The Hexayurt is a refugee shelter system based on work done at the Rocky Mountain Institute. It uses an approach based on "autonomous building" to provide not just a shelter, but a comprehensive family support unit which includes drinking water purification, composting toilets, fuel-efficient stoves and solar electric lighting. Other systems can be added in a modular fashion. Here is a one page summary (pdf).

Is this for real?[edit | edit source]

• Yes. Both the American Red Cross and the US Department of Defense have examined the Hexayurt system in detail and found that it has considerable merit and utility. I hope that we will see it in use by international agencies within two years.
• The best place to get started is to read the slides from the presentation Vinay Gupta gave at the Pentagon in December 2006: Pentagon Presentation (pdf) - 20 pages, not much text, and the best summary of the system we currently have online.

Can I have one?[edit | edit source]

Yes, the hexayurt is designed to be accessible to anyone. You can make your own, many people do for camping events. The do-it-yourself knowledge repository is at hexayurt playa because of the hexayurt's overwhelming popularity at the Burning Man Arts Festival.

Projected Costs[edit | edit source]

• Shelter: $200 - $500+ per single family unit depending on size, climate and use duration
• Infrastructure Package: around $100 per unit

Materials[edit | edit source]

• Permanent use: Thermax HD (Dow)
• Temporary use: laminated hexacomb cardboard (Pregis)
• On site fabrication: Tuff R (Dow, widely used)

Units[edit | edit source]

There are three shelter sizes, of which the middle size is shown.

• Stretch Around $100 per unit, 6' high, 72 sq ft
• 8 foot Around $200 per unit, 8' high, 166 sq ft.
• 12 foot Around $300 per unit, 12' high, 166 sq ft. Resembles a space age cabin, full standing height throughout.

Assembly[edit | edit source]

Units take a team of three people around an hour to assemble. They are assembled using a 6" wide, 600+lb bidirectional filament tape, and anchored to the ground like tents. No heavy lifting, ladders or scaffolding are required.

Manufacture[edit | edit source]

Any wood shop or packaging factory can be taught to manufacture units in an afternoon. In emergencies, basic units can be manufactured on site with hand tools in half an hour each (only six cuts are required for each unit.)

Infrastructure Package[edit | edit source]

• 1 Wood Gasification Stove (burns wood for cooking, 3x more efficient than clay stoves)
• 2 Cold Cathode / LED Flashlights (energy efficient area lighting)
• 1 Composting Toilet (model depends on location and we are still researching options)
• 1 Water Purifier (type depends on location)
• Rechargeable AA batteries (for stove, lights, radios etc), for use in solar charging stations.

Availability[edit | edit source]

All intellectual property associated with this project is public domain.

The ball is a satellite dish from http://www.gatr.com

Subpages[edit | edit source]

This is a list of the pages that are part of the project. Some editing and maintenance is needed. Contact User:Apepitone for more information.