Families Can Use Less Coal And Still Keep Warm When Walls Are Made Of Polystyrene Blocks
Volunteers from Hong Kong exercising before the day’s work begins during the Blue Sky Build in 2010. This summer’s build will see volunteers constructing 20 houses in Ulaanbaatar from 1 to 7 July. Photo: Mikel Flamm..
ULAANBAATAR, 27 February 2012: Habitat for Humanity Mongolia will be holding a dinner on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day as well as to raise funds for its Blue Sky Build 2012.
The first such blitz build was held in June 2010 when 100 international volunteers worked with Mongolian families to build 29 houses. This year’s 20-house build will be held from 1 to 7 July in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
This summer’s build will feature the use of polystyrene blocks for the walls of houses. The insulating properties of the blocks mean families use less coal to keep warm in winter. Mongolian winters typically last for six to seven months a year with sub-zero temperatures.
HFH Mongolia completed a house using polystyrene blocks last October under a partnership with World Vision Mongolia.
Divangar Gankhuyag, an X-ray technician, his wife and two children moved into the house. They used to live in a Mongolian ger or tent, which they inherited from Divangar’s parents.
Divangar used to spend US$500 each year buying truckloads of coal to keep warm during the winter months. The coal would be burnt in a stove that generated carbon and other toxic emissions.
Since living in their new Habitat house with a proper, safe stove, the family has used 80 percent less coal – one small truckload.