News
At 72-years-old, Eugene Long's life appears successful.
The long-time Incline Village resident and housing contractor developed a revolutionary way to build homes for some of Nevada's far-flung locales. He attained a chemical engineering degree from the University of Colorado, managed factories, built high-end homes in the Lake Tahoe Basin and owned one of the first ski shops in Incline.
All these things are not what Long would like to have included in his legacy, though.
No, the Reno resident would like to replace the previous list with just one entry: Helped to eradicate malaria.
While on a safari on South Africa, Long noted the deplorable living conditions in Soweto, describing them as "nothing short of disastrous." Soweto residents were living in hot, corrugated steel shacks without indoor plumbing so both liquid and solid waste ran through the streets, creating a near-perfect breeding ground for malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
According to the Centers for Disease control, malaria is a serious complication for adults and deadly to children, who account for 75 percent of the one million worldwide deaths from malaria causes each year. The World Health Organization states that it is the fourth leading cause of death for children five and younger in the world, trumping HIV/AIDS.
"When I came back I thought more about the situation. What if I designed something specifically for Africa, specifically to prevent some of these problems?," Long said.
So he designed a housing unit that would eliminate street-side waste, reducing a major breeding area for mosquitoes. To do so, Long drew on his experiences a young man in Nevada.
His specialty was a creative approach to home-building, one that eliminated the need for plumbers, electricians and extraneous wastes of time. Long's houses came prepared to build in parts of Nevada, such as Kingston, that didn't have materials close at hand and only required simple assembly. They were built out from a core, a plumbing unit that attached to a toilet, shower and sink on one side and a kitchen sink on another. Also attached were a furnace and electric wiring for a couple of rooms. This was Long's "core." From that, Long could easily generate a kitchen, bathroom, living and dining rooms and a bedroom with minimal construction costs. Once the walls went up around the core and a roof thrown on top, Long had a house that could be built for 30 percent less than a traditional home.
He used this core theory that served him so well in the states and applied it to Africa. Long built a home with running water that contained waste and generated its own power from the sun.
"The first solar powered town in the world will be in Africa, not Europe, not California, not Asia, but Africa," Long said, obviously pleased by the comparison.
Long's unit utilizes a very simple design to derive maximum results from minimum energy. The core of the African home consists of a bathroom with sink, shower and chemical toilet, along with a kitchen sink, four energy-efficient light bulbs and a combination TV/DVD player. A 77-gallon water tank forms the roof of the core and a 77-gallon septic tank rests underneath the floor. Gravity forces water from the tank to shower, sinks and toilet, creating self-powered running water.
The "gray water," water used by people in sinks and showers, goes to the septic tank and is pumped into the ground outside of town. The sewage is pumped into a separate chamber inside the septic tank. Long is proposing that once every month, someone driving an ATV will come by the house to pick up the septic tank and dump the sewage into a cement-sealed underground tank.
Every other week or so, the same ATV will come by a home to collect the empty water tank for a refill.
The housing unit will receive power from a solar panel attached to the roof, which will supply just enough for the lights, TV/DVD unit and kitchen.
"The power won't provide for much else, but compared to what these people have now, its pretty nice," Long said, adding that he wouldn't add any additional outlets to conserve energy.
Long has a two-part plan to finance 100 of his units in Ghana, Africa and hopes to build them in the next two years. In conjuncture with a business partner planning a hemp plantation and refinery, Long's homes will house the workers and their families. He hopes that hemp production will finance a part of the operation and is using his nonprofit organization, "Angels for a Clean Planet," to finance the remainder. Long would encourage people to donate to the organization because their donations are 100 percent tax-deductible. To donate, you can contact Angels for a Clean Planet at (775) 741-6604
"Nothing will slow me down, I will get this village built," Long said. "If we can save just one kid, well, then it's completely worth it."
The long-time Incline Village resident and housing contractor developed a revolutionary way to build homes for some of Nevada's far-flung locales. He attained a chemical engineering degree from the University of Colorado, managed factories, built high-end homes in the Lake Tahoe Basin and owned one of the first ski shops in Incline.
All these things are not what Long would like to have included in his legacy, though.
No, the Reno resident would like to replace the previous list with just one entry: Helped to eradicate malaria.
While on a safari on South Africa, Long noted the deplorable living conditions in Soweto, describing them as "nothing short of disastrous." Soweto residents were living in hot, corrugated steel shacks without indoor plumbing so both liquid and solid waste ran through the streets, creating a near-perfect breeding ground for malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
According to the Centers for Disease control, malaria is a serious complication for adults and deadly to children, who account for 75 percent of the one million worldwide deaths from malaria causes each year. The World Health Organization states that it is the fourth leading cause of death for children five and younger in the world, trumping HIV/AIDS.
"When I came back I thought more about the situation. What if I designed something specifically for Africa, specifically to prevent some of these problems?," Long said.
So he designed a housing unit that would eliminate street-side waste, reducing a major breeding area for mosquitoes. To do so, Long drew on his experiences a young man in Nevada.
His specialty was a creative approach to home-building, one that eliminated the need for plumbers, electricians and extraneous wastes of time. Long's houses came prepared to build in parts of Nevada, such as Kingston, that didn't have materials close at hand and only required simple assembly. They were built out from a core, a plumbing unit that attached to a toilet, shower and sink on one side and a kitchen sink on another. Also attached were a furnace and electric wiring for a couple of rooms. This was Long's "core." From that, Long could easily generate a kitchen, bathroom, living and dining rooms and a bedroom with minimal construction costs. Once the walls went up around the core and a roof thrown on top, Long had a house that could be built for 30 percent less than a traditional home.
He used this core theory that served him so well in the states and applied it to Africa. Long built a home with running water that contained waste and generated its own power from the sun.
"The first solar powered town in the world will be in Africa, not Europe, not California, not Asia, but Africa," Long said, obviously pleased by the comparison.
Long's unit utilizes a very simple design to derive maximum results from minimum energy. The core of the African home consists of a bathroom with sink, shower and chemical toilet, along with a kitchen sink, four energy-efficient light bulbs and a combination TV/DVD player. A 77-gallon water tank forms the roof of the core and a 77-gallon septic tank rests underneath the floor. Gravity forces water from the tank to shower, sinks and toilet, creating self-powered running water.
The "gray water," water used by people in sinks and showers, goes to the septic tank and is pumped into the ground outside of town. The sewage is pumped into a separate chamber inside the septic tank. Long is proposing that once every month, someone driving an ATV will come by the house to pick up the septic tank and dump the sewage into a cement-sealed underground tank.
Every other week or so, the same ATV will come by a home to collect the empty water tank for a refill.
The housing unit will receive power from a solar panel attached to the roof, which will supply just enough for the lights, TV/DVD unit and kitchen.
"The power won't provide for much else, but compared to what these people have now, its pretty nice," Long said, adding that he wouldn't add any additional outlets to conserve energy.
Long has a two-part plan to finance 100 of his units in Ghana, Africa and hopes to build them in the next two years. In conjuncture with a business partner planning a hemp plantation and refinery, Long's homes will house the workers and their families. He hopes that hemp production will finance a part of the operation and is using his nonprofit organization, "Angels for a Clean Planet," to finance the remainder. Long would encourage people to donate to the organization because their donations are 100 percent tax-deductible. To donate, you can contact Angels for a Clean Planet at (775) 741-6604
"Nothing will slow me down, I will get this village built," Long said. "If we can save just one kid, well, then it's completely worth it."
