Fireproof Nature Habitat and Home

When I first found this competition, I was truly excited: I could finally use my CAD skills to design something viable in the real world. From the very beginning, I knew I didn’t want to just make a habitat that was only resilient to natural conditions: it also had to be a home.

This idea involves intricately interfacing the habitat with the nature around it, creating an amazing quality of life and an image of beauty, in addition to merely protecting the inhabitants from outside dangers. All of this meant that I would have to look for an idea, a location, and a design that truly inspires me to create a place I would want to live. 

While my first idea was a quick deployment safe zone for post-disaster recovery, I quickly realized that such a structure, while meeting the requirements for this competition, is generally designed to be temporary and often is not a place someone wants to live in for an extended duration. So, I set out again and tried to think of more permanent habitats that combine my vision with the opportunities offered by this competition.

This led me to the Sierra Nevada in the Western US. Tragically, with the extreme heat and dry vegetation in this region, this area is plagued by wildfires nearly every year. I recalled a trip to a national park several years ago, where an entire section of forest was made up entirely of charred wood. In fact, at the time of posting this, yet another wildfire has broken out and is currently rampaging through the wilderness. With global temperatures rising at record rates, causing even more fires and elevating sea levels, I knew: I wanted to create a house that blends with nature, is carbon-neutral, and embraces its surroundings while protecting the humans inside from any and all natural disasters, specifically fire.

• Autodesk Fusion (Fusion 360)
• Blender
• Cement
• Steel (plates and rebar)
• Aluminum
• Smart Glass / Electronically Dimmable Windows
• Solar panels, wind turbine, etc. for power generation
• Pipes, pump, septic tank, compressor, etc. for water and air
• Drywall, wood (locally sourced), other supplies for indoor furnishing
• Appliances, furniture
• Oxygen tanks, supplemental oxygen, air filter
• Airtight doors, windows
• Electrical supplies

The first, and arguably most important, step before starting to design a house like this is to do research. Before this project, I didn’t know too much about wildfires. I learned that wildfires could reach temperatures of up to 2,300°F (~1270°C), well above the temperature at which wood will spontaneously burst into flame. Any loose cigarette, unattended campfire, or other seemingly small action can destroy an entire forest in minutes. This is especially so in California, where the already hot and dry air and lack of water leaves forests highly flammable. This makes them truly extreme conditions, worthy of a design to protect humans from them.

The feeling I described in the introduction really hit home when I learned that even with modern-day firefighting equipment and warning systems, the deadliest California wildfire was in 2018. In the "Camp Fire", 85 people lost their lives. 85 people whose families will never see them again. With this, I was more motivated than ever to design a habitat that can protect people from such tragedies.

To create a fireproof (or at least fire resistant) house, it has to be constructed out of materials with a high temperature tolerance, such as cement (must be reinforced with steel rebar to not crack under extreme heat). It should be well supported on all sides and cleared from flammable materials. It must also have a very good ventilation system that can be sealed off from the outside air, should there be a fire. Then, of course, it has to have large amounts of natural light, a large living space, and many activities to make it feel like a home.

Image source: LAist

The planned location of my design is the Sierra Nevada in Eastern California, the region where National Parks such as Yosemite and Sequoia are located. However, this design can be executed anywhere in the world, such as in Hawaii (after the recent horrific fires) and other earthquake or fire-prone areas.

The foundation of this habitat/home must be very solid, able to withstand the frequent earthquakes in California, as well as isolate from the cold and moisture in the ground. Ideally, it should be created with concrete or bricks to provide a rigid structure for the rest of the house to sit on.

The Sierras were first truly recognized when John Muir advocated for the (then) Yosemite territory to become a national park. Since then, they have been one of the most widely recognized and popular places to see nature. My project aims to embrace the truly unique features of Yosemite and the Sierras, incorporating a great view of the outdoors and emphasizing protecting nature.

If human inhabitants sincerely embrace their surroundings, especially ones as beautiful and pure as this one, I believe that this planet will so much better off.

Image source: WIkipedia

I’ve always dreamed of living in a house with a spectacular view, especially with a large glass wall to enjoy it all. This was one of the first ideas I had for this project, since such a large window provides plenty of natural light in addition to a great view. Because of this, I quickly settled on a design with a curved front panel, made of glass, and a curved roof, which can be created from layers of sheet metal supported by metal cross beams in addition to concrete pillars. The entire house is a single structure for simplicity, with dividers made of drywall or wood lining to separate the various rooms.

