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Need to go? Whalewatch Village can answer the call

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How do we encourage farmers to live on the land?

Professor Jan Wampler and a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) architecture students have spent the last few months designing a small farm dwelling to be part of a clustered agricultural community in North Kohala, tentatively named by the landowner “Whalewatch Village.”

This “Hawaii Hygiene Hut,” or “H3,” structure could potentially satisfy Department of Health requirements at a much lower cost than a traditional cesspool or septic system. (Photo courtesy of The Kohala Center)

The MIT group spent time on the island in October becoming oriented to local planning issues, meeting with key community members and government officials, and collecting information about community planning concerns and desired planning parameters. Back at MIT, they designed the housing, village, overall plan, and a small structure called “H3.”

The MIT students were tasked with exploring the feasibility of using local materials and resources in their building design.

“All of us, everywhere, must start doing this,” Wampler said. “For too long we have been dependent on outside resources — literally, the whole world — for our materials and food. This must stop, and this was our big challenge, but also an exciting new future.”

Wampler and the students designed a cluster of 10 dwellings plus a community building, which they hope can be constructed with locally sourced bamboo. They also designed the “H3” structure to house an approved composting toilet, a shower, and a sink.

MIT planning students are now working to calculate the costs of building the proposed structures, presuming that construction would be locally based, utilizing local bamboo.

MIT students are also reviewing Hawaii County’s current building and zoning codes to assess changes that might need to be made to these codes to permit such structures to be built on the island.

One product of the students’ work will be to outline proposed amendments to current codes to expedite construction of affordable farm dwellings on the island.

The Kohala Center hosted a public presentation of MIT designs for interested community members on Friday, Jan. 8, in North Kohala. More than 60 people attended this presentation by Wampler and his team.

“Hawaii Island has the will to work for a better life. This island has the opportunity to show many places in the world how to create a new future. My students and I would like to continue working on the island,” Wampler said.

View the PowerPoint for Whalewatch Village design at http://kohalacenter.org/pdf/mitpresentation.pdf

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