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.