Versatile, flexible, humble, strong yet gentle. These are the human qualities that are often used to describe the wonder grass, Bamboo or ‘Mai Pai’ (ไม้ไผ่) as the Thai call it. These impressive characteristics are skillfully put to good use in Panyaden School’s construction.

There are at least 1,250 species of Bamboo in the world that can be clustered into 2 main types (http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/bamboo.htm):

From the photos and posts on this blog, we see how Bamboo can be used in amazing ways to create the roofs and beams of the salas at Panyaden School. Here is a great opportunity for the pupils to learn about the different species of ‘Mai Pai’ and the part they played in the school’s construction.

Below is a précis of the 9 species deployed for various roles at the School. An estimated total of 40,000 to 50,000 lengths (each length is 9m) of Bamboo would be used by the time the construction is over.

	Thai Name*	Botanical Name	Usage
	Mai (or Pai) Ruak Dang	Thyrsostachys Siamensis	Its skin & smaller poles are bundled to create long curves for the roofs. Also used for splits, shingles & chicken net layers for the substructure of the roofs. Good for hedging & screening.
	Mai (or Pai) Ruak Dum	Thyrsostachys Oliveri	Its skin & smaller poles are bundled to create long curves for the sala & kindergarten roofs. Also used to weave chicken net/mat layers & as supporting poles.
	Pai Bong Nam	Bambusa Burmanica	Some mats for the school roofs. Good for making rope, thatching & basketry.
	Pai Hok	Dendrocalamus Hamiltonii	Strong, straight bamboo poles are used for structural columns & beams for the school salas, kindergarten trusses & roofs.
	Pai Sang	Dendrocalamus Strictus	Formwork for rammed earth walls, mat layers for the roofs; Useful for making furniture/ home décor items.
	Pai Sang Nuan/Yen	Dendrocalamus Membranaceus/Brandisii	Poles are joined to make scaffolds or split to create formwork for rammed earth walls. Can be used for binding & caning of chairs, basket making & mats.
	Pai Si Suk	Bambusa Blumeana	Mat layers for the roofs & supporting poles. Planted alongside the school’s moat to prevent mudslides because of its strong roots. Flexible enough for weaving baskets & handicrafts.
	Pai Tong	Dendrocalamus Asper	Strong structural columns & beams for the school salas, kindergarten trusses & roofs. Good for shoot production (food!).

*some names may vary according to different provinces

Note: In the spirit of reducing waste, any leftover Bamboo bits and pieces are recycled as dowls (wooden nails), shingles, charcoal, even tea mugs for the workers!

Waste Not:

From Food Scraps to Natural Cooking Gas

Everyone, meet the Food Waste Digester. Installing this anaerobic digester is another initiative by the Founders of Panyaden School to recycle any food scraps and organic waste generated at the school.

The environmental engineers at Utility Business Alliances (UBA) estimate that on average, 450 children and teachers (1 meal a day) will produce about 70 to 80kg of organic waste.

Instead of throwing that away and leaving it to be trucked to a landfill where it will decompose and rot with other materials to release greenhouse gases like methane into the environment, the School plans to use the food digester to turn the waste into biogas.

What is a Food Waste Digester?

The Food Waste Digester (FWD) is a tank in which bacteria digest and break down organic matter without using oxygen. Watch the YouTube video at the start of this post (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=but5ntRMQQc&feature=player_embedded). It demonstrates a simplified version of how an anaerobic digester like the FWD generally works to produce biogas, a clean natural gas that represents renewable energy.

Food waste that can easily go into the FWD are

Benefits
For minimal labour input, biogas can replace firewood and fossil fuels that are becoming more expensive as supply lags behind demand (source: University of Adelaide, http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas). At Panyaden School, the biogas will be sent from the tank to the gas stove for cooking. Here’s some math that might help put things into perspective (approximations only):

80kg of food waste per day = approx. 2.5 m³ of biogas = 90min of cooking time

Another benefit of using the FWD is that the residual digested food waste (‘digestate’) that is routed to the sludge drying beds, can be recycled as fertilizer for planting.

There is no need to worry that using a food digester will attract vermin. It will not because the food waste is broken down under the ground. The FWD is also designed with fibre-reinforced plastic that keeps in odors that attract vermin.

The children at the School will also be able to learn from an early age, the science and application of fermentation, digestion, natural gases, renewable energy and of course, sensible waste management.

Note: Methane is not toxic when inhaled, but it can produce suffocation by reducing the concentration of oxygen inhaled (K. Alisa from UBA). When structures are built on or near landfills, methane can penetrate the buildings’ interiors and expose occupants to significant levels of methane, posing a high risk of causing asphyxiation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane).

“Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.”

- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Although Coleridge was writing about being surrounded by seawater that is unfit for consumption,
we may face the same ‘undrinkable’ scenario if we do not save our water resources or protect them
from contamination.

We apparently consume and generate an average of 10 billion pounds of solid and liquid waste each day. If we do not dispose of this waste responsibly, we could create environmental pollution that is hazardous to both humans and nature.

Waste water treatment
I wish there is a better way of naming this process but it is what it is – an efficient way of removing contaminants from liquid waste and safely discharging or reusing the resulting effluent and sludge.

Besides using natural materials for its construction, Panyaden School will treat waste water as part of its ‘common sense’ efforts to save water and to reduce its ecological footprint. The students will also gain firsthand knowledge of water conservation and responsible wastewater management.

How will waste water be treated at Panyaden School?
Have a look at the diagram of the waste water treatment (I’d refer to it as WWT) plant that the school is discreetly building at the back of its premises with the help of environmental consultants from Utility Business Alliance (UBA*).

The UBA team from Bangkok has designed the main WWT capsule to be placed safely underground where it will not be an eye sore.

There are 2 basic stages to a standard WWT plant:

After stage 2, the wastewater may still contain some organic compounds, phosphates, nitrates and pathogens. These can be further removed in the third level through a series of chemical and physical processes. However the effluent discharged from Stage 2 (with the proper design and operation) normally passes the effluent standard, hence eliminating the need for further treatment.

How will the treated water be used at Panyaden School?
The School’s WWT plant will treat the water up to the secondary stage. The treated water will be safe and clean enough to be discharged into the natural waterways. The bacteria-rich sludge will be used as organic fertilizer.

Clean water everywhere
We can all do our part to conserve water and ease the pressure on waste treatment plants in our town, city or state. Pause and think a little before you turn on the tap. Let’s do what we can to ensure we will have enough clean water everywhere in the future, “flowing, ever flowing” (Andrew B. Paterson, poet).

*Utility Business Alliances Co., Ltd. (UBA), http://www.uba.co.th

Established in 2000 by a group of science professionals, the company specializes in water pollution management. It is accepted as one of the leaders in waste and water management treatment in Thailand.

UBA is certified with international qualification standards of ISO9001 and ISO14001 (Environment Management System).

The UBA team for Panyaden School is made up of K. Bordin Udon, K. Piti Julkhananukit, K. Somchat Sanghitkul and K. Alisa Wichichiencharoen. They are working on 3 projects for the School:

• Designing and building the WWT plant
• Designing the Food Waste Digester (look out for our next post on this)
• Measuring the School’s carbon footprint and recommending ways of
  keeping it low

The fragrant aroma of burning joss sticks mixed with the light sweet scent of bamboo hovered gently in the air at Chiangmai Life Construction. This morning at 8.45am, one of the most important and ancient aspects of Thai life was honoured here at the construction company.

A small ceremony was conducted to invite the Guardian Spirit of The Land (‘Phra Phum’ or ‘Jao Tii) to move to his new dwelling (‘San’) auspiciously situated on the grounds of the bamboo factory. A Brahmin priest from Sameong, Chiang Mai, Por Ajahn Nan performed the ritual with the attendance of the owner Markus Roselieb, Ajahn Decha, Ajahn Sorn, the foremen and other employees of CLC and Panayden School.