Because the simple yet reinforced design provides more than enough stability and strength for the roof, it allows the house to be partially underground to provide the best measure of wildfire protection. It’s simple enough: dirt doesn’t burn!

The image above was not used as a reference image, just an example for you to see what I mean. Image source: weareipig

The first step for the model of my idea is a two-dimensional sketch. I personally use Fusion 360 for my own projects and therefore have enough experience to design such a project. I started with the floor outline, which is a with a convex front side to accommodate the glass. Then, I added a 3D sketch for the glass panel, which reflects (no pun intended!) the convex nature of the floor. If you look at the images above, what I'm saying will make much more sense.

Next up were the walls, which were simple enough to make (just rectangles for the sides, and a flattened profile of the front glass for the back), and finally the roof, which I kept as a single line for now. After that, I only had to draw out the floor plan in two dimensions.

For the model, I first extruded each of the walls and the floor to give them an actual thickness. Because the roof and front glass weren't actual sketch profiles, I wasn't able to extrude them normally. Instead, I got creative and used the single line from earlier, made a small rectangular profile, and was able to use the Sweep tool for both the roof and glass. It took a few tries, but I eventually managed to get exactly what I needed. This was one of the many times where I had to demonstrate the engineering mindset and just try something different after failure.

I then extruded the inside walls from the floor plan. For simplicity, however, I extruded these to a constant height. In real life, these would stretch from the floor to the ceiling and be curved at the top.

This is when I was able to start focusing on the details. I added a master bedroom with bath, 2 other bedrooms, 2 closets, and a main bath, all behind the large front living area. These are accessible by a hallway going from left to right across the middle of the house. The main room, which includes the glass wall, features a sofa, kitchen, and dining table around the kitchen island.

This will all make much more sense with the attached images, and you can reference the floor plan from Step 4 to better understand my idea.

The front glass panel provides most of the light to the front of the house, but of course artificial lights will be used as well. In my model, I also added a chimney-like box above each of the bedrooms, and a larger one above the main room. This is to provide more natural light, which is proven to be beneficial for human health. Nobody wants to walk into a dark room with the lights on in the middle of the day!

For each of the places in the house where glass is, either Smart Glass or Electronically Dimmable Windows (EDWs) will work to prevent unwanted light from entering the house. These EDWs, if you've flown before, are used for the windows of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to electronically control the opacity of the windows by applying voltage to a special gel between the layers of glass. These can make the glass anywhere between transparent and opaque for either privacy reasons or personal preference.

Image created by me in Blender

The largest skylight/chimney will also house the various air systems for the house, including heating, A/C, and most importantly for fire protection, filtering. The HEPA filters that were installed everywhere during Covid are sufficient even in heavy smoke situations, and they can absorb the Volatile Organic Compounds in wildfire smoke relatively well. Of course, this assumes that the rest of the house is airtight when necessary, which is yet another engineering challenge. To do this, air quality and carbon monoxide sensors should be implemented that can, on detection of toxins in the air, automatically block incoming air from the outside, use oxygen from supplemental tanks, and activate CO2 scrubbers.

Because all the necessary climate control is located at the top of the house, practically within a forest, all this is somewhat vulnerable to wildfires. it should be insulated and well protected from the outside. A backup system installed in a less open location, such as near the front glass at ground level, should help with this issue. Additionally, supplemental masks and carbon monoxide alarms should be distributed throughout the house. All of these would add an extra layer of security to protect the inhabitants until the fire passes or rescue services arrive.

While the house being mostly underground mitigates a lot of the fire risk, and the use of concrete and steel for the exterior nearly eliminates it, there are still many other measures that can be taken to be safer. Because the front glass wall is likely the weakest part of the entire structure, the glass should be ceramic glass, which can withstand up to sustained temperatures of 1500°F. Even if there is a fire on the surface of the glass, it must not crack.

The other potential weak spots are the upper chimney-like structures that each have their own tower and glass. During a fire, the ground or tree trunks can be unstable, causing some to fall. If a tree were to fall onto one of these, no material in the world could prevent it collapsing. To prevent outside air from coming in in one of these cases, there is a secondary, airtight, door that can be closed if a fire is detected outside, before it even comes close.

Additionally, the U.S. Forest Service has published multiple guidelines that help mitigate wildfire risk. These include regularly clearing dead and dry vegetation from the vicinity of the home, pruning nearby trees, and having emergency preparedness plans. With these, it is definitely possible to create one of the best fire-resistant houses there is.

In the worst case, should the fire ever get inside the house, there is a shelter for up to 4 people beneath one of the bedrooms. This is made completely out of concrete with a thick steel door, similar to the hurricane and shelters used in cyclone-prone areas. It includes supplemental oxygen masks and emergency rations for the occupants to outlast the fire.

