Construction @ MindSay 
work
We might not have been able to go to our destination we had planned to, but it still was a good time.
Maybe another time?
By Erich Langer
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 8, 2008 - With the delivery of two large truckloads of medical equipment, hundreds of mothers-to-be soon will benefit from the opening of a refurbished maternity hospital in western Baghdad's Karkh district. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division managed the nearly $600,000 renovation, which includes a new heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system and electrical and mechanical upgrades.
Officials said the hospital had fallen into disrepair, receiving no upgrades and little maintenance during Saddam Hussein's regime. In fact, officials noted, no new hospitals were completed in Iraq since the mid-1980s.
"To date, GRD has completed 21 renovations at 18 hospitals across Iraq that will treat 15,000 patients per day," Army Brig. Gen. Jeffery Dorko, GRD commander, said. "Also, working with our government of Iraq partners, we have constructed 113 of 132 new primary health care centers that will treat 8,000 Iraqis each day. We still have more to achieve in helping provide health care to Iraqis, but we are making great strides in this important area."
The improving security situation is paying dividends, as the GRD Gulf Region Division and its contractors complete more and more construction projects. Dr. Eman A. Atta, Karkh's manager and hospital administrator, worked at Karkh Maternity for only six months, but has seen Baghdad and the neighborhood around the hospital improve dramatically.
"The security situation has improved greatly," Atta said. "It was very, very bad here for so long -- so bad that I refused delivery of vital medical equipment until it was safe from those who would rob and steal from the hospital."
Atta was painfully aware of the poor security situation after one large delivery of expensive diagnostic equipment that included X-ray machines and other high-end medical equipment was hijacked -- "stolen before it ever made it to the hospital," she said with anger and frustration in her voice.
"To keep this from happening again, Dr. Emad Sabry and I arranged to store the equipment in various secret locations around Baghdad until security improved," she said.
Iraqi army Maj. Hussain is in charge of security at and around the hospital, and echoed Atta's reflection of security in the neighborhood.
"It has gotten better; it is much safer here. My soldiers are always watching for any danger that would come to the hospital and its patients," he said.
"We hope to open the hospital to inpatient care, surgeries and deliveries within two months," said Sabry, an anesthesiologist and one of Karkh's 10 senior physicians. "The hospital still needs additional equipment --– all types from beds to incubators and most importantly the pharmaceuticals. The Ministry of Health has promised to provide these required items."
Army Sgt. 1st Class Hector Cruz, a construction representative from the GRD Central District, makes final checks on numerous hospital construction initiatives recently completed. He stays busy helping to manage scores of projects, and is frequently on construction sites four or five days each week.
"We rely heavily on our Iraqi engineers who are on project sites every day," he said. "They work directly with the contractors and provide our office with regular reports, photos and updates on project progress. We just couldn't do the job without them."
To minimize interruptions of essential hospital activities, the local Iraqi construction firm coordinated all construction work with the hospital and Atta.
Besides the HVAC and electrical upgrades, the renovation structural repairs, a reverse-osmosis water purification system, a new medical waste incinerator, a medical gases center, a nurse call system, a data communication network, a TV system, elevator upgrade, and a fire alarm with a firefighting extinguishing system.
"The new medical gases center is much improved over the old Iraqi way," Sabry said. "This is much more modern, efficient and safer, too. The old way had oxygen tanks in each of the rooms. Hospital staff had to frequently move and handle the tanks – very inefficient and more dangerous."
Cruz said the renovated facility is a vast improvement over the old one. "Previously, this was a facility in disrepair after years and years of neglect," he said. "But now, Karkh's patients will be able to come to the hospital and have their babies in a clean, secure functioning hospital. Dr. Atta and her staff will have the tools to provide full-spectrum medical care for women from a population of more than 250,000."
(Erich Langer is a public affairs specialist with the Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iraq.)
Solar design, having nothing to do with photovoltaic cells (solar panels) is a construction method that utilizes sunlight as a means to provide supplemental heating to a house or structure. The concept is fairly simple and requires no more in materials than building any other home. Early designs however were quite radical consisting of geodesic domes and other space aged shapes or bland and simple boxes and huts. Unfortunately these designs became the stereotype for environmental construction even though they were quickly traded for other more traditional designs such as the New England Saltbox. The only true sacrifice in comparison with other homes is the lack of a basement (but even that has alternatives).