Prayers and mantras were recited to invoke the Guardian Spirits including ‘Phra Chai Mong Kol’ (Guardian Spirit of Businesses) to protect and watch over CLC’s work. Traditional victuals like a pig’s head, sticky rice, duck, bananas, Thai sweetmeats and drinks were presented along with flower garlands and medicine. Towards the end of the ceremony, a long piece of white string was stretched across the offerings and linked to the figurines inside both the Spirit Houses. These figurines represent ‘Phra Phum’, the main Guardian Spirit and his companions.

After final prayers, everyone moved to the entrance of CLC where a new company sign has been erected. Por Ajahn Nan prayed quietly over a bowl of water, blessing it with “good energy” (Ajahn Decha) before splashing the sign with the water. He did this 3 times before turning to sprinkle on the onlookers. Happily blessed, we all left CLC beaming and revitalized to continue with the day ahead.

All the best to Markus and his team in their business venture!

“Right now, we will finish the the guard house, the Parents’ Sala, and the first layer of the bamboo roof of the big Assembly Hall. Next, we will prepare the floors of the 2 salas so that we can use these covered spaces for work.

We are ready to lift the trusses up onto the walls of the Kindergarten but it has been raining every night this week and the site is muddy. We hope that we can do this by the end of the week. Once this is done, we will focus on layering on the bamboo work for the roof. We cannot start working on the curved walls of the Kindergarten (using adobe bricks*) until the roof is finished.

We are also happy that we are making good, steady progress on the rammed earth walls for the third Kindergarten.”

Markus Roselieb, owner of Chiang Mai Life Construction (CLC), is the Project Manager in charge of building Panyaden Buddhist School.

*Left: The adobe bricks that CLC has produced, will be used wherever there are free wall forms and there is no need to support the weight of the roof.They are laborious to produce but are easier and faster to build with than rammed earth. No form work is necessary, just mix some mud and stack them like any other bricks.

The official launch of Panyaden School took place at the Kid’s Learning Expo 2010 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok from 23 to 25 July 2010. The objective of the exhibition was to introduce our school to the Thai academic world and to spread the news that this unique school project is happening in Chiang Mai. The booth’s decoration was a major eye catch in this event. We imitated the rammed earth walls and the bamboo roofs used at our school.

Many children enjoyed participating in the activities conducted by the Panyaden team i.e. weaving palm leaves in animal shapes (‘pla tapian bai lan’), drawing and painting organic forms. The teachers and other staff of Panyaden also enjoyed their time with the children. Just the smiles shining from our little friends who visited the booth made this a cheerful and successful event for all of us. Quite a number of parents were interested in our school concept and the curriculum design. Many plan to come to our Open House in Chiang Mai on 28 November 2010 from 10am to 3pm. Over 100 parents gave us their contact details to keep them updated on the project and are considering sending their children to attend either the summer course or the 2011 academic year, or both, at Panyaden School. We hope to see you all at our road show in Chiang Mai as well as our Open House Day.

“Rather than an education system which is geared to testing and to competition and to preparing people for a particular livelihood, the emphasis of Buddhist education is on teaching children how to learn, how to enjoy learning, to love wisdom for its own sake. It teaches them the emotional maturity enabling them to make use of their knowledge to create a happy life for themselves and their family and to contribute positively to the society in which they live. It in no way compromises on the work of preparing children to make a good livelihood, but it lets them see that life is deeper and richer than working in order to consume.” – On Buddhist Wisdom In Education by Ajahn Jayasaro

This delightful video is out on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvzWJJ8NeXE) and on our Facebook page. Produced by Phenomena Bangkok.

Criteria for the selection of teachers:

1. Their attitude towards teaching and towards their own goals
2. They must love being a teacher and have their ideas how to be a good educator
3. They need to know themselves and what they are good at so that they can skillfully pass on that knowledge to their students
4. Their general capacity to reflect on themselves and the world

Recruitment and Training:

Kru Maggie

Kru Maggie (Principal) shortlisted possible candidates after she has pored through the resumes/applications received by the Bangkok office. She interviewed each of them before she made a ‘final’ selection of candidates who qualify for a 3-day trial period with her.

Upon passing the trial, the candidates undergo a 3-month training program.

During this time, the potential teachers learn how to meditate and how to use non-verbal communication tools such as music and pictures as new effective means of teaching.

