100% petroleum house

Abstract

I am designing a Case Study House to be sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell which utilizes the by-product of oil extraction, petroleum gas, to produce a zero waste, 100% petroleum based house. The motivation of the Case Study House is to address the housing shortage in Iraq, and demonstrate the capacity of petrochemicals as a building material. In the Western hemisphere an abundance of trees provides wood, an easy to work with construction material. In contrast, Iraq currently lacks a pervasive natural resource for construction. However, Iraq does boast one of the largest reserves of oil in the world. During the oil production process natural gas is trapped underground with the petroleum. Because of the pressure change during extraction, natural gas will surface with the crude oil. This type of natural gas is known as associated petroleum gas; it is released as a byproduct or waste product of petroleum extraction. With the right facilities in place these associated gases can be harnessed for energy, and become a feedstock for petrochemical industries. I am interested in using Basra, Iraq's second most populous city, as a case study for improving the housing need in Iraq. There are several key reasons why Basra will serve as both a strategic and necessary site to develop this idea. Basra's crucial location on the southern tip of Iraq, and at the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, has made it Iraq's main port and a gateway into the country. This access to various kinds of transportation through primary ports, as well as rail lines to Baghdad, coupled with a rapidly growing economy stemming from, oil and downstream petroleum based industries, makes Basra an opportune location for a housing intervention. In conclusion, Iraq has the capacity to produce vast amounts of building material domestically from petroleum gas, a by-product of oil, its primary export. With plastics beginning to emerge as viable building materials in the construction industry, Iraq could likely be on the forefront of making the use of plastics as building materials mainstream.