Imagining a Healthy Future: Cross-Disciplinary Design for Sustainable Community Development in Cange, Haiti

A new center for community development and sustainable infrastructure is being planned for the central plateau of Haiti. This Center of Excellence will support the ongoing applied research of the Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries (CEDC), a service-learning program at Clemson University, which has, to date, produced an exemplary municipal water system and a net-positive-energy waste treatment system in the town of Cange. The new Center of Excellence is envisioned as a setting for collaboration, demonstration, and the exchange of ideas between local communities. Tying into the preceding water and waste infrastructures, the new facility itself is being designed as a leading example of resilient, self-sustaining construction that is replicable in its setting. Renewable energy solutions, including a combination of solar and small-scale hydroelectric, will compliment passive thermal and ventilation strategies. Moreover, embodied energy is addressed through careful attention to the materials and methods of construction in this resource-constrained environment. These topics are especially important in the wake of the reconstruction that continues after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The design and planning of the Center of Excellence has been orchestrated through a unique educational partnership between students and faculty in the Clemson University School of Architecture and their counterparts from CEDC. In this setting, architecture teams are supported through specific technical consultation from CEDC project teams and former interns, with topics ranging from anaerobic waste treatment, to expected laboratory energy loads, to concrete masonry specifications and testing. This collaboration ensures that the new facility will incorporate and demonstrate the latest research coming out of CEDC, while simultaneously opening the doors to new areas of inquiry. This paper details the collaborative structure of this research-based design studio, and how multidisciplinary intellectual resources are leveraged toward integrated building and site solutions. The specific goals and parameters of the Center of Excellence facility in Cange will underpin the discussion.