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Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

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Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#71

Post by tuatoru »

raisin_churn wrote: post #48
defrost wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While not sustainable concrete made from fly-ash locks up ongoing and historic waste from coal fired power stations. We're phasing out our 60 year old coal station given the sheer amount of solar power we now generate in W.Australia - but we still have 60 years of fly ash to deal with. [1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-18/geopolymer-concrete-c... [2] https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2022/08/.…

Yes, fly ash concrete seems more sustainable than concrete without it (provided that the fly ash already exists) in certain applications where its particular properties are beneficial. I seem to recall it having greater durability under compressive loads, so roads can be built that require less frequent repair. In the US, we have enough roads falling apart I think we could use all the fly ash concrete we could possib…

Fly ash may be a valuable resource in future. Iirc it's a significant constituent of sulfur-resistant cement, used extensively in concrete sewer pipes.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#72

Post by 6stringmerc »

imgabe wrote: post #49
raisin_churn wrote: post #38

In what way is concrete a sustainable building material? It's a huge carbon emitter, a poor insulator, concrete production is devastating to natural habitats turned into sand quarries, etc. Plant-based construction materials, e.g. hemp, seem to be vastly superior on every ecological consideration. Plus, an unreinforced concrete dome has to be one of the inherently least population dense structures, and density potent…

Yeah, replacing wood, which is a carbon sink, with concrete, which is a huge emitter of CO2, seems like a bad trade.

What about massive bamboo at scale for use in like particle boards and such? Anything can be strong with enough epoxy!

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#73

Post by geomark »

raisin_churn wrote: post #48
defrost wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While not sustainable concrete made from fly-ash locks up ongoing and historic waste from coal fired power stations. We're phasing out our 60 year old coal station given the sheer amount of solar power we now generate in W.Australia - but we still have 60 years of fly ash to deal with. [1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-18/geopolymer-concrete-c... [2] https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2022/08/.…

Yes, fly ash concrete seems more sustainable than concrete without it (provided that the fly ash already exists) in certain applications where its particular properties are beneficial. I seem to recall it having greater durability under compressive loads, so roads can be built that require less frequent repair. In the US, we have enough roads falling apart I think we could use all the fly ash concrete we could possib…

Isn't fly ash quite high in radioactive material and a source of indoor radon when used in house construction?

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#74

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

badpun wrote: post #70
ksec wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still dont understand why people keep talking about " House ". When 90% of area that needs urgent "housing" are in needs of Tower Blocks / High Rise Residential Buildings. We Need to find a way to quickly and cost effectively build a lot of mid to high quality apartments. Better heat isolation. Network Pipes ready rather than relying on WiFi. Note: Yes, I know zoning and planning etc are still the biggest hurdle.

Because Americans regard living in anything other than a detached house as a failure.

Well would you want to share a wall and roof with most Americans?

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#75

Post by meetingthrower »

byw wrote: post #32
Animats wrote: post #16

There have been many variations on building houses with prefab forms, going all the way back to Edison. Works fine, but the result is a concrete box. The shell is not the big cost item in homes. If you want a small, low-cost box structure, there are companies that will sell you one. Concrete.[1] Metal.[2] Steel frame with wood siding.[3] [1] https://precastbuildings.com [2] https://www.butlermfg.com/ [3] https://www.…

I remember coming across a video of a product from Europe where the entire wall assembly is sold as one piece (outer wall, insulation, inner wall). I'm not sure if this type of product is common in Europe. If you then have wire conduits and junction boxes built-in, you are a lot closer to a livable home. Perhaps floor assemblies with hookups for plumbing. I'm not sure why these things aren't standardized to be the po…

I built a house like this in US. The company is called Bensonwood / Unity up here in NH. It is not cheaper but it is faster and higher quality. From slab to dried in house in 4 days. Passive house level airtightness and insulation.

Wall assembly is zip->10 inch blown in insulation around 10inch I-Joist -> OSB -> 2x3 interior wall studs to hang your sheetrock off of and run utilities. (All pre-drilled for faster running of pex and conduit.)

You do have to do all the interior work after, though.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#76

Post by bombcar »

tapland wrote: post #39
jjeaff wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dangers of pthalates notwithstanding, you do actually want an airtight home. Ventilation should be controlled and filtered with the HVAC system.

Now, I'm from a place where HVAC is rare, and thus this sounds like a mold disaster waiting to happen. But is that actually best practice where HVAC is common?

For wood structures air movement is the killer - it lets water vapor into the wood and if it can’t dry out it rots fast.

There’s all sorts of research into how to reduce air movement while still allowing water vapor to escape.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#77

Post by bombcar »

mNovak wrote: post #15

Is concrete actually a good building material for homes? It doesn't seem like it'd be insulating, and you're definitely not getting internal plumbing/wiring. And concrete is actively bad for the environment. It all feels like the shipping container home -- seems great at a glance, but doesn't really pan out to be lived in. Ikea style flatpacked prefabs still seems like a vastly better option to me.

You can use something like ICF (insulated concrete forms) but then you lose some of the speed of pure concrete.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#78

Post by whizzter »

ayewo wrote: post #69
StefanHamminga wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is extremely common in the Netherlands. Also very well sorted out these days. My parents' company used to assemble these. A specialised contractor digs and pours a concrete foundation for the walls and once those would be cured a crane, a loader truck and a crew of maybe 3-6 people would on average have a new house ready every 3 days (walls, floors, roofs, wiring, piping), 'ready' being very close to how they're…

Sounds really interesting. Do you have any links to learn more about your prefab designs and a company that assembles these designs?

Not in the Netherlands but in Sweden one of the biggest house makers is Älvsbyhus, you can select a base model (begin by selecting number of floors/layout, then size) and customize colors and some details online.

https://www.alvsbyhus.se/vara-hus/

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#79

Post by ethanbond »

lnsru wrote: post #66
ksec wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still dont understand why people keep talking about " House ". When 90% of area that needs urgent "housing" are in needs of Tower Blocks / High Rise Residential Buildings. We Need to find a way to quickly and cost effectively build a lot of mid to high quality apartments. Better heat isolation. Network Pipes ready rather than relying on WiFi. Note: Yes, I know zoning and planning etc are still the biggest hurdle.

Because house is cool and has integrated comfort. No neighbors, no useless administration. Building tall buildings is not a rocket science. Look at Burj Khalifa‘s construction: clever designed crane, lots of rebar and extremely powerful concrete pumps. And it’s really fast. One year to build enough space for thousands of people.

There must’ve been years and years of design work behind the Burj Khalifa, no?

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#80

Post by bombcar »

dieselgate wrote: post #43
lettergram wrote: post #22

This is fairly common with styrofoam. https://www.concretecontractornc.com/a-house-built-with-styr...

That's a cool link thanks for sharing. Seems pretty thermally efficient and they mentioned being quieter than wood walls. Curious what data they're looking at for "withstanding natural disasters"

One of the obvious ones is fire, I’d assume.
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