager
Rory Little
Testing/Manufacturing Lead
Jenn Kane
Lead Engineer
Luqman Zainalabidin
Modeling/Simulation Engineer
Carmen Azzaretti
Design Lead
Everyone

4. Stakeholders 4-Walls Project Ithaka Institute Faculty Champion
Bonnie Yannie, Joe Hallinan, Robert Boxer, Sally Kuehl and Kellen Morgan
Ithaka Institute
Kathleen Draper
Faculty Champion
Sarah Brownell
Nicaraguan Natives
Rory

5. Project Background The 4-Walls project
Raises money
Provides volunteers
Builds permanent homes in El Sauce, Nicaragua
Current roofs - zinc coated roofing sheets
Imported and shipped hundreds of miles
Most costly piece of the home
Noisy during rain
Traps heat inside the house
P16485 – Lightweight Concrete Roofing Tiles
Combatting cost
Helping local economy
Safer homes
Jenn

6. Biochar
Thermal decomposition of biomass with limited oxygen and low temperatures
Role in concrete
Jenn

7. Problem Statement Current Desired Biochar concrete tiles 2 Tile design
Leaks
Bamboo supports
Improved biochar concrete mix
Full roof design
No leaks
Improved system for attachment
Improved strength to weight
Reduce cost
Standardized work for manufacturing
Carmen

8. Problem Statement Goals Main Deliverables
Improve biochar concrete mix and manufacturing process
Design roofs to be made locally to stimulate their economy
Redesign roof to eliminate leaking, reduce cost and improve strength to weight ratio
Working prototype of roof
Molds and fabrication tools designed with prototypes
Manufacturing plan for roofs to be made locally
Testing documentation
Carmen

9. Problem Statement Constraints Limited Local Resources
Technical Abilities of Personnel
Climate Differences
Safety
Cost
Using Existing Structures
Transportation Feasibility
Uses Local Materials
Carmen

10. Use Scenarios Roof design used on a current 4 walls house
Roof design used on a house with different dimensions than current 4 walls design
Roof design used on a house with different roof support structure
Rory

11. Use Scenario Building a new 4-Walls House
Rory

12. Customer Requirements
Luqman

13. Engineering Requirements
Luqman

14. House of Quality
Mary

15. House of Quality Highlights
Most Important ER Takeaways
Supports a person
Keeps cost low
Roof tiles are easily transportable
Meets waterproof standards
Cost efficient
Durable
Light Weight
Mary

16. Benchmarking Weight (lbs) Strength (lbs) Material Cost ($)
Durablility (Lifespan yrs.)
Weatherproofing (mph)
Feasability (Low/Middle/High)
Installation Resources
Notes
16485 Roof
8.55 (flat) 5.04 ("round")
169
68.10 (flat) ("round")
N/A
Low
(2 workers working 20 hours for full roof)
Zinc Roof
.73 lbs/ft^2
0.87 per sqft
100
140
Middle
simple installation - transportation/shipping of material is costly
loud, poor insulation techniques
Clay roof 10
$3 per sq ft
125
$10
Shingle Roof
2 lbs/ft^2
Plywood sheathing
1.22 per sq ft 15
90-150
1-2 skilled worker, plywood resources
Requires sheathing
Thatched roof
Thatching cheap if vegetation readily available
8 to 14
High
1 skilled thatcher + many helpers. Labor intensive
bugs may be an issue, appears to be in use already
Mary

17. Actions to Minimize Risk
Risk Analysis ID
Category
Risk Item
Effect
Cause
Likelihood
Severity
Importance
Actions to Minimize Risk
Owner 1
Technical 
The biochar concrete mix not being suitable
Strength to weight ratio is not optimal
Variable nature of biochar and other components in concrete mix. Another cause is inconclusive or incomplete testing of mixes 9 81
Standardize test methods. Design of experiments will be done for testing.
Rory 2
The roof could be too heavy for the supports
Uninhabitable home.
Effects of biochar in mix not as significant as intended for this purpose 3 27
Perform FEA, test final roofing test with supports
Luqmen 
Resource
Don't have access to local resources, enviroment, and not able to do testing in local enivorment 
Solution is not adaptable to Nicaragua
Limited knowledge of Nicaraguan resources and environmental characteristics.
Research and work with customers to obtain knowledge of  materials available 
Jenn 4
Not enough money/time to test everything we want to 
Concrete mix is not optimal
Budget is low, not enough concrete research, unrealistic test plan
Efficient use of resources and time
Mary  5
Safety 
Roof tiles falling into home
Home is not safe at all
Solution is flawed for environment (earthquakes, hurricanes, aging, trusses etc.)
Design tiles and attachments with this issue in mind
Carmen  6
Enviromental
Manufacturing byproducts contaminates environment 
Environmental contamination
Bad resource management, improper mixing, no standard work
Create standard work for manufacturing
Jenn

18. Project Plan
Mary

19. Questions?