Root Down Building Collective

Image above: The Nauhaus Project , Asheville, NC

CHARLESTON HEALTHY HOUSING PILOT PROJECT will help provide housing solutions that address:

View our pitch book here!

Continue reading below for more info......

Help us reach our $10k goal, to help construct THE CHARLESTON HEALTHY HOUSING PILOT PROJECT!!! Your tax-deductible donation of ANY amount shows us that we have your support, and that support will help tremendously! There are a few perks for our biggest supporters. See info below :)

In gratitude,

April Magill

Executive & Founding Director, Root Down Building Collective

PERKS for DONATING!

$3,000 or more: Custom lime plaster installation using Earthaus Mineral Finishes (limited to 150sf total; Charleston region only, ex: accent wall, small bathroom, kitchen backsplash, etc.)

Read more about this project, and RDBC below….

THE CHARLESTON HEALTHY HOUSING PILOT Project Team:

WHAT IS HEMP-LIME (AKA HEMPCRETE)? Hempcrete is a non-structural, sustainable, and moisture/rot-resistant building material that is a viable alternative to traditional insulation. It is a mixture of hemp fibers, lime, and water that creates a lightweight and durable material that can be used to insulate the building envelope. Hempcrete has a variety of benefits, including its ability to store carbon (aka reverse greenhouse emissions), regulate humidity, and its resistance to mold, pests, and fire. In addition, it is a renewable resource that can be grown quickly and sustainably in the Carolinas, making it a highly attractive option for healthier housing projects. Hempcrete is a “carbon-storing” & “climate-smart” building material. Regenerative agriculture + architectural solutions are the answer to a sustainable and resilient future!

HEMPCRETE IN THE BUILDING CODES: In Rochester, NY in April of 2022, the International Code Council (ICC) approved hemp-lime for use in residential construction. The International Residential Code (IRC) Commentary for the Hemp-lime Appendix BA was submitted in June of 2023. Prior to the formal issuance of Appendix BA, all projects utilizing this material are to be stamped by a licensed structural engineer. Appendix BA Hemp-Lime (Hempcrete) Construction will be included in the 2024 IRC

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT???

CHALLENGES FACING OUR COMMUNITIES:

1. EMISSIONS

The building sector must be carbon-neutral or carbon-negative by 2030! (the climate imperative by the IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

In the City of Charleston alone, buildings account for nearly 65% of citywide emissions at 867,200 MtCO2e and remain the largest sector of pollution citywide. The Charleston Climate Action Plan strives to: Reduce emissions 56% below 2018 levels by 2030. Reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.

2. HOUSING INSECURITY

41% of The City of Charleston Plan survey respondents said they are somewhat or very concerned about being able to stay in their current housing. This percentage was more than 10 points higher among Black/African Americans and more than 20 points higher among lower-income respondents, youth, and tenants.

3. HUMAN HEALTH REPERCUSSIONS & DISPARITIES

Poor indoor air quality due to excessive moisture, mold, and harmful VOCs from building materials is a growing concern. Poor indoor air quality is more prevalent for those living in sub-par housing situations, leading to health problems and creating more disparities for low-income communities.

SOLUTIONS PROVIDED BY RDBC

Climate-smart (or carbon-storing) buildings are the key to a sustainable and resilient future. We can significantly reduce building-related greenhouse emissions not only by addressing “operational energy emissions”, but by also reducing the “upfront emissions” produced during the extraction, manufacturing, and transportation of building materials. With this approach, we create carbon-STORING buildings vs. carbon emitters.

Current data shows us that we must take this approach in order to meet the reduction emission goals of 2030 & 2050. Our Phase 1 approach, THE CHARLESTON HEALTHY HOUSING PILOT PROJECT, will advance these building solutions through an R&D & Education phase. Building workshops will be facilitated during this phase.

More on our community building workshops here!!

In Phase 2, we will implement Phase 1 solutions into a scalable, healthy housing program to build carbon-storing, climate-smart homes, while educating and empowering communities and creating new jobs and skills in the construction industry, with a focus on marginalized demographics. (think Habitat for Humanity meets Hempcrete!) Modular Healthy Homes will provide affordable, scalable housing solutions for our most vulnerable communities who will be the most affected by the repercussions of climate change. Furthermore, these solutions will enhance positive indoor air quality for the inhabitants and provide healthy, dignified living situations for our most marginalized communities. Bio-based building materials are carbon-storing, agricultural products; regenerative agriculture + regenerative architecture is the key to a sustainable and resilient future!

Help us reach our $10k goal, to help construct THE CHARLESTON HEALTHY HOUSING PILOT PROJECT!!! Your tax-deductible donation of ANY amount shows us that we have your support, and that will help tremendously!

More details in our PITCH BOOK here!!

Thank you!

April Magill

Executive & Founding Director, Root Down Building Collective

PERKS for DONATING!

$25 or more: Exclusive newsletter with detailed updates on the project status, starting this spring!

$500 or more: Custom-made rammed earth succulent planter mailed to you.

