The Pasadena EcoHouse

http://www.thepasadenaecohouse.com

Aidmer Wall Material

 

 

RESARO WARM FOUNDATION

Resaro’s Building and Energy System meets the demands for minimizing the Carbon Dioxide discharge during the house’s erecting and length of life.
The Resaro System’s main components are the Resaro Elements and the Resaro Energy System with the Overpressure Foundation and the Intermediate Floor Support, which in all gives a house entirely without cold bridges in the foundation and in the outer walls.
The Resaro Element is a lightweight, strong concrete element, consisting of a thin slab with truss beams in an innovative truss design, intended for self supporting joists. Spans up to eight metres, simplifies the erecting and facilitate flexible planning and offers a simple, easily accessible and cheap installation space.

http://resaro.se/FOTOGrim/FOTOGrim.eng/fotobott.ht

Green Collar Jobs

The story on the greening of the American job market, with CNBC's Steve Liesman

The Story of Stuff

INSUL-DECK, LLC Tilt-Deck

http://www.insul-deck.org/tilt-up.htm

Home Front Homes

 http://www.homefronthomes.com/buy_custom.html

AMVIC Building System

http://www.amvicsystem.com/assets/Manual/May1/AmDeck-FINAL-LR.pdf

http://www.amvicsystem.com/amdeckmanual.aspx

StyroFoam Dome Kits

 http://www.i-domehouse.com/movie.html

Global Building Systems, Inc.

The STEP TECH System™

 

http://www.gbsi-step.com/

News From BuildingGreen

 

http://www.buildinggreen.com/

kama Energy Efficient Building Systems, Inc.

 

http://www.kama-sip.com/

http://www.kama-eebs.com/

Rocky Mountain Institute

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was established in 1982 by resource analysts L. Hunter Lovins and Amory B. Lovins. What began as a small group of colleagues focusing on energy policy has since grown into a broad-based institution with approximately eighty full-time staff, an annual budget of nearly $12 million (over half of it earned through programmatic enterprise), and a global reach.

RMI is a not-for-profit “think and do tank” that works with individuals and organizations of every imaginable kind to help them use energy and resources efficiently while being ever-better stewards of the environment.

Rocky Mountain Institute's
Home Energy Briefs
Practical Guides Describing What the Average Homeowner
can do to Save Energy

http://www.rmi.org/

Stryofoam Pleasure Domes Decreed

SCIENCE WATCH

Styrofoam Pleasure
Domes Decreed

Until now housing materials in Japan have consisted generally of wood, steel, and concrete. Now, however, the housing company Japan Dome House has developed a domed house made of polystyrene foam (Styrofoam).
Although plastic materials such as Styrofoam have been used in panels for indoor refrigerated coolers, exterior insulation, and as interior and exterior nonstructural elements, none had been approved as load-bearing structural materials for buildings.
After five years of negotiations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Japan Dome House received ministry approval in 2004 and began selling its Styrofoam building material. The company's product is the first structural Styrofoam material approved in Japan.
The standard exterior dimensions of the dome house are 3.3 meters tall and seven meters in diameter. The walls are 20 centimeters thick and the entire structure only weighs 900 kilograms. Total floor space is equivalent to 36 m². Both interior and exterior walls are designed to be fire-resistant and to prevent the "sick building" phenomenon. Around 10 different structural elements and adhesives are used in assembling the homes and several of the homes can be put up in a single day without the use of heavy machinery. The cost of a dome house (materials) is only 2.45 million yen (24,000 dollars).
In tests, the homes have withstood three meters of snow and winds of 45 meters per hour. The homes can be easily recycled and do not release toxic dioxin gas even if incinerated. Japan Dome House anticipates use of the structures as country homes, detached rooms, restaurants, bars, and shops.
Currently, 400 dome houses are being used as lodging facilities at Aso Farm Land, a nature-experience theme park operated by the Japan Dome House group at the foot of Aso-san mountain in Kumamoto-ken prefecture.
Trademark rights and patent rights for this building method have been acquired in the United States. Orders from abroad are coming in. The company is also fielding inquiries about the dome house's use as disaster relief structures.
For more information, http://www.i-domehouse.com/

SIPschool

www.sipschool.org.

Designing the Future

In a new interview series, NEWSWEEK talks to a leading ecological architect whose goal is nothing less than eliminating waste and pollution.

Michael Lewis for Newsweek

Newsweek

May 16 issue - Imagine buildings that generate more energy than they consume and factories whose waste water is clean enough to drink. William McDonough has accomplished these tasks and more. Architect, industrial designer and founder of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry in Charlottesville, Va., he's not your traditional environmentalist. Others may expend their energy fighting for stricter environmental regulations and repeating the mantra "reduce, reuse, recycle." McDonough's vision for the future includes factories so safe they need no regulation, and novel, safe materials that can be totally reprocessed into new goods, so there's no reason to scale back consumption (or lose jobs). In short, he wants to overhaul the Industrial Revolution—which would sound crazy if he weren't working with Fortune 500 companies and the government of China to make it happen. The recipient of two U.S. presidential honors and the National Design Award, McDonough is the former dean of architecture at the University of Virginia and co-chair of the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development. He spoke in New York recently with NEWSWEEK's Anne Underwood.

