Efficiency Home

Global Building Systems, Inc.

19 thoughts on “Efficiency Home”

  1. I like the idea of a fireproof house and of increased insulation value for lower utilities.

    However, I am confused at the idea that a steel reinforced foam is considered “green.”

    Steel is very energy intensive to manufacture.

    And foam isn’t biodegradable or eco-friendly.

    Is the foam made from post consumer waste products or is it just more oil derivative waste in the making?

    I also like to factor in ballistic resistance to the equation of a family dwelling. Will it stop a rifle round?

  2. yes. I believe the target market for the time being is low/medium income suburban areas, but the technology is both scalable and adaptable to other styles (contemporary residential, commercial, industrial, etc.)

  3. It depends on the zone and materials, actually, so your comment might need some caveats. This was built in Arizona where temperatures easily reach 110 during the summer– a typical house with stick/brick construction in this area does, in fact, require such a unit.

  4. a 1700 sq foot home would not need a 3.5 ton a/c unit, maybe a 2 ton unit, but nice video. I wish they showed a bigger home being built.

  5. At 2:26, the comment is made that this construction is impervious to fire. With Styrofoam!? And what of wind? A load of shingles isn’t going to hold a house down in a 60 MPH gust.

  6. SithlordOmega: It probably is not, in the promo video they never mentioned what heating season they were in or the degree days.
    Chakl: Looked to be slab on grade.

    Overall interesting concept, nice idea for emergency shelter work, but not passive enough for my tastes. Still chuckling about the sill that they have stating there is no thermal bridge and you can see one in the early part of the video. And that thermal bridge is a piece of steel. Nice.

  7. @emusylate That is an interesting observation, but there aren’t really any totally bizarre materials being used that we haven’t lived with before. Humans have been building homes out of many different materials in our history, wood, drywall and brick aren’t the only options.

  8. Houses take a long time to settle and things degrade. These are so new that we can’t know how effective they are for living in the long term.

  9. Protects it by putting itself out. I’m not kidding– it has a class 1 fire rating (better than other options) and is self-extinguishing.

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