4. Chapter 4: The case studies of the different sheltering solutions
4.1. Tents
One of the most common humanitarian responses is providing temporary tents. Tents are simply a structure with a cover that together provide a portable temporary shelter. Tents come in a variety of shapes and designs, but still, tents can be classified into three main categories due to the cover layers -
those are single-fly tents with one layer of fabric, double-fly tents with one layer of fabric and flysheet, and winteried tents that consists of a fabric layer, a cotton lining, a flysheet, and an opening for the stove pipe. The figure down which adopted from (United Nations, 2004) explain the tents common components
Tents also can differ due to their structural frame method. Figure 4.1-3 shows different types of structural frames for tents such as tunnel, ridge, dome, and geodesic.
However, tents provide the occupants with very basic adequacy means as they can address a little privacy for the families living within, and protection against weather that will keep the occupants' bodies dry, covered, with an internal temperature that is acceptable as a life-saving measure, but not necessarily providing comfort especially in the time of extreme weather and/or long-term displacement.
However, a different climates require a different design of tents, for instance in a hot dry climate, tents need shade from the sun and ventilation for cooling, flysheet for shading, opening for ventilation, and external space shading. But in the desert, it could be cold at night so winterised tents may be required.
And in a hot-humid climate, tents fabric should drain condensed water out of the shelter and should Figure 4.1-2. Tents Classification, adopted from (United Nations, 2004)
Figure 4.1-1. Common tents components with flysheet, by (United Nations, 2004)
Figure 4.1-3. Types of tents frames, by (Nordisk, 2018)
24 have an anti-rotten fabric in addition to the importance of providing shading from the sun. However, in cold climate tents may not be suitable due to their poor thermal insulation and high level of air infiltration that cause the tent to lose heat very quickly. After all, when only tents can be used in a cold climate winterised tents can shelter the occupants with special care of draughts blocking to reduce infiltration and upgrade the insulation of the tents lining layer, in addition, to keeping people off the ground with proper clothes and blankets. Moreover, in times of extreme weather hot or cold seasonal variations and upgrading may be required. Nevertheless, the distribution of winterisation kits which usually consists of insulating floor mat, inner liner, floor protection for heater, and sleeve for heater pipe)can enable the occupants to upgrade their tents.
Therefore tents can be described as an emergency shelter solution - they can be distributed in quick time- due to their low cost and rapid construction ability which is suitable as a temporary solution that is a portable shelter that can be dismantled and reassembled with ease. That presents the active/responsive element of the tents,which is considered a lightweight structure that helps the occupants to overcome the land tenure issues for a while as constructing it while the land tenure discussion is going on which provides the FDP with the required time to proceed toward more adequate/durable solutions.
Also, tents could be suitable for an incremental process as tents covers can be reused in different ways such as transitional shelter cover or outdoor shading and/or privacy barriers. In addition to many possible innovative adaptation practices carried out by the occupants. Therefore, good quality covers and regular maintenance procedures could extend the life span of the tent covers which allow for multiple reuses of it, in the process of transition to adequate shelter. On the contrary, the long-term occupancy in tents without an incremental strategy causes repeated calls for sheltering assistance every one to two years due to the short life span of the tents, and the very basic means of adequacy that tents can provide, This results in inefficient HSR and insufficient sheltering solutions for FDP also the absence of incremental process results in vulnerable communities that will be in continuous risk, Tents as a sheltering solution are addressing low resilience against some types of natural hazards such as (fire, winds and flood). For instance, at the time of writing this chapter on the 4th of August 2021, an accident caused a massive fire that swept through Camp 004, one of Qub Elias refugee camps, Al- Beqaa, in Lebanon and fully burned 25 tents (URDA, 2021), this camp has been there for more than 10 years with the absence of an incremental process to address risk reduction and resilience improvement.
Also, tents as an emergency response are required to be distributed in time, so transportation and delivery of the items could be expensive and possibly causes the delay of the response. However, tent alternatives should always be assessed such as constructing temporary shelters from locally produced materials, after all, some kinds of tents are standardied and considered as a global design solution such as the following:
4.1.1. UNHCR family tent
UNHCR family tent is a double fly tent of 23 sqm living space that has elevated walls and groundsheet with 2.2 m head height in the centre of the tent. The tent structure system consists of (double polyester cotton blend canvas, 3 upright poles, 1 horizontal pole, 10 side poles, 10 guy ropes on each side). Even though the tent living space is 23 square meters it does occupy a footprint of 61 square metres due to the space required for the assembly guy ropes. It is an emergency global shelter design with a lifespan of 1 year. However, a shade net can be added to the tent that is especially needed for hot climates, Also
25 this tent can be upgraded with a winterisation kit of a liner to improve the insulation against cold, in addition to the insulating mat, chimney sleeve, partition and floor protection under the stove.
4.1.2. UNHCR framed tent
The framed tent is a self-standing frame that allows for easy setup and eliminating the lost space that is required for logs and ropes compared to the standard UNHCR family tent and also expanding the area of the living space which make the space suitable for a family of 5, with more sufficient headspace of 2.4 m height, however its heavier and more costly solution, with a 1-year life span.
The UNHCR framed tent also can be provided with a shade net and winterisation kit, also, the symmetric flaps allow for expansion by attaching two tents lengthwise to provide wider space.
4.1.3. Self-standing family tent
Research, development, and field testing carried out by UNHCR, IFRC, and ICRC from 2011 until2016 has resulted in a new improved self-standing family tent. This tent is a dome tent design with a self- supporting structure that is self-standing and self-tensioning with 4.3 m by 4.3m area with a head height of 1.8 metres and enhanced specifications due to the good protection against dust, wind, rain, snow, insects, and small fauna that is provided by the outer tent. In addition to the inner partition that divides the tent and provides the occupants with some degree of privacy.
The materials of the tent groundsheet follows the standards of plastic sheeting, and the outer tent is an HDPE and the inner tent is a polyester-cotton canvas which make it a fire retardant tent with a 1-year life span and moderate cost option.
Figure 4.1-4. Phot of family tent, by (UNHCR, 2016)
Figure 4.1-5. Framed UNHCR tent, by (UNHCR, 2016)
26 4.1.4. Tunnel structure Tents
Tunnel shaped tents can be made by using flexible tubes including MDPE water pipes that can be bent to create an array of arches and braced together with bars such as iron bars and plastic sheets can be used to cover the structure such as 4 metre by6 metre standard UNHCR tarp, also flysheets can be added.
These types of construction are a good example of the potential use of already supplied materials on the camp such as distributed plastic sheets and water supply pipes that have been already supplied on the site for the construction of sanitation facilities Water pipes are difficult to source in sufficient quantities and qualities and alternatives are limited, which limits the vast response of sheltering due to this type of solution. But still, it is an emergency solution that can be constructed and fabricated on- site if the required materials are already available.