What are you doing in China?
The China Housing Industry Association has the responsibility for building housing for 400 million people in the next 12 years. We're working with them to design seven new cities. We're identifying building materials of the future, such as a new polystyrene from BASF [with no noxious chemicals]. It can be used to build walls that are strong, lightweight and superinsulating. The building can be heated and cooled for next to nothing. And it's silent. If there are 13 people in the apartment upstairs, you won't hear them.

© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.

The Basic Very Cold Climate House

  

http://www.buildingscience.com/

Government Study: EIFS Is Best Performing Wall System

Building Envelope Research/Testing: Government Study: EIFS Is “Best Performing Wall System”

SUMMARY: Oak Ridge National Labs states that EIFS are “best performing wall systems.” New research comparing both overall insulating ability and moisture resistance show EIFS with 4-inch foam insulation "outperformed" walls of brick, stucco, concrete block and cementious fiber board in moisture handling with "superior thermal performance."

ATLANTA, Oct. 28, 2006 — EIFS “outperformed all other walls in terms of moisture while maintaining superior thermal performance."

That’s what the Oak Ridge National Laboratory said about walls made of EIFS, comparing them favorably to other common types of wall construction based on 15 months of new research. 

The government research initiative scientifically recorded the performance of EIFS – Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems – with walls made of brick, stucco, concrete block and cement board in a field installation.   Preliminary findings released this year are part of a three-year research program.

Initial results show that EIFS walls are better at protecting buildings from moisture while offering superior thermal control.    Achilles Karagiosis, Ph.D., of the Building Envelope Group of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued a summary of the research findings on September 19, 2006. The ORNL’s researcher asserted that the research is “useful … in demonstrating the superior moisture and temperature control performance of EIFS as compared with other types of exterior claddings.”

The researchers used instrumentation that precisely and continuously monitored and recorded the side-by-side performance of typical wall assemblies in defending against common environmental challenges such as moisture and temperature swings over the 15 month period.   Each wall claddings alternative was incorporated into a specially constructed building located in Charleston, South Carolina, for comparison and evaluation. 

Moisture intrusion can cause rust, rot and other structural damage. The study found that house wraps permitted more moisture accumulation than water-resistive barrier coatings, which are sprayed on. In addition, “the use of polyethylene vapor retarders is not a good strategy,” reads the ORNL summary.

The study also provides insights as to the best ways to insulate buildings. “Insulation is more beneficial when placed toward the exterior,” says the summary.

Highlights of the memo, titled “The Hygrothermal Performance of Exterior Wall Systems: Key Points of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory NET Facilities Research Project” include:

• BACKGROUND: The 3-year testing program was initiated and funded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and in part by a nonprofit trade group, the EIFS Industry Members Association, or EIMA. The study was conducted independently by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which is funded by DOE.
• RESEARCH METHOD: Goals of the ORNL study were to confirm the performance of EIFS for insulating ability and moisture resistance. Field research was conducted for 15 months on a specially made test building constructed with various cladding materials and fitted with sensors to record moisture content, humidity, temperature and other variables. EIFS walls are compared to brick, stucco, cement board and concrete block. The field data are being used to create a computer simulation intended to predict wall performance of the subject variables, called a hygrothermal model.
• SCIENTIFIC RESULTS: The study demonstrates that “the best performing wall system was the EIFS wall consisting of 4 inches of expanded polystyrene insulation board without any interior stud insulation (no fiberglass),” reads the study summary issued by ORNL. “This wall outperformed all other walls in terms of moisture while maintaining superior thermal performance.”

For more information on the study, contact Stephan E Klamke, Executive Director,[sklamke@eima.com] at the EIFS Industry Members Association, or Achilles Karagiozis, Ph.D. at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory [karagiozisan@ornl.gov].

ABOUT THE OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY: A multiple-program science and technology organization funded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) conducts basic and applied R&D in many areas of science and technology. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the DOE, and is based near Knoxville, Tennessee. Scientists and engineers employed at ORNL build scientific knowledge and technological solutions to increase the availability of clean, abundant energy; restore and protect the natural environment; and contribute to national security. (For more information, see www.ornl.gov.)

ABOUT EIMA.: Founded in 1981, the EIFS Industry Members Association (EIMA) is a national non-profit technical trade association of leading manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and contractors involved in the exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS) industry. (For more information, see www.eima.com.)

ABOUT E.I.F.S.: The term Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems, or EIFS, refers to a system of wall construction that comprises foam insulation board, a fiberglass mesh and an engineered series of performance and decorative coatings, including barriers to water and air. EIFS assemblies are usually attached to and supported by building framing and sheathing. The finished surface, which can be colored and textured, often has a stucco-like appearance.

http://www.eima.com/researchtesting/governmentstudy/

SABS™ (Saebi Alternative Building System)

http://www.strataca.com/

Insulated Pool kits

http://insulatedpoolkits.com/design.asp

Styro Rail Inc.

http://www.styrorail.ca

AmDeckTM Floor & Roof System

http://www.amvicsystem.com/assets/amdeck/111%20amdeck.jpg

Quick Build Technology Inc.

http://www.quickbuild.ca