They also learn to understand and deal positively with each student’s unique character in order to bring out the best from him or her.

Next, the potentials are placed in different schools in Bangkok that are similar in their educational approach to Panyaden’s, to gain practical teaching experience.

There are currently 30 candidates undergoing the practical teacher training. They will be further evaluated to see if they will eventually qualify to teach at Panyaden School in March next year (the school’s summer course starts 28 Mar to 6 May; First Term from 16 May – 30 Sept 2011).

The school is still looking for more candidates, both Thai and foreign (native English speaking). If you are interested in being part of Panyaden School, please click http://www.panyaden.org/contact-us

The 'Bamboo Boss' wearing his ubiquitous straw hat

Who’s Ajahn Decha Tiangkate? He is the man in the wide brimmed straw hat who is the Thai expert on bamboo.

He works with Chiangmai Life Construction (CLC) on the Panyaden School building project.

Markus Roselieb (owner of CLC) and everyone else on the site call him the ‘Bamboo Boss’ since he is in charge of the local bamboo craftsmen and workers on the site and because he knows a lot about bamboo in Thailand.

“I was born in the centre of Thailand, Rachaburi, in a Thai-Yuan (tribal) Village whose people originally relocated from Lanna (the north part of Thailand) 200 years ago. So I used to live close to nature and I just love it that way. I’ve grown up around bamboo buildings which were obviously the main structures in the village centre at that time.”

He regales me with stories of how bamboo was once used in traditional Thai villages. For example, villagers used bamboo to cut the umbilical cord after a baby was born. The bamboo must first be dried on a grill because it is stronger when it has been dried.

Bamboo is abundant in Thailand especially in the north. It is used for food, medicine, to make furniture, jewelry and clothes, musical instruments (remember the famous bamboo saxophone of Chiang Mai?) and bridges. So why is it not used more often to build houses and schools?

“Thai people still think that bamboo is a material for the poor in the countryside. If someone builds his own house with concrete, it represents wealth. Therefore, if someone builds his house with bamboo, people sadly think he’s poor.”

All around the world, bamboo has often been called ‘the poor man’s timber’ because of its affordable price and easy abundance. Concrete, a product of modern industrialization is more expensive and is thus seen as a status symbol for those who can afford it.

Conversely, bamboo has also been called ‘the wonder plant’. It is easy to cultivate and harvest. It is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. It is lighter in density than that of a bird but is as strong as steel. A piece of bamboo typically has a tensile strength of 28,000 per square inch vs. 23,000 for steel.

According to UNESCO, 70 hectares of bamboo produce enough material to build 1,000 houses. Imagine that! There is then no compelling need to cut down trees from rapidly diminishing forests (bamboo is harder than teak). We can also reduce our dependence on concrete and other building materials that require high energy to produce and high transportation costs.

After more than 10 years of working with bamboo, the ‘Bamboo Boss’ says he is still learning something new every day.

“I’ve worked with the architect, Olav (Bruin), on the Koh Kood project (Six Senses’ resort off the south-east coast of the Gulf of Siam) who used bamboo to construct a children’s den. The first time I saw the project, I thought it’s impossible to use bamboo on a mega-structure because we Thais do not believe that bamboo has the capability to carry a mega-structure or can be bent to create a curve, which can then be joined with bamboo itself.”

That same lesson has now been applied on an even bigger scale to the salas of Panyaden School. Where does he find the bamboo?

“Firstly, we have to do a survey, where is a good resource to get the bamboo which we can use, especially if it’s reasonable cost wise? Mostly, we get the bamboo from the North, where its geography is hilly, their quality is very good and when they are dried out, they’re stable and do not shrink. However, it depends on their age as well. It is best to use bamboo when they are mature between 3 to 5 years old.”

After the right bamboo has been selected for the right job (eg. the strong ‘pai tong’ is used for structural columns and beams), it has to be treated before it can be used for construction (see “The Bamboo Treatment Process” on the blog, 9 July).