Image source: Pinterest

Of course, being structurally sound isn't the only thing such a habitat must be. The definition of a habitat should include being a place where inhabitants can work, play, and grow (thank you for the terminology, Autodesk!). None of those can happen if this place is built like a bunker.

The Sierra Nevada offers many outdoor activities, such as hiking, camping, backpacking, biking, and swimming during the summer, and skiing (along with the classic read-a-book-in-front-of-a-warm-chimney-fire) during the winter. However, only outdoor activities aren't enough for modern humans. Because of this, a good Wi-Fi connection (such as Starlink) would be ideal to be able to use this as a modern home. Living in the mountains doesn't mean you don't get to use social media!

Finally, for security (whether that be from other people or animals), any modern security equipment can be installed. These include motion detectors, cameras, audible alarm systems, and more. From a security perspective, it's just like any other house!

To better support the house, I added five support pillars, to be constructed from concrete with steel rebar, in the middle of the house. These will hold up the roof, similar to those you see in a parking garage.

To protect the outside of the house, especially when buried underground, a special sealant and protection coat is used. The most effective for the metallic parts (such as the roof) seems to be a special coating in combination with a sacrificial anode to prevent rust.

For power generation, solar panels are set up in any clear area. To maximize output, they should be mounted with motorized angles to always track the sun. Wind turbines can also be set up, since this mountain range gets a lot of wind. Low power appliances and lights (such as LEDs) should also be used within the house to keep energy requirements to a minimum.

For a water connection, this depends on how far off (or on) the grid this habitat is built. If necessary, a septic tank can be built underneath the house for wastewater, and one of the many natural water springs in the area can be used with a tank and pump to create a water supply for the house.

I designed a little room behind a closet, to be enclosed by concrete and accessible only through the house, to contain the electrical and water supplies. This room has a junction box, water tank, and some other required systems for a house to be an effective habitat.

To satisfy my goal of making the house carbon-neutral, all sources of energy need to be converted to clean energy. This means no combustibles, such as gas. Instead, an electric water header, induction or electric stove, and batteries (to store power during the nights) are used.

Image source: Pinterest

Now that I had fully planned out my habitat, I wanted to correctly present it to all of you. In the past, I've had a lot of fun working with Blender and artificial landscapes to create lifelike images of forests, oceans, and other natural places. I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to further my skills with the software, and create something interesting for you to look at, at the same time.

I started by importing my model from Fusion as an FBX file, then scaling it to accurate dimensions in meters. I then added a plane around it to act as the ground, shaped it to become a hill, and added more flat ground beyond that. For the vegetation, I imported various models of grass, trees, rocks, and bushes from my asset library. I then scattered them with various densities to create a realistic forest, even adding gravel, trail textures, and pinecones to add to the image.

After several hours of fiddling with the individual settings, lighting setup, and scattering properties, and 10-15 minutes of render time, I finally had something worth presenting, and I think it turned out pretty well! This render shows exactly the feeling I wanted to impart in the house.

Images created by me in Blender

Due to time and resource limitations, I was unfortunately unable to create a physical prototype of my model. Instead, I did the next best thing and created the above 3D rendering to better visualize my concept beyond the capabilities of CAD. This render of my model in its environment was instrumental to the design process as I kept iterating my design using feedback from the lifelike render. In the future, however, I would be delighted to continue designing this, along with an advanced prototype, with the help of professionals who can make this dream a reality for so many people

Throughout this project, I continually learned the lesson of failure and retrial. This is, in my opinion, the most important lesson in engineering and any form of design. Many of my initial ideas ended up being impractical or impossible to design, and what I replaced them with, in the end, was so much better. I learned a lot about designing with human needs in mind, as I did in one of my past classes in school. I will always remember what I learned when completing my submission for this competition (because of my grade level, I cannot participate next year) and believe that I can now solve problems much more effectively, especially those that include the human factor.

In closing, I hope that this project can be an inspiration that not all safe places need to look like a metal box deep underground. There are many different ways to create such a project, ultimately depending on the tastes and preferences of those living inside. My design is most definitely not perfect, but I believe that it can be a good starting point for the next person. After all, it’s the journey that matters, not the end result.

Overall, this was one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. I had a lot of fun researching, coming up with solutions, modeling my habitat, and rendering images to more clearly convey my concept. In total, this project took me around 25-30 hours to complete. I sincerely hope that you learned something new about design and fire prevention, and I thank you for taking the time to read about my project!