CREATE A COMMUNITY WITH DARING AND CARING MINDSET
CREATE A COMMUNITY WITH DARING AND CARING MINDSET
SCHOOL FOR LIFE
THE BUSINESS CASE
Our project is to build a school made of recyclable materials. The school will have natural and recycled materials, its own thermal and solar heating and cooling system, powered by solar and wind electricity. This project not only promises another level of education, but also care of the environment and the importance of recycling.
This is a new way of construction that could be considered to pay for environmental care and sustainable development. There is also the environmental factor, because building this way prevents waste from reaching rivers and oceans.
The choice of products and materials for the construction of conventional buildings, supposes a negative impact on the environment, which we can be reduced. We will have to consider a series of factors and ask the right questions in order to make the most appropriate selection:
1. The location. We have to ask ourselves: Where has the raw material been extracted or where has this product been manufactured? How far have they had to be transported to the point of consumption? How much energy has been consumed for transportation?
2.Possibility of reuse. Is it possible to re-use a material or product that already exists, instead of acquiring a completely new one?
3. Impact on the environment. What negative impact on the environment has produced the extraction of resources to manufacture the product I want?
4. Quickly renewable materials. How long will the impact on the environment be regenerated or restored after the extraction of this material or production of this product?
5. Recycled material content. What is the percentage of recycled material used in the manufacture of this product, instead of virgin raw material extracted again?
6. Durability. How long does this installed material last without replacing it? What preventive measures and other types of materials do I have to take into account for maintenance?
7. Aesthetics Is this the aesthetic aspect that I would like to keep for a long time?
8. End of life. Is it possible to re-use or recycle or rehabilitate this product when it stops serving to perform the function for which it was acquired?
In our case, the stakeholders are the groups or the entities that have some type of interest in our organization; and people that are linked to it or influence our operations in some way. The main interest groups are governments, donors, volunteers, staff, partners, suppliers, the local, regional, national, or international community, the media, public administrations, regulatory bodies, academic marketing and allies.
Launching our product is just as important as developing our schools. If we don’t do the product launch effectively, customers won’t be aware of the potential of the schools and they are going to have a bad impression of it.
Marketing at Colleges or Universities should be approached differently. Their vision and mission are more personal and less business-like. Their existence is based on the ideal of promoting the growth of people through the transmission of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. An Educational Institution must take greater care of its corporate image and reputation, which is why it is so important that it resides from the same reputation of the media in which it is promoted, its seriousness and the values of all the companies with which it relates or advertises.
Some marketing strategies for the launch of our school would be:
- Including in all advertising a map of your location to easily locate us
- Making our facilities visible and attractive. As simple as your Educational Institution may be, we will not miss the opportunity to say who you are to all who pass by
- Placing an advertisement in the most visible and busiest place outside your school
- Creating a Web page and social network (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
- Emailing our marketing campaigns – by sending valuable information to all people who could support this cause)
Regarding the budget, the price in the construction of an ecological school depends on many factors, but the most expensive is the purchase of the land. Most likely, it involves between 30 and 50 % of the budget. The variety of price that an ecological school has in itself, depends on its square meters, on its type of design (modern exterior finishes are usually more expensive), on the construction system used, on building materials, on the efficiency and energy saving systems that housing should have.
It is difficult to determine the standard price of an ecological school, but we have compiled several examples of ecological homes with their respective prices.
10% Architecture project: the technical project that includes the fees of the architect, rigger, structuralist, geologist, etc.
8% Licenses and visas: The architecture project to build an ecological school does not include licensing costs. It is important to include these expenses since the school must cover to approve all habitability permits. Especially for the safety of children.
40% Construction cost: The cost of construction of the house itself accounts for around 40% of the total budget, however, this value depends largely on the construction system and the quality of the materials.
Our initial calculation for the first school is USD 50,000. However, it is important to include and have in a percentage destined to risks. We do not know what emergency may occur. According to our Launching Plan, we will have a fixed cost by the beginning of September.
School for Life shares values: daring and caring, promote radical inclusion, positivity, and have environmentally conscious transparency.
This type of school will give children the chance to show their parents how to rethink. Our mission is to create a community with a daring and caring mindset. The children can be taught how pollution can affect the planet and how what they can do to reduce the impact. Our aim is to empower children coming from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds by building schools made from recycled materials.
The average rate of waste production per capita in Latin America is 0.87 kg per day, which exceeds the world average set at 0.74 kg. Therefore, we would like to build our first school in either Mexico, Chile or Argentina. Affected by tourism and commercial activities, these three countries generate the greatest amount of waste in Latin America. Mexico and Argentina have accepted our project while Chile’s government has rejected our offer. We have decided to implement our first school in Mexico.
The main benefits for this project would be to reuse materials that have been already used, which will decrease the amount of garbage on a specific country, to offer education to elementary kids, to be one of the first schools made from recyclable materials, which can lead to many others if the project succeeds, and can become one of the best ways to reuse materials.
There are some possible limitations that could have, and have, arose. A country’s government, as it was the case with Chile, may not want to support a project like ours, or one of the communities could have refused to show their full support. We might also face some issues in order to build the school since we are using materials that are not usually used by the builders.
However, we have found solutions to these potential problems.
The director and coordinator of the project will be the American architect Michael Reynolds, who has been exploring new ways of building, in partnership with Earthship Biotecture, the company led by Reynolds. Like our team, Mr. Reynolds is convinced that the world needs a change of approach in the face of threats from global warming. He has already done one school in Argentina, so we trust his skills and knowledge. After building one school, Chilean government might reconsider. Moreover, the surveys we have given to the community came back to us positive. Most likely, people believe a project like ours will be feasible.
School for Life will be working with volunteers to collect the recyclable materials, local constructors - chosen and trained by our coordinator Michael Reynolds - to help build the school, and Earthship Biotecture’s members, to provide feedback, help and support. Clark Construction will also be part of the project. Our outline plan and steps have been added to our New Product Project Plan. Since the main resource of this project is donation, it will require time to reach our goal and be able to launch the final school. We estimate our school to launch by January 2022.
The new way of building can face risks:cooperation with the population, and the school design.
In fact, the population in countries might not understand the benefits of our project and some people might not agree to give full cooperation. While Mayte Rojas will work to raise funds with events, conferences, meetings in organizations, etc., Francisco Marino has been sent to the neighborhoods of the chosen cities to make sure the population is on board to help collecting materials and help recycle their trash. Accordingly, we made the decision for Mexico.
Regarding the school design, the risk of appearing repulsive must be avoided. Our architect must submit a detailed plan and Carla Albrespy must analyze it and approve it before the project starts.Some objectives that should be met in the direction and management phase of project execution would be: achieving the best technical quality of the facilities, reaching their highest value, maintaining the costs of materializing the project within the margins established by the available budget, complying with the schedule for the execution of activities, and making it possible to start up the implementation programs within the established deadlines. The identification and analysis of the factors relevant to the organization of the project, will correspond to five groups or interrelated categories, they are:
- Participation of managers and their team in the organization of the project in general
- Open relationship with the project organization
- Characteristics of the project in question
- Analysis of strengths, weaknesses and participation of third parties
- Incremental or marginal costs
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