Ajahn Decha thinks it will take time to educate people about the uses of bamboo, its durability, its beauty and flexibility. Take a look at the photos (by Ally Taylor) on this blog that show the amazing ways in which bamboo, stone and earth are used to create captivating roofs and buildings for Panyaden School. These are the results of an international collaboration between CLC, Ajahn Decha, Olav Bruin and 24h Architect, Mark Emery, and Hanno Burtscher. And lets not forget the 108 skilled foremen and craftsmen who work each day to make the designs a reality.

Labels come with certain judgments and assumptions that can be limiting. Really we ought to believe nothing unless it agrees with our own common sense (hence the title of this post). But don’t take my word for it.

Chiangmai Life Construction

Dr Markus Roselieb, Owner of Chiang Mai Life Construction

All right, if I can’t pigeonhole CLC as a green construction company, how then can I describe it?

Markus puts it succinctly: “The company is about construction for enhancing life as opposed to construction for mere survival which is what I see a lot of nowadays: bad materials and bad architecture resulting in spaces that nobody wants to stay longer than necessary in.

“Ask yourself what and why do you build anything? Do you build things to keep life out or do you build things to make life more comfortable, more livable and to increase the quality of life?

What is the function of a building? What should it fulfill? I look at the available space; I try to understand it and I try to understand the people who will be using it. Then I think about the materials that are most appropriate for the function and the space that I have before I can create the design. The outcome should be something you look at, smile and say this is the place I want to be in.”

Talking about the using labels like ‘green’ construction

“I think the most important thing is common sense and not labels. I use my own judgment whereby I don’t rape the earth but build quality. And I use traditional ancient knowledge and the knowledge that is available today because it is nonsense to ignore the increase of knowledge that has occurred during the history of mankind.”

That includes working with concrete that uses up a lot of energy to produce and transport?

“I will definitely use concrete foundations because any kind of natural materials you have to get off the earth so they don’t get wet because no natural material likes to be wet; sometimes some materials don’t like it at all.

Some materials can get a little wet but then they have to dry. If you stick a piece of bamboo into wet earth, during the rainy season where it’s wet for 4 or 5 months without drying, then it will rot. And if you are not willing to use concrete or a stone where you fix the bamboo with a metal rod, then in my opinion, you are not sustainable because your building would rot much faster and you have to build again.

All the work and energy consumed by the building process of the whole house and the disruption that occurs for the family far outweighs the use of concrete or metal to make a house that would last 40, 50 or 100 years.

If using concrete is the appropriate thing to do and if it is wise to put in steel reinforcements, if I know this will prolong the lifespan of the building for another 50 years, then the energy that went into producing this is by far less than the energy I would need to build a new building every 5 to 10 years because I have built the kind of building that crumble. So you have to use common sense, not labels.”

What kind of projects would you choose to do?

“There are so many kinds of different projects out there. I don’t think I am the right guy to build a car production company; it’s just not in my horizon of what I would like to be involved with.

Life is not just about staying home; it’s also about working. Interesting workspaces and of course housing and living are areas I will be focusing on. And any kind of agricultural buildings where you combine whatever you do with nature. This gives me the possibility to choose materials that are in tune with nature because this is my choice.”

Doesn’t that limit you to only certain kinds of jobs?

“I would say it frees me to do the kind of jobs that I like to do.”

Of course Panyaden School in Chiang Mai (Thailand) is testament to the kind of job and choices that Markus makes in constructing a building. Look at the blog photos of the salas and the kindergarten and see the passion and care with which nature’s materials like bamboo, stone and earth are crafted to form functional yet inspiring works of art set in an environment of serene greenery.

Yes, these buildings are enforced with concrete foundations and steel rods where appropriate but no more than is needed. There are also plans for waste water treatment to the point where water can be recycled for use back on the land. Decisions like these are made based on wisdom and knowledge culled from research and from talking to local and foreign experts but in the end, they are made from a place of sound judgment and good sense, not from a need to conform to any labels.

Decide for yourself.

Markus and Ajahn Decha discussing a bamboo truss for the kindergarten roof		Markus surveying the Panyaden School construction site
Bamboo drying at CLC		Parents’ Sala Prototype at CLC