$750 or more: Participation in a group tour of the hempcrete structure

$3,000 or more: Custom lime plaster installation using Earthaus Mineral Finishes (limited to 150sf total; Charleston region only, ex: accent wall, small bathroom, kitchen backsplash, etc.)

custom made rammed earth succulent holder

Earthaus lime-plastered wall

Bio's of the Team

April Magill

Tim Callahan

Clarke Snell is an architect and an Associate Professor of Architecture at New York Institute of Technology. His professional and academic focus is to develop and apply sustainable and resilient building systems toward a zero resource architecture. He splits his efforts between (1) applying research into low-tech, high performance materials, assemblies, and systems to the design and construction of small buildings and their micro-climates; and (2) developing architectural workflows that allow performance modeling and simulation to inform form making. He has written several books and numerous articles on related topics. In academia, he has taught a variety of studios and core courses in both architecture and engineering and has conducted research that covers a wide range of topics from developing and testing low-tech low-carbon building envelopes, to investigations in high performance low-carbon material science, to methodologies for teaching sustainable design. His design/build work with students features two Solar Decathlon competitions including the 2015 winning entry.

There is a huge demand that has been growing over the 12 years that I have operated Root Down Designs, a small, woman-owned architecture firm in Charleston, SC dedicated to advancing sustainable, healthy, and oftentimes, alternative building methods. Our work is also heavily rooted in affordable and equitable housing solutions, as well as land and racial justice advocacy work; it all goes hand-in-hand.

We have been advancing these methods through both the architectural development, but also through hands-on, community-building style workshops. Hempcrete (Hemp-Lime), Rammed Earth, Compressed Earth Block, Strawbale, Light-Straw-Clay, Cob, Adobe, natural plasters and paints have all been topics of my workshops; always with a cross-over into passive solar strategies, thermal mass vs. insulation, thermal dynamics, and other important topics related to building in a southern environment. People are hungry for this information, to help inform them and empower them so that they might go on to do DIY projects of their own; many of whom do.

“Sense of community,” “empowering,” and “uplifting” are terms often used to describe these workshop experiences.

We’ve worked with elementary school children, high schoolers, college students, and adults. We've taught natural building workshops atThe Governor’s School of Math and Science, The American College of the Building Arts (where I am an Adjunct Professor), Greenville Technical College,SC State University, the Acorn School of Charleston, and dozens of privately-owned locations.

We have organized community-building events at places like the Romney St. Urban Garden cob oven in downtown Charleston, the rammed earth bus stop on Morrison Ave., the straw-clay chicken coop at Fresh Future Farms, and MUSC’s outdoor garden kitchen.

In Feb 2020, we launched a ‘Women’s Natural Building Collective,’ 35 Charleston-based women showed up to our very first workshop. Then Covid hit. But talk about a demand!

In Oct. 2022, we co-launched a Hempcrete Building workshop at ACBA, in partnership with Black Belt Justice Center. 60 participants came. 35 more sat on the waitlist. SC was well-represented at the workshop by a diverse group of individuals, including many of our Black Farmers, as a key component of our Hempcrete vision is a regional, circular economic & regenerative agriculture + building approach. We are creating new, decentralized construction systems in the south.

35% of those participants in this workshop were there on a free scholarship! Meals were provided. Lodging was provided for those who needed it; providing REAL accessible pathways is a guiding principle of our workshop. This was only made possible through funding by the Christopher Reynolds Foundation.

With every workshop experience and every time I check my inbox, I am reminded of the demand that is rapidly growing across the South, and across the country. People who are interested in being a part of the much-needed changes within the building industry, from the materials we’re using to the ways in which communities are composed. As the effects of climate change and housing disparities increase, here in Charleston we sit at ground zero. We can be a part of this change by investing in the work that is needed.

The demand is REAL, and we cannot even begin to meet the demand without growing a team and access to funding….and therefore, in Jan. 2023, the Root Down Building Collective, a brand new, grassroots 501c3 organization was born! As the Executive Director and Founder, I have been met with the unwavering support of 10 incredibly talented individuals who are my Board of Directors. Be sure to check them out! I am also constantly humbled by the many who offer their help and support!

RDCB is kicking things off with a HEMPCRETE PILOT PROJECT!!! This project will include the R&D which is needed to understand the wall assembly for a 150 mph. wind zone + seismic zone. We are working with Tim Callahan, the mastermind behind the Nauhaus Hempcrete Pilot Project in Asheville, NC & the author of 'Building Green' as our hempcrete consultant, and Medlock Structural Engineers. We have already received zoning approval from Charleston County. Next step: Building Permitting Approval. And then: workshops delivered to you!

This project is being designed for a prefab Hempcrete panel concept, which can also work with both a prefab hempcrete block as well as a cast–in-place method; providing diversity within the method. The data gained through this pilot project will give us the needed information to be able to advance and grow this work in SC and neighboring southern states.

The Hempcrete Studio will be built in Charleston County through a series of building workshops and educational opportunities.

Your tax-deductible donation will help to support the work of this organization; we are growing our capacity with additional teachers and facilitators so that these offerings can reach more people in SC and beyond. We are working to meet a demand that we are currently unable to meet.

Your donation will be used as follows:

$5k - used for the training and support of future workshop facilitators

$4k - scholarship fund - this amount will fund 10 future participants

$1k - tools + materials!

We need your help! Any tax-deductible donation amount will help with all of the time and expertise needed to fuel this work. We are applying for grants, but at this time, we are operating on a 100% volunteer basis and a $0 budget.

To learn more about the Root Down Building Collective, and Root Down Designs, click on these links. Also, check out the incredible perks we’re including below!

In gratitude,

April Magill

Donation Perks: