Domes International, Inc., Part 2

Domes International aspires to sell factories to Afghanistan, Africa, Turkey, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Niger, Ghana and other third world countries. The cost of manufacturing and exporting in third world countries is significantly lower than manufacturing in the United States and exporting to the third world.

On May 12, 2005, I spoke with Stephen L. Pope, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Director of Domes International, Inc. He remarked that making arrangements with disaster-torn countries takes an extremely long period of time. The process of making arrangements with post-war countries and countries that have endured natural disasters can be a “bureaucratic nightmare.”

There are many difficulties in selling or donating fiberglass domes to the third world for disaster relief. Even though construction costs and material costs are pared down for third world countries, the fiberglass domes can still be too costly. For example, fiberglass resin is petroleum based. It is the strongest material that Domes International can use. However, other materials are less expensive. Although International Domes is able to make a lower cost version of its domes, the bureaucracies of non-governmental organizations, governments and political organizations tend to make agreements difficult. Another difficulty in exporting domes is that countries in war zones or earthquake hit areas function in an emergency operation mode. So, even when the design costs are changed to the minimum expense, the domes are still too costly for some relief efforts to take place.

The problem in getting a project implemented is that when governments of third world countries get involved with relief funds, all parties require a fee. The billions of dollars given to charities and governments is used up as the money trickles down. Pope says that there is an unfortunate abundance of corruption. Only some money gets to the project after being filtered down through layers of management or contractors.

For more information on Domes International, Inc.:

http://www.domesintl.com/index.htm

Domes International, Inc., Part 1

Domes International (Domes) has a factory in Mississippi and offices in Tennessee, U.S.A. The sole overseas factory is in Ahmedabad, India. International offices are located in Nigeria, the Marshall Islands and in India.

Domes manufactures and sells fiberglass (FRP) buildings and other components that it developed over 27 years. During most of its years, Domes manufactured and sold modular domes for housing. However, since a few years ago, Domes has received contracts with Boeing Aerospace, Lockheed and other large corporations to manufacture and supply housing for defense personnel in the Marshall Islands. The modular fiberglass structures are also developed for use in harsh environments, long-term housing and for disaster relief shelters.

In addition to continued contract work with Boeing, Raytheon and other subcontractors of the U.S. Army’s Missile Defense Command, Domes International would like to export contracted products from India, Nigeria and other third world countries.

What makes Domes unique on the market of dome structures is that the molded fiberglass domes are made of interlocking double fiberglass forms that contain thermal barriers. The barriers contain polyurethane foam insulation and, if chosen, a layer of foil. The barrier is sandwiched between the double layers of fiberglass.

Some benefits of the domes are: no maintenance, low heating/cooling costs, good structural strength (ability to withstand winds in excess of 140 miles per hour), fast construction rate, earthquake resistance, water resistance, and portability (the dome can moved to another site).

For more information on Domes International, Inc.:

http://www.domesintl.com/index.htm

Tsunami Rebuilding, Part 2

I called the Monolithic Dome Institute, in Italy, Texas to inquire whether any Monolithic domes had been built in the disaster stricken areas that were hit after the tsunami of December 2004. I was informed that Monolithic Dome received inquiries regarding building concrete domes, but no domes were actually made as part of a rebuilding effort.

Finally, I reached Stephen L. Pope of Domes International, Inc., whose American headquarters are located in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Pope answered my question saying that domes were indeed built to help areas struck by last year’s tsunami.

Domes Inernational (Domes) has extensive business in third world countries. It has a small factory in Ahmedabad, India which opened in December, 2003. It obtained a $1.2 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to build the factory. The facility in India provides homes, temples, office buildings and commercial buildings of various types. Domes has been working with the Indian government to sell schools and barracks. Some U.S. military domes for the Marshall Islands can be fabricated in the Indian factory.

The company wants to continue to supply shelters for disaster relief in addition to producing grain storage, fuel storage, cistern and septic tank manufacture, jails, cold storage, military barracks, schools, factories, warehouses, dormitories and greenhouses.

For more information on Domes International, Inc.:

http://www.domesintl.com/index.htm

Tsunami Rebuilding, Part 1

On January 27, 2005, environmentalists warned that a possible deforestation of Indonesia would result from removing too much lumber in an effort to rebuild the area after the tsunami of December 2004. Deforestation would cause landslides and flooding.

Greenomics Indonesia, a policy research organization, and WWF, a global conservation organization, produced a report stating that 4 to 8 million cubic meters of logs are needed for reconsruction in Aceh for the next five years. The institutions would like to have Indonesia receive an average of 1 million cubic meters of wood per year. They are requesting that pledged worldwide donations should be given to Indonesia in the form of lumber.

The institutes state that donations of lumber would easily be met by foreign countries. The organizations claim that receiving donations of lumber would allow Indonesia to avoid overly harvesting its forests. The organizations state that much of the lumber made for worldwide sale in recent years has been from illegal logging.

An example of excessive recent deforestation in Indonesia is the 2004 flood that killed 300 people in Aceh. An investigation found that the flood was caused by illegal logging in the highland forests.

According to the National Geographic, the report published by Greenomics Indonesia and WWF also mentions plans of reconstructing low-cost housing that uses less lumber than conventional buildings. It states that these plans include brick structures and earthquake-resistant buildings using sustainable materials. Indonesia's Research Institute for Human Settlements is reported to have developed the plans.

I was unable to access any information from Indonesia's Research Institute for Human Settlements because all my links showed no access to a server. I have been searching for any information regarding reconstruction using concrete earthquake and flood-proof dome structures for the areas hit by last year’s tsunami.

On deforestation of Indonesia:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/0426_050426_indonesia.html

WWF Indosia:

http://www.wwf.or.id/attachments/quest_anw.pdf

United Nations Human Settlements Programme:

http://www.unhabitat.org/tsunami/tsunami_reconstruction.asp