Would you do it again or use better material? Thinking light pass thru.

It's a Quonst hut not made out of sheet aluminum. About as innovative as fire. The SeaBees were making these back in WW2. All this guy did was take a proven design, use new materials and make it smaller.

This might be interesting for the homeless iff completed in context. The SHARE /WHEEL tent city advertises a 2person tent donation at $50. The $150 cost should be evaluated in that context: is it appreciably warmer or friendlier or more durable than the 50 dollar shelter it hopes to replace?

This product seems most suitable as an instant igloo in the snow, or in cold weather generally if you have a sleeping bag for warmth. However, there is the issue of condensation, as someone pointed out above.

Also, this shelter is a no-go in weather that has any kind of heat (basically any time you feel like wearing shorts). That includes warm nights too. You'd sweat all the water out of you like if you were in a sauna.

It's really not much of an innovation. It's basically a big dog house. Actually, I wouldn't make this my dog's house because of the issues I noted above. It is such a non-innovation that I am guessing the issues noted by me and other people made this product a non-starter a long time ago.

As Kennedy said, some people look at things and say why, others look at the same thing and say why not.

This particular shelter design has some limitations for human habitation, to be sure. But I don't think this guy is flogging a product. It's just a creative thought exercise, and makes no claim to cure all the world's ills. The use of Coroplast for temporary sheds/shelters is a valid concept. I'm sure if we were to put our heads together we could create a design that works pretty well.

-Doug, the optimist

It's hard to say. My old greenhouse had double-paned windows (scrounged) on the entire sun-facing side. Translucent Coroplast was used for the simple roof, back and sides. It lets in some light but also reflects some light around so (in theory) the plants don't get quite so "leggy."

Light transmission is a trade-off. On the one hand, double-wall polycarbonate is far superior for light transmission. On the other hand, most polycarbonate greenhouses require shade cloth and power ventilation in the hottest months. As for transmission of needed light wavelengths, I really don't know enough to comment.

I would use Coroplast again for micro-greenhouses/row covers around plants, where maintaining night-time temperatures and humidity is the real key to ongoing productivity.

The nice thing about Coroplast is that you can experiment without breaking the bank.

My 5c (no pennies in Canada any more).

Thanks Doug for the reply.

As ideas go it is not so bad, but where would a homeless person get $100 to make such a shelter? In any case most of them would probably use the $100 to buy drugs. By the time you got a decent sleeping bag it would be more like $200.

I am pretty sure there are very few places that want tent cities made of plastic cardboard popping up anyway.

As a solution to the homeless problem it has very little going for it. No toilet or bathing facilities for one thing.

As a winter camping shelter it has some merit. especially for car campers.

Car camping was the application I was thinking of. The kids would love it because it's different and would seem "fun". If it didn't work out you could always turn it into the greenhouse as mentioned earlier...or make a shelter with a greenhouse addition off the back porch