Page 1 of 9

BIO-CONSTRUCTION SERIES
Building a Dry Toilet
with Nuno Mamede
Setting up the Beams, Roof, Doors and Windows - from June 24th to 28th
Building the Lath and Plaster Walls - from July 8th to 12th
Building Green Roofs - from August 19th to 23rd
Remembering the building techniques of our ancestors:
earth, water, air and fire solving challenges of today.
GENERAL INFORMATION 2
SPECIFIC INFORMATION 4
SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 6
MEET THE PROJECT 6
CONTACTS 9
How to build the frameworks, walls, and
roof, doors and windows?
What materials to use?
What techniques are more appropriate?
From earthships to recycled green-houses, cob
cottages to tree-villages, eco-buildings have come
a long way in the past 50 years.
Bio-construction is a way to reduce the ecological
footprint of buildings, recycle resources, reuse raw
materials, reduce energy use in the construction
and running of a building, increase efficiency and
customize buildings to your personal preferences. It
also is an opportunity to create a functional work of
art that enhances the natural landscape, instead of
impairing it.
We will be building a dry composting toilet and we
want to invite you to participate in the various
phases of its construction with the opportunity to
volunteer in between.
You will learn to conceive, plan and build the
structures you need using local renewable natural
materials like wood and clay.
What are the possible
applications?
For any small scale natural building projects and
anyone wishing to learn about composting human
manure, building techniques for walls & roofs.
Amongst the possibilities, these might include:
Other composting toilet modules;
Animal Shelters;
Utility Buildings;
Residential Buildings.
Page 2 of 9
GENERAL INFORMATION
Who are the learning
facilitators?
Nuno Mamede is an Permaculture consultant and
designer and an experienced natural builder from
Vale do Ceira, situated near Gis in Lous
mountain range in central Portugal.
He is part of a group of designers called Terracrua.
Check their website at terracrua.org.
He has been working with Quinta do Vale da Lama
in some of its construction projects, like the cob
mass heater rocket stove, the wattle and daube
compost toilet and the cob bread oven. (links para
fotos)
Currently, Nuno works in his valley with his
community, developing projects for a sustainable
future.
Page 3 of 9
What is the course
content?
We are going to build a dry composting
toilet. It will have one cabinet and two
composting chambers. Well first raise the
wooden structure to support the roof and
prepare it for lath and plaster walls and
finally set up the green roof.
Bio-C I Building the
wooden structure.
June 24th to 28th
During this workshop well go trough some
techniques for building wooden structures. Well
learn how to set up a reciprocal roof and fix doors
and windows. Finally we will be preparing the
structure to receive the lath and plaster walls,
subject of the next course.
Bio-C II Lifting lath and
plaster walls.
July 8th to 12th
The lath and plaster walls are a traditional way of
building flexible light weighted walls. A lath is a thin
narrow strip of straight-grained wood placed
horizontally and fixed to vertical poles. The walls
are then covered on both sides with a cob plaster.
Finally a last cover of sand and lime to protect from
weather.
Bio-C III Setting up a
Green Roof
August 19th to 23rd
A green roof is a roof of a building which is covered
by vegetation and a growing medium. Green roofs
serve several purposes for a building, such as
absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, creating a
habitat for wildlife, and helping to lower urban air
temperatures and mitigate the heat island effect.
We will learn how to set it up and maintain it.
Page 4 of 9
SPECIFIC INFORMATION
The learning outcomes for this course are the
following:
Practicing techniques for raising wooden
structures;
Learn to set up a reciprocal roof;
Learn how to fix windows and doors;
Understanding and practicing lath and plaster
walls techniques, using clay, straw and sand;
Learning how to work with quicklime
Understanding green roof concept and explore
different techniques, finally building two green
roofs.
During the experience you are welcome to access
Vale da Lamas library and audio recordings of the
sessions. You will receive follow on materials like
handouts and videos in digital format.
What may I bring for the
course?
We advise you to bring with you some old clothes
that you wouldnt mind dirtying, comfortable shoes
and a hat to protect your head against direct
sunlight.
Bring your personal belongings like you computer,
or a hard-drive to facilitate the exchange of digital
materials between students and/or teachers.
Please bring bio-degradable soaps and shampoos.