The concept is fairly straightforward and simple to understand. By positioning the long, face side of the house (usually the front) directly toward the south you allow the daytime sun to strike the most surface area of the house throughout the day. To allow the sun to heat the interior of the home and not just the outside walls we add windows (glazing) to the front of the house for daytime sunlight and a few to the east and west to catch morning and evening rays. On a sunny day this is usually more than enough to heat the home in winter and will even overheat your house. In order to save this excess heat energy for nighttime use (when the suns no longer doing the job) we need a heat sink. Nothing more than a concrete slab, the heat sink warms up during the day and then slowly radiates heat throughout the night. Because we want an even heat distribution, warm air rises, and we can't just throw a concrete slab anywhere... the natural choice for our "solar slab" is the first floor. One of the best designs I have found uses concrete blocks as a base with holes laying parallel rather than pointing up. By placing the blocks one by one in front of the other we can create air channels under our floor to serve as the heat ducts. Concrete is then poured over the block base to hold them in place and act as our heat sink. The thickness of the slab varies from 4-7" depending on the heating requirements of the house, the amount of solar radiation the house receives, and thus the required Mass for a suitable heat sink.
Solar Home Cycle
At first light, sun shines through the eastern windows and begins to warm the floor & air. By noon the sun is entering the front of the house full force, the air temperature remains steady (provided the number of windows and slab thickness were calculated correctly) and the solar slab is gradually raising in temperature. As the sun drops below the horizon the solar slab slowly begins to radiate heat to maintain the air temperature. In a properly designed system the solar slab is able to keep the house from dropping below 60 degrees until morning after a full days "charging" from the sun. We call this "thermal balance" and it is a crucial part of a properly functioning system. As the sun comes up the next morning the cycle starts again, heating the air back up to temperature and storing energy for the evening.
Problems
As mentioned before there are no extra costs to building a passive solar home, only preplanning and minor design adjustments. The only flaw is the reliability of the sun. Naturally, when the suns not out during the day the solar slab can't collect energy. Weather conditions can vary greatly depending on time of year and location. This is why solar design is meant as a Supplement to normal means and not a replacement. Each area is unique and homes will realize different efficiencies based on local weather conditions. Central New York for example is westsouthwest of the great lakes and therefore encounters elevated precipitation and cloud cover in the coldest winter months (25% sunshine) where as Maine which is much further north has sunshine no less than 50% of the time in Dec, Jan, and Feb.
What does this Mean?
By looking up the average percentage of possible sunshine your area receives (which can be obtained from the US Weather Bureau...or for the same price included in a book on passive solar homes) you can estimate directly the relative percentage of your homes heating costs that you could cover for each month of the year. In layman’s terms, a mean of 59% possible sunshine for Portland Maine in the month of February suggests that a passive solar home could supply up to 59% of its heating costs in that month from FREE solar energy. What’s more is that the solar slab isn't just limited to sunlight to store heat energy. By using a wood stove or hot water radiant heat you can heat your home on dreary days and still charge the solar slab to take over at night. Its truly a versatile system!
Misconceptions
Passive solar design does not mean your house has to look like its out of The Jetsons. Your home can easily be built to suite your style and needs. The interior and solar slab can be covered with anything, even hardwood flooring and contrary to what you may think you won't be living in a "wall of glass". In fact, too many windows can throw the house out of balance and make it less efficient than a normal home. Another fallacy is that you must tilt your windows toward the sun. The suns path through the sky is closest to the horizon during the winter months. That means its already shinning almost directly through your windows in the months you need it most. "What about the summer, won't it overheat?" In the summer the sun travels high in the sky overhead and will barely shine through. In fact, because the sun doesn't shine through the windows in the summer it doesn't heat your solar slab. This means the slab will cool further through the night when the temperature drops off and then act as a cold source during the day. It warms in the winter and cools in the summer, the best of both worlds! But the best part about passive solar design is that its integrated straight into the construction of the house. There are no mechanical parts and no maintenance is required. Simply put its the BEST way to build a home.
Suggested Reading:
The Passive Solar House by James Kachadorian
The Solar House by Dan Chiras
The Solar Living Source Book by John Shaeffer & Real Goods
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