Phoenix Nest Housing

Andre Ng, Carina Masters, James Martinez

Table of Contents

List of Contributions​……………………………………………………………………….……...3

Problem Definition​……………………………………………………………………………..…4

Problem Scope​…....……………………………………………………………………….4

Technical Review​…………....…………………………………………………………….4

Design Requirements​…………………………………………………………………….……..…6

Conceptual Design​………………………………………………………………………….……..8

Alternative Concepts​……………………………………………………………….…...…8

Evaluation of Alternatives​………………………………………………………………...9

Selection of Concepts​……………………………………………………………………..

Detailed Design​…………………………………………………………………………………....

Main Features​……………………………………………………………………………...

Results​……………………………………………………………………………………

Manufacturing​…………………………………………………………………………....

Performance Evaluation​………………………………………………………………………….

Lessons Learned​……………………………………………………………………………….…
List of Contributions

James Martinez Carina Masters Andre Ng

3D Modeling of Final Product Formal emails to mentors 3D Modeling

Design of Water and Project Proposal Sketching

Electrical System

Logo Design Human Centered Design Research

research

Ergonomics research Consumer Survey Trying to Film videos

Website creation
Problem Definition

Problem Scope

Wildfires have become a growing concern in California; however, the systems in place to

house firefighters while they help to contain these fires are outdated and unsafe. Fire stations

near to major fires often lack the resources to support the influx of first responders, resulting in

makeshift incident command posts with limited housing options. These housing conditions put

firefighters at an unnecessary risk for disease and injury. The goal of this project is to develop a

housing unit that is temporary, yet comfortable and safe to reduce the likelihood of on-site injury

and long-term illness and disease.

Technical Review

While at fire sites, firefighters are exposed to toxins that result from the burn. The most

common toxic substances found on firefighters’ gear are acrolein, carbon monoxide,

formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, benzene, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Exposure to

acrolein in high levels can result in “irritation of the nose, throat and lungs, pulmonary edema,

lung hemorrhage, and death.” High levels of carbon monoxide exposure can result in headaches,

dizziness, vomiting, nausea, nerve damage, heart disease, brain damage, and death.

Formaldehyde may cause ​watery eyes; burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat;

coughing; wheezing; nausea; skin irritation; asthma; myeloid leukemia; nasal cancer; and lung

cancer. Glutaraldehyde can ​irritate the nose, throat, and respiratory tract, causing coughing and

wheezing, nausea, headaches, drowsiness, nosebleeds, dizziness, asthma, and eczema. Benzene

can cause drowsiness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headaches, tumors, confusion,
unconsciousness and death. Nitrogen dioxide can inflame the lining of the lungs; reduce the

resistance to lung infections; and increase likelihood of wheezing, coughing, cold, flue, and

bronchitis. Sulfur dioxide increases one’s susceptibility to respiratory tract infections and causes

coughing, mucus secretion, asthma, and bronchitis. These toxic substances can be extremely

unsafe, so it is crucial that firefighters are provided structures to sleep in.

Currently, the majority of travelling firefighters are put up in nearby motels,in tent

camps, and in bunking trailers. When first responders stay in motels, they take up valuable rooms

that could go to fire victims. Motel housing is also fairly expensive, at over $45 per night, and

the limited space often does not allow for all firefighters to be housed in a room. The second

common solution is to house firefighters in tent camps. These camps provide reasonable escape

from the elements and create a slight barrier from toxic elements in the air; however, they have

little to no temperature control, beyond adding a few blankets to one’s sleeping bag, and they do

not dampen the sounds from other tents or from main camp. The final solution currently used on

sites are bunking trailers. These trailers can hold forty first responders, and provide resistance to

the elements and to toxicity in the air. They can be very noisy and often promote the spread of

illness, as all forty of these people are confined into such a small place. This means that it can be

difficult to get a good night’s sleep and to stay healthy while in a bunking trailer.
Design Requirements

It is necessary that our structure is capable of supporting the lifestyle of numerous

working firefighters. Below are the numerical estimates for what our structure must be capable

of.

Bed Weight Each bed must hold 335 lbs.

Structural Support The flooring of the container must support

5000 lbs.

Water Capabilities The water container must be able to support 4

people showering once a day for a week
(approx. 50 gallons).

Heating Heaters and A/C units must be capable of

heating/cooling 240 square feet.

Sound Suppression Sound dampening tools must suppress 700 Hz

sounds by at least 10 decibels and 423 Hz by
at least 8 decibels.

It was also important for the design to have a shower system and storage method for gear.

These requirements were dictated by a survey of 308 fire personnel throughout California. The

results for the multiple choice section of the survey are displayed in the charts below.
Conceptual Design

Alternative Concepts

The size of our shipping container was originally 20 ft long and only 8.5ft tall, and now

the final design uses a 40ft container with 9.5ft ceilings to create an overall more comfortable

living space. At first, this smaller design in the 20ft container only allowed three beds and one

shower, meaning the lockers and washer/dryer were barely included in this design, acting only as

something possibly to be implemented in the future. Furthermore, the lockers were initially

designed next to the beds and only about 2ft tall, unable to store all of the equipment the

firefighters carry. The number of beds has also decreased since the initial design moving from

three bunk beds (one in the middle, and one on each side), to 4 individual beds in each corner of

the room. With this decrease in number of beds as well as choosing a larger container comes the

ability to have much larger hallways, which are included in the final design, moving from a tiny

2ft wide to now either 3 or 4ft wide. The showers themselves were also much smaller in the

initial design than in the final moving from 2x3ft to double the size, now at 4x3ft with room to

store basic toiletries. The arrangement of the building has also been a large target of change

throughout our design process moving the three parts of the building (bathroom, lockers, and

bedroom) into different orders. At first, the firefighters would initially enter the storage room and

then have to move through the bathrooms in order to reach the bedroom. Next, a door was

implemented in the bedroom to possibly help firefighters access this part of our building, but this

conflicted with our expansion technique. The final design of our project has the bedroom in the

middle with the lockers and bathrooms on either side of it, each with their own entrance to help

firefighters quickly move in and out.

Evaluation of Alternatives

The reason the number of beds changed from 6 to 4 is that the ceilings were to low so it

came to realization that bunk beds would not fit in the space. 4 was also the most highly request

number from the survey that was given to firefighters. Room placement had to change for design

sake. Having the bedding area at the end of container no longer allowed it to have the ability to

have the container elevated in a safe way. The larger container was chosen because the smaller

container did not have enough space. Earlier designs with the smaller container did not a account

for walking space. Spacing issue were evaluated first when the original floor plan was taped out

out on the floor. It came to realization that little space between objects when walking around.

When standing in the showers the space was also to small. Making room for walk space and the

shower did not leave any space for the locker area. To accommodate for the lack of space the

decision was made to use a larger shipping container instead of the smaller one. More spacing

issues were discovered while 3D modeling. Taping out the floor plan gave no concept of height.

When modeling it came to the realization that the bunk beds could fit in the container however

there was not enough space for a person to access the top bunk. This is when the decision was

made to only have normal beds. This is also when it came to realization that there you be no

room for a sink. 3d modeling is when designs for the plumbing system began. The tanks for the

water took up the space where the sink would be.

Selection of Concept

Detailed Design

Main Features

The main features of the product design are the expansion capabilities and the plumbing.

The expansion utilizes a system of folding walls and lever-based hinges. These designs were

largely based on those patented by ​Ten Fold Technology​. The folding system is designed to be

efficient and user-friendly. ​This video​ demonstrates the folding capabilities of the structure.

Below are the blueprints that demonstrate how the structure unfolds.
 The plumbing system is designed to withhold four people taking one shower per day for a

week. At the end of that week, or periodically throughout the week, it will be necessary to

unscrew the top on the water tank and refill the water supply. This system was designed to be

small enough to fit within the confines of a building that has very little space, whilst still

supporting enough water and power to be used for four short showers each day for seven days.

Should firefighters choose, it is also possible to have longer showers or to shower more often;

however, to achieve those wishes it will be necessary to refill the water tank significantly more

often. Below are the blueprints for the plumbing system.

The final design:
Results
 Three tests were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the product’s design.

The first test was a survey sent to fire stations ranging from San Diego County up to

Humboldt County in California. This survey received 308 responses and provided valuable

insight to the lifestyle and the struggles of firefighters on site. The main contentions brought up

by the respondents were that of showers, noise, storage, and temperature control. These

contentions led the majority of further redesigns, and became a focal point in further tests.

The ​second test​ performed was a sound dampening test, utilizing a combination of five

possible sound dampening tools, as well as four pitches of sound. The results of the sound test

are displayed in the chart below.

Type of Barrier 300 Hz 423 Hz 700 Hz 1000 Hz

None 53.5 65 70 77
Wood 51 59 57 65
Spray 51 56 57
Foam 50 56 57
Spray + Foam 48 53 58 65
Curtain 57 55
Sound Board 53 63 65.5
 Through this process, it was concluded that a combination of sound dampening curtains

and sound dampening foam would be effective at varying pitches.

The third test performed was designed to determine the spatial comfort of users. This test

involved a life-sized blueprint of the product in an early stage of design. Several parties walked

through the space and provided feedback on their comfort level. Through this test, it was

determined that our original container size (20ft by 8ft) was significantly too small, and that

because of this space constraint, the showers were uncomfortably small and the beds were too

close together. This led to a new design, which was incorporated into the final design. This new

design utilizes a 40ft by 8ft container and decreases the number of beds from six to two. This

allows room for wider hallways, spacious showers and a more hospitable sleeping area.​ ​Overall,

this new design created a significantly better living space and did not greatly increase production

costs.
Performance Evaluation

The finalized product succeeds in creating a safe, climate controlled

Lessons