For more information please address our services
at registration@valedalama.net
Page 5 of 9
How can I contribute in
exchange?
To help us in providing you with a comfortable and
productive experience we expect the following
contributions:
Shared-rooms in Casa do Vale !350
Camping - bring your own tent and
sleeping bags
!250
When registering multiple courses we can deduct
10% in each one.
For couples that are both registering we can offer a
15% deduction on the total fee.
All these options include your contribution for the
course tuition, accommodation and food.
To helps us organizing the course we ask an
advanced payment of !50.
We ask the participants who made reservation and
cannot come, to cancel at least 15 days before the
course starts or we might not be able to refund the
50! advancement.
For more information please address our services
at registration@valedalama.net
You can register here.
How can I apply for
volunteering between
courses?
In between the three courses, you can apply for a
volunterring experience and help our interns in the
completion of the construction phases and helping
set up next courses.
To apply please address volunteering coordinator
Xana Piteira at volunteer@valedalama.net.
Where will I stay?
We provide shared en-suite room accommodation,
with 4 to 5 beds with external doors overlooking the
ocean and the gardens.
We also have camping facilities for those who are
looking for lower rate accommodation.
Ana Marreiro is a very experienced cook providing
us with astonishing vegetarian buffet meals with
fresh vegetables and herbs from the gardens. Most
of the food is grown in the farm and other products
are mainly local and organic.
Breakfast is self-service buffet with homemade
bread and jams, local organic fruits, milk and
cheese.
In case you have any special diet needs, please let
us know in advance;
Directions and further details of what to bring will
be provided prior to the beginning of the course.
For more information please contact our services at
registration@valedalama.net.
Page 6 of 9
SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where is the Venue?
The Project at Quinta do Vale da Lama exists since
2001 and it is characterized by the mediterranean
landscape of old carob and figs, almonds, olives
and citrus orchards, old rice fields, grasslands and
some vegetable production. It has approximately
42ha on the border of Lagos municipality in the
western Algarve, in between the town of Odixere
to the West, and the Alvor estuary to the east.
The Alvor estuary results from the union of four
watercourses born on the south sl ope of
Monchique mountain range to the North of the
farm. It is recognized as a special conservation
zone under Rede Nat ura 2000 and i t i s
exceptionally rich in biodiversity and habitat variety:
from the mudflats to the sand-banks, dunes and
grasslands, riparian woods and galleries that serve
as habitat to a wide variety of living beings.
Who are we?
Our team is composed of coordinators in various
fields of the project and a fantastic group of interns
and volunteers integrated in a theoretic and
practical learning experience.
2The educational aspect of the project is run by
Proj ecto Novas Descobertas - Associ ao
Educativa e Recreativa with 19 years of experience
in social integration and education for all ages. In
January 2010, PND created a new organism: the
Vale da Lama Institute - School of Permaculture
Design which kick started the holistic planning of
the whole property.
The farm is currently undergoing an experimental
transition process towards a space of resilience
and culture. The objective os this process is to
redi scover the practi ces that sustai n and
regenerate ecosystems and allow an healthy
integration of human settlements in the surrounding
social and ecological landscapes.
Page 7 of 9
MEET THE PROJECT
What we do?
Our objectives are to regenerate soil life and
reestablish the innate diversity of ecological, social
and economic systems, bringing back the natural
health of the land and its people and improving
their capacity to locally respond to the challenges
we are faced with nowadays.
We promote participatory education as a tool to
integrate all ages in a process of individual and
collective empowerment and to be able to learn
with everybody that gifts us with their visit.
We organize summer camps, free time activities for
children, education for sustainability, other courses
of different formats e content, connected to the
activities done at the farm like systems design, soil
and water sciences, regenerative agriculture,
permanent cultures, etc.
Page 8 of 9
How to get in touch?
If you wish to reach us to know more about our
project or find out how can we work together look
for us at:
Page 9 of 9
Rua 25 de Abril, n11, Fraco B, 8650-118
Burgau, Budens,
Portugal
EM 534 Odixere,
8600-258 Lagos,
Portugal
Tel.: 282 697 862
email: info@projectonovasdescobertas.org
Tel.: 282 764 071
email: info@valedalama.net
or visit us at projectonovasdescobertas.org or visit us at valedalama.net