Construction Informer

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ShowNotes:

Listen in to this Construction Informer podcast with Collier Ward, an architect with CASA Design in Hunstville, Alabama. Ward is also a LEED AP and recently spent time at the Coverings show, which is billed as the largest stone and tile convention in North America. He found some fascinating technology coming from that quarter.

During the production process, the ceramic material is mixed in the paste with mineral particles that generate an extremely effective antibacterial reaction. These results, that have been documented and certified by Modena University, are evidence of the extraordinary potentials of the product which can be used in any field where a high performance in terms of hygiene, cleanliness, safety and ease of maintenance is needed, such as: health-care facilities, research laboratories, nurseries, schools, swimming-pools, sporting facilities, fitness centres, changing rooms, utility rooms, private or communal kitchens, canteens, restaurants, food and agricultural industries, and so on.

A similar product comes from Fiandre Architectural Surfaces and is called Active. This product comes from a new process created by Fiandre and Iris Ceramica that applies titanium dioxide powders to the tiles. This material reacts with light to constantly sanitize their surfaces.

Ward also reveals industry efforts to make tile recycling a reality and he talks about some new LEED credits that are now available for these kinds of products.

Listen in!

CAPTION: Groundbreaking Green Home, Blu | Balance is 34' Wide with 16' Ceilings. The eco-friendly and spacious Blu | Balance is the largest Blu design at more than 1,600 square feet. The one-story home has a flexible floor plan and comes with two or three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. (PRNewsFoto/Blu Homes, Inc.)

Developed countries have managed to build in very unsustainable ways for a very long time. Moving materials from one coast to the next, or from one country to the next to decorate our homes provides many aesthetic options, but it is not sustainable.

Banging together frame structures in the wind, rain and snow at break neck pace to satisfy investors’ needs for the next completed development created unsustainable models for day-to-day living. The suburbs required people to invest large amounts of commuting time to pay for homes that would be worn out by the time they were paid for.

The way back to building with sanity will be gradual and perhaps efforts like the Blu Home above are the forerunners. The delivery method will need to be adjusted so there are not long shipping distances, and I’m not convinced the homes have any more “green” features than most stick built homes. Plus the green features are largely green products, and like the rest of the green building movement it’s getting to the point where we have to move beyond just throwing more green products into buildings if we are ever going to get to sustainable building. Where the Blu Home gets an advantage is in the factory construction. Controlling the building process is a key component on the path to sustainability. The other key component is a new breed of builders who see the home as an outgrowth of the environment, instead of a growth upon it.

Melbourne Stadium Bioframe Design: The cover of the new stadium in Melbourne with isowand vario sandwich elements in the construction phase. (Image: Grocon) Courtesy: ThyssenKrupp

American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller might be pleased to see the geodesic dome covering something as expansive as a rugby/soccer field. ThyssenKrupp Business Services GmbH supplied 25,000 square meters (just about a square mile’s worth) of steel sandwich elements for the construction of just such a dome project in Melbourne, Australia. On May 7, dedication day, the Australian rugby league team plays the New Zealand team in the stadium. According to ThyssenKrupp:

This type of dome is made up of many small triangles held together by a fine lattice-like structure. It mimics construction principles that can be found in nature, is extremely stable and can enclose large spaces using comparatively small amounts of material…Protecting the 30,000 plus spectator seats from the wind and weather required around only half the material that would be needed for a conventional design using a so-called cantilever roof…Hoesch isowand vario® is a steel sandwich element designed specially for modern industrial architecture with high aesthetic requirements. The element, which comprises two thin steel face sheets enclosing a thick polyurethane rigid foam core, has first-class heat insulation properties and is low in weight. Hoesch isowand vario® has concealed fastenings as well as precision joints…The surface of the elements is microprofiled to enable rainwater to run off easily into tanks for subsequent use as service water in the stadium. Rainwater management is part of the sustainability concept for the stadium which also includes an integrated waste and recycling system.

About now you’re probably asking, “Okay, so where you going with this, Duane?” Here’s the thing. That’s a pretty cool looking structure and the rainwater harvesting bit takes an intrinsically eco-friendly aspect of the dome to a higher level. But in many ways the dome has always stayed an oddity, even though it makes a hell of a lot of sense from the engineering, construction, economic and environmental points of view. Some of the latest press bears that out.

In the UK you can rent a dome tent for the night, complete with fireplace. In another place in that country three domes are going up to serve as the community’s sports centre. In Montana a co-op is trying out year-round organic gardening in a 51-foot dome. In Alaska, another greenhouse dome project is set to begin using about $36K in grant money to construct a 33-foot greenhouse with solar energy, water tank and water fall. There are countless other dome structure examples across the globe that reside on the fringes of architecture.

It’s almost as if a dome structure is taboo unless:

• It’s a government or community-funded structure
• A structure with ecology or nature as its theme
• A place for Hobbits to live (I’m being respectfully disingenuous to all those who have found the bliss that comes from living in domes but it’s only to make a point)

The truth be known, the dome makes so much sense we should all be living and working in them. Besides, they really are very adaptable.

A construction team built one to serve as a field hospital in Haiti using only bamboo, and rebar from fallen buildings. Brian Zook, a Caspar resident developed the idea as a way to bring housing and jobs to developing countries.

And so, the dome goes on. Perhaps being on the fringe is exactly where it should be.

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Podcast Transcript:

Here’s a question I’ve been asking  for years. Why aren’t we using modular building more than we are? Well, it seems the US Army has decided to stop asking the same question and start using modular construction. No, of course they didn’t listen to me. Fortunately I don’t have that much influence, but they apparently did listen to Trendsetter Construction and bought 250,000 square feet of high rise barracks from them. The space will be used by 1200 medical trainees at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

It’s interesting here to understand just who Trendsetter is associated with. The company is a subsidiary of Clayton Homes, a major supplier of affordable housing across the country. And, guess who is behind Clayton Homes? None other than Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. So you know it is highly likely there’s going to be something to the continuing emphasis in the modular building movement. Not that Warren is always right, but he does have a knack for picking things early enough to ride the wave to the top.

Now there are others involved here besides Trendsetter. The way this is working is Trendsetter is building the units at their Belton, Texas facility which is a straight shot up I35 from San Antonio. It’s not a quick drive, about 140 miles, but it’s interstate all the way. At the job site Hensel Phelps is the general and although the press release didn’t say what they were doing there, Warrior Group is on the site also. Warrior has made a name for itself putting up modular buildings, especially of the high rise kind. According to their own press, Warrior built the first temporary modular building complex of more than 300,000 square feet in 2004. The company built a modular barracks at Fort Bliss with more than a million square feet in 2006. It built the first permanent two story modular barracks at Fort Bliss in 2007, and these buildings going up at Fort Sam Houston, and also at Fort Carson, will be the first three and four story modular barracks.

But there were some interesting pieces of information dropped by Doug Henriquez the director of business development for Trendsetter when he was describing the savings that come from using modular buildings. He said:

On typical project timelines, we can save 40-50% of the time on-site as compared to traditional construction techniques, while increasing control and reducing waste. Our on-site finish includes assembly, corridor completions, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing connections. This moves the bulk of work and risk to a manufacturing environment which increases consistency and accuracy.

And that squares with what we’ve been hearing about the advantages of modular ever since mobile homes started rolling off the assembly line. Granted today’s modulars are a few generations removed from those early models yet it’s still hard to argue with building structures until controlled conditions instead of out in the weather.