So we reached out to Dave Young of Capstone Ministries. Dave and Capstone have been working in the Lower 9th Ward for more than four years, converting vacant lots into community gardens and giving away the produce. Two years ago, Capstone started a bee keeping program to produce honey. The honey is sold and the profits support their ministry to teens in prison.

To solve the problem of the tree-bound bees, Young installed a “bee box” in the tree. Over the next couple of months, the bees will move from the tree into the box. At that point, Young can relocate them.

Bees will transfer their hive into this box and then be removed from the tree.

The second homeowner’s bee colony got into the floor system near an abandoned bird’s nest on the top of a column supporting the house. They many have thought this was a good place and then chewed their way further into the floor system. Make It Right’s construction staff had to remove some paneling under the house to get to the nest. Then Dave Young removed the honeycomb and nest, transferred them to bee frames and put them in a box. The box will sit outside up by the old nest for the next couple days to attract the bees that were out foraging when the hive was transferred. To keep the bees from escaping, Young installs a one way valve so that bees can go into the box but not fly out. Because Young didn’t find a queen in this nest, they can likely be integrated into one of Capstone Ministries’ established colonies.

The hive built in a home’s floor system.

Capstone Ministries transfers the hive to a bee frame.

The hive is transferred into a bee box in sections.

Problem solved – thanks to Capstone Ministries and Dave Young!

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Check out the blurb below from the Ecovative team on this new project:

www.mushroomtinyhouse.com

The Ecovative team is not just building a tiny house, they’re literally growing it. That’s right, the walls are made of a material called Mushroom® Insulation, and they’re alive. This is a test of some of Ecovative’s most radical building concepts.

Ecovative uses mycelium (mushroom “roots”) to bond together agricultural byproducts like corn stalks into a material that can replace plastic foam. They’ve been selling it for a few years as protective packaging, helping big companies replace thousands of Styrofoam (EPS), EPE and other plastic foam packaging parts. Ecovative is now working to develop new products for building materials. This is an exciting, radical and innovative approach to try a bunch of ideas, learn a lot, and grow something really awesome.

Here’s how it works. Mushroom Insulation grows into wood forms over the course of a few days, forming an airtight seal. It dries over the next month (kind of like how concrete cures) and you are left with an airtight wall that is extremely strong. Best yet, it saves on material costs, as you don’t need any studs in the wall, and it gives you great thermal performance since it’s one continuous insulated wall assembly. The finished Mushroom® Insulation is also fire resistant and very environmentally friendly.

Will it work? Will it hold up to the weather? Will it avoid any pest problems? All of Ecovative’s early testing says yes. But there’s no better way to know for sure than to build a house and try it out. Check out their site and stay tuned!

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Make It Right has partnered with the Cradle to Cradle Innovation Institute in announcing a competition to inspire product innovation. The $250,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to companies that are working on viable products in the realm of affordable building and construction products that are safe for human and environmental health.

To learn more, read the announcement from the Cradle to Cradle Innovation Institute below, and go to our Laboratory page on Cradle to Cradle to read FAQs relating to the challenge.

Design Challenge: Prize offers $250, 000 to Spur Product Innovation

We’re looking to the manufacturing and design community to help make high-quality, healthy homes available for everyone.

To help inspire innovation in developing healthy building materials for communities in need, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and Make It Right is issuing a Product Innovation Challenge. We’re encouraging manufacturers to design goods for the affordable housing market that are safe for human and environmental health and designed for re-use. And, we are offering $250,000 in prize money for the most innovative solutions, to be announced at Greenbuild 2013.

Here’s the problem: many commonly used building materials contain chemicals that have been linked to cancer, respiratory problems, hormone interference, reproductive and developmental harm. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that nearly 80,000 chemicals are used in the country today, many of which are unstudied and largely unregulated.

Consumer awareness is increasing and demand for healthier products is growing but often these options are not available for affordable housing and as a result, already economically disadvantaged populations find themselves at a health disadvantage as well.

A recent initiative led by Make It Right (founded by Brad Pitt in 2007), builds healthy homes, buildings and communities for people in need. All Make It Right projects are LEED Platinum certified and Cradle to Cradle inspired—meeting the highest standards of green building.

Because Cradle to Cradle principles are fundamental to Make It Right’s design process, building methods and product selection they select Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM products whenever possible – but there aren’t enough Certified products to build an affordable house.

Enter the Product Innovation Challenge. The Challenge asks innovators to rethink common materials— such as PVC —and come up with revolutionary new products that can exceed their standards on the basis of price, performance, availability, and human and environmental health.

In addition to the $250,000 prize money, contest winners will receive extras including the support of a Dwell media partnership and special announcement at a special event at Greenbuild 2013. Up to 20 runners-up will receive distinction at the event and benefit from a marketing/PR campaign supporting their work.

The application process is rigorous and submissions are due June 30, 2013—start now—sign up for updates and additional resources or register for a live webinar to learn more:

February 19, 12:00 pm eastern / 9:00 am pacific
March 8, 3:00 pm eastern / 12:00 pm pacific
Additional dates will be added—please check the website for registration.

Click here for contest details and official rules.

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