BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:-//WordPress - MECv7.24.0//EN
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://natural-building-alliance.org/
X-WR-CALNAME:Natural Building Alliance
X-WR-CALDESC:PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
X-MS-OLK-FORCEINSPECTOROPEN:TRUE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
UID:MEC-8091588a3968da46e3e43a76bf3b3a98@natural-building-alliance.org
DTSTART:20250920T193000Z
DTEND:20250920T203000Z
DTSTAMP:20250531T040500Z
CREATED:20250530
LAST-MODIFIED:20250909
PRIORITY:5
SEQUENCE:1
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SUMMARY:“Material Resilience in the Context of Nepal” – Tyler Survant, AIA, Anna Leshnick, PRCC  AIA-CEU
DESCRIPTION:Tyler Survant – MSU Architecture\nAnna Leshnick, PRCC, Building Bureau\nIn April of 2025, a neighbor’s unattended open flame spread to the construction site of the Tiger Track Ecolodge in southern Nepal, designed by the Montana-based nonprofit Building Bureau. In the rural and impoverished buffer zone of Bardiya National Park lacking a municipal fire department, the structure’s thatch roof burned for hours until hundreds of volunteers extinguished it by forming a bucket brigade. While the roof was destroyed, the building’s rammed earth walls remained intact.\nIn Nepal, kacchi, from the Hindi for “raw,” refers to houses made from traditional materials like mud or thatch; pakki, from the Hindi for “cooked,” describes buildings made of mass-produced materials such as cement, fired brick, and tin roofing. These terms also carry cultural associations, with kacchi suggesting something that is temporary or crude and pakki anything proper and upstanding or reliable.\nBuilding Bureau founders Tyler Survant and Anna Leshnick will discuss their experience with the resilience of natural building materials in the context of Nepal. How can the vulnerability of natural building materials to fire, flood, and earthquakes compete with the perceived permanence and progress of industrial materials?\nAlignment with conference theme | This talk will consider the physical resilience of natural buildings but also the resilience of the communities that occupy them. While the work cited is in Nepal, the subject relates to renewed interested in earthen construction following the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.\nAIA CEU\nThis session explores the resilience of natural building materials, such as rammed earth and thatch, through the case study of Nepal’s Tiger Track Ecolodge. Presenters examine material performance in fire, flood, and earthquakes, and highlight how community engagement supports both structural and social resilience.\nPrerequisite Knowledge:\nNone Required\nHSW Justification:\nThis course addresses Health by highlighting strategies that protect occupants from fire, flood, and seismic hazards; Safety by demonstrating design and material choices that enhance structural resilience; and Welfare by emphasizing community engagement, culturally informed design, and sustainable, long-lasting building practices that support human and ecological well-being.\nLearning Objective 1:\nIdentify the vulnerabilities and resilience of natural building materials in response to fire, flood, and seismic hazards.\nLearning Objective 2:\nAnalyze how cultural perceptions of “permanence” influence material selection and community adoption of natural building methods\nLearning Objective 3:\nEvaluate strategies for enhancing structural durability and occupant safety in climate- and disaster-prone regions.\nLearning Objective 4:\nExplore the role of community involvement in supporting resilient and adaptive building practices.\nTyler Survant, AIA is an architect at the nonprofit Building Bureau and an Assistant Teaching Professor at Montana State University’s School of Architecture. Anna Leshnick is a cofounder of Building Bureau and a certified Passive House Consultant with the North American Passive House Network in cooperation with the Passive House Academy.\nAnna Leshnick, PHCC is a designer and co-founder of Building Bureau. A certified Passive House Consultant with the North American Passive House Network ( https://naphnetwork.org/ ) in cooperation with the Passive House Academy, Anna is trained in energy-efficient design principles, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality. Originally from Moscow, she earned a degree in architecture from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem before relocating to the United States in 2018.\nPrior to Building Bureau, Anna worked on the preservation of Tel Aviv’s White City, a UNESCO World Heritage site noted for its regionalist adaptation of Bauhaus “International Style” architecture to the cultural and climatic context of the Mediterranean. She also worked with an office in New York noted for its humanitarian work around the world. Anna served as 2024 Visiting Scholar at Montana State University’s School of Architecture. ■\n
URL:https://natural-building-alliance.org/events/material-resilience-in-the-context-of-nepal-tyler-survant-msu-students-ballroom/
CATEGORIES:AIA Credits Availalbe,AIA-CEU,Climate Solutions,Conference Presenter
LOCATION:111 S. Grand Ave, Bozeman MT 59715
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR