Re-Thinking The Fundamentals of Construction
by Kevin Ablett
Part 1 of a 3-Part Series
Greetings Friends,
It has been a while since the last eco-investor newsletter. I have been very busy traveling to Costa Rica, Belize, Florida, Ontario, BC, and all over Southern, Central and Northern Alberta over the last 4 months in search of the latest and greatest in eco-lifestyle innovations and investment opportunities.
The more I travel, the more I recognize the patterns, observing trends all over the globe. One of those trends, and the focus of this 2-part series, is in the area of real estate development.
Regardless of what country I’m in, I continually see real estate being developed in similar ways. Whether it’s concrete foundations, basements, stick frame wall construction, roofing materials, or even the processes and timings used in the construction planning and logistics phases, there are always some similarities.
These observable and verifiable trends beg a few questions:
1. Are the current processes for building as efficient as they can be or can improvements still be made? If improvements are possible, in what areas are they to be found?
2. Are the current materials being used for a valid reason still or are there newer materials and technologies that we can use to improve all key facets of construction, be it aesthetics, durability, indoor air quality, lower energy costs, total energy freedom, or other benefits.
3. Are our current interrelationships and dependencies on urban infrastructure like water, sewage, electricity, and access to food serving to make our lifestyles and livelihoods more secure or more vulnerable to potential systemic risks?
It wasn’t until I took a trip to northern Alberta to visit with an eco-architect, builder and permaculture expert, Paul Belanger, that I began to find some real answers to those burning questions. The result was inspiring, refreshing, and alarming all at once.
The following 3-Part series is an executive summary of these innovations and the focus of this edition of the eco-investor newsletter. We hope these insights will prove to make people healthier and wealthier. This summary is intended to help you identify emerging ways to build homes and commercial spaces with added health benefits, in less time, that cost less money to build, less money to operate, and carry a much smaller ecological footprint. All of this translates into more money in your pocket now and in the future while also serving the planet now and in the future.
In Part 1 of this series, we’ll begin from the ground up, with a focus on basements and foundations:
1. Are the current processes for building as efficient as they can be or can improvements still be made? If improvements are possible, in what areas are they to be found?
Let’s start from the bottom:
Basements:
Basements are a common feature in most homes built today. Why?
Do they add a lot more value to a home? No.
Is the square footage included in the calculation of home size? No.
Are they heat sinks that suck warm air out of the house? Yes.
Do they add significant time (and cost) to the initial construction process? Yes.
Do they add more living space to homeowners? Some, usually dimly lit and cold.
Do they scar the earth and change the natural state of the piece of land the home will occupy, therefore requiring even more architectural, engineering, and environmental impacts and costs? Sadly, the answer is Yes.
In short, basements really don’t add a lot to your bottom line, just to the amount of space you have to put all of your stuff and to the headaches of paying for and maintaining all that lower quality space. After all, how often do you hear people having their ‘main floor flood’ or their ‘second floor flood’…it’s always the basement! And if having more stuff and ever more space to put your stuff is that important to you (that’s another topic I’ll save for an entire newsletter some day), then is it possible that building more above ground space could actually be cheaper, healthier for you and the planet, and less costly in the long run than using invasive excavations for complicated basement foundations? The answer is a resounding yes.
That’s the beginning of a strong case for completely reducing or eliminating the use of basements in our development projects. To recap:
No basement = money saved on reduced concrete, rebar, and forms.
No basement = money saved on reduced labour (cribbing) requirements.
No basement = money saved on reduced heavy machinery (excavators).
No basement = money saved on reduced concrete curing time delays.
No basement = less risk by lower possibility of future flooding problems.
No basement = less impact on the natural state of the land.
No basement = money saved by less heat loss through cold basement walls.
Now let’s see how this relates to Foundations, because the two often go hand in hand.
Foundations:
The status quo for foundation construction involves the building of plywood forms that are rigged throughout with steel rebar, and then filled with high volumes of rapidly hardening concrete in an extremely time sensitive process involving one or more concrete delivery truck with little room for error. An entire wall can be destroyed if the forms have a leak somewhere because some bracket wasn’t fitted properly.
Some new technologies are gaining market penetration because they solve some of these challenges. ICF’s (Insulated Concrete Forms) are one such example of forms that snap together like lego, add a layer of insulation to the foundation, and provide a reinforced cavity for the concrete to be poured into. However, this process still involves precise pouring of rapidly hardening concrete, made even slower by the intricate floor plans found in many of today’s new homes. This complexity invariably slows down the work of cribbers, which adds more to the costs, logistics and timelines of any project. There is also a growing amount of evidence that illustrates the large environmental impact and high embedded energy involved in the production of concrete and steel rebar.
Paul Belanger, one of Canada’s leading eco-architects, is now introducing innovative ways to build homes using concrete-free foundations that use no rebar whatsoever, thereby saving both labour and materials costs and further contributing to the simplification of the procurement process and the overall project. Couple this concrete-free concept with a focus on basement-free structures and the overall timelines and costs of any build project can be noticeably reduced.
Paul’s new company, Apex Advanced Building Systems, is dedicated to producing some of the most ecologically progressive, healthy, and affordable homes in the world today. We will look forward to his works being a regular feature in this newsletter. For more information on Paul and his Apex homes, visit www.sunandstraw.com.
The Fundamentals of Foundations:
1. Concrete Foundations have high thermal mass (good) but contain a high amount of embedded energy (bad) and should be used strategically for solar gain and sparingly to keep your ecological footprint low. One Solution: build up rather than out.
2. Complex concrete forms are more expensive and time consuming to set up. Our solution: Keep your footprint simple with pure geometric shapes (round, octagon, rectangle, etc.). Try to avoid footprints with too many custom corners, angles, and features.
3. Concrete Foundations take time to harden (cure). This adds a ‘necessary evil’ step to any build project because construction activities on and above the newly poured concrete must be temporarily halted. It ranks right up there with ‘waiting for water to boil’ and ‘watching the paint dry’. The problem this time is that the stakes are much higher. In the majority of cases, the developer is still paying for their construction mortgage, their raw land mortgage, and several other carrying and opportunity costs whether construction is happening or not. This fact alone should be enough to encourage developers to consider using time-saving construction methods. These alternatives have the ability to completely eliminate the form-building (cribbing or framing) step, the time-sensitive and error-sensitive concrete pouring step, the time-vampire curing step, and much of the ecological footprint attributable to concrete use. There is a compelling case indeed for considering some of the new “Eco-Logical” building methods making their way to market. I’ll speak more to this in the next issue when we talk about structural wall panels that can also act as the foundation itself!
By Re-Thinking the “Fundamentals of Construction” we can finally see, right in front of our faces, precisely why our homes cost so much to heat. It becomes clear why we are dependent on paying hundreds of dollars per month for comparatively low quality, high eco footprint, and inefficiently distributed non-renewable energy produced by others who may very well have undisclosed conflicts of interest. It becomes crystal clear why it’s time for a wholesale change to our definition of the Fundamentals of Construction.
In Part 2 of this series, we’ll take an in-depth look at the wall systems and roofing systems that are changing the way we build and protect homes.
Until next time…
Happy Eco-Investing,
Kevin.
—-
Kevin Ablett is an eco-investor, business consultant, author, speaker, philanthropist, and community leader in the fields of business strategy, real estate, renewable energy, and environmental entrepreneurship. For consulting requests, investment partnerships, speaking engagements, or to license content, he can be reached at kevinablett(at)gmail.com
by Kevin Ablett
Part 1 of a 3-Part Series
Greetings Friends,
It has been a while since the last eco-investor newsletter. I have been very busy traveling to Costa Rica, Belize, Florida, Ontario, BC, and all over Southern, Central and Northern Alberta over the last 4 months in search of the latest and greatest in eco-lifestyle innovations and investment opportunities.
The more I travel, the more I recognize the patterns, observing trends all over the globe. One of those trends, and the focus of this 2-part series, is in the area of real estate development.
Regardless of what country I’m in, I continually see real estate being developed in similar ways. Whether it’s concrete foundations, basements, stick frame wall construction, roofing materials, or even the processes and timings used in the construction planning and logistics phases, there are always some similarities.
These observable and verifiable trends beg a few questions:
1. Are the current processes for building as efficient as they can be or can improvements still be made? If improvements are possible, in what areas are they to be found?
2. Are the current materials being used for a valid reason still or are there newer materials and technologies that we can use to improve all key facets of construction, be it aesthetics, durability, indoor air quality, lower energy costs, total energy freedom, or other benefits.
3. Are our current interrelationships and dependencies on urban infrastructure like water, sewage, electricity, and access to food serving to make our lifestyles and livelihoods more secure or more vulnerable to potential systemic risks?
It wasn’t until I took a trip to northern Alberta to visit with an eco-architect, builder and permaculture expert, Paul Belanger, that I began to find some real answers to those burning questions. The result was inspiring, refreshing, and alarming all at once.
The following 3-Part series is an executive summary of these innovations and the focus of this edition of the eco-investor newsletter. We hope these insights will prove to make people healthier and wealthier. This summary is intended to help you identify emerging ways to build homes and commercial spaces with added health benefits, in less time, that cost less money to build, less money to operate, and carry a much smaller ecological footprint. All of this translates into more money in your pocket now and in the future while also serving the planet now and in the future.
In Part 1 of this series, we’ll begin from the ground up, with a focus on basements and foundations:
1. Are the current processes for building as efficient as they can be or can improvements still be made? If improvements are possible, in what areas are they to be found?
Let’s start from the bottom:
Basements:
Basements are a common feature in most homes built today. Why?
Do they add a lot more value to a home? No.
Is the square footage included in the calculation of home size? No.
Are they heat sinks that suck warm air out of the house? Yes.
Do they add significant time (and cost) to the initial construction process? Yes.
Do they add more living space to homeowners? Some, usually dimly lit and cold.
Do they scar the earth and change the natural state of the piece of land the home will occupy, therefore requiring even more architectural, engineering, and environmental impacts and costs? Sadly, the answer is Yes.
In short, basements really don’t add a lot to your bottom line, just to the amount of space you have to put all of your stuff and to the headaches of paying for and maintaining all that lower quality space. After all, how often do you hear people having their ‘main floor flood’ or their ‘second floor flood’…it’s always the basement! And if having more stuff and ever more space to put your stuff is that important to you (that’s another topic I’ll save for an entire newsletter some day), then is it possible that building more above ground space could actually be cheaper, healthier for you and the planet, and less costly in the long run than using invasive excavations for complicated basement foundations? The answer is a resounding yes.
That’s the beginning of a strong case for completely reducing or eliminating the use of basements in our development projects. To recap:
No basement = money saved on reduced concrete, rebar, and forms.
No basement = money saved on reduced labour (cribbing) requirements.
No basement = money saved on reduced heavy machinery (excavators).
No basement = money saved on reduced concrete curing time delays.
No basement = less risk by lower possibility of future flooding problems.
No basement = less impact on the natural state of the land.
No basement = money saved by less heat loss through cold basement walls.
Now let’s see how this relates to Foundations, because the two often go hand in hand.
Foundations:
The status quo for foundation construction involves the building of plywood forms that are rigged throughout with steel rebar, and then filled with high volumes of rapidly hardening concrete in an extremely time sensitive process involving one or more concrete delivery truck with little room for error. An entire wall can be destroyed if the forms have a leak somewhere because some bracket wasn’t fitted properly.
Some new technologies are gaining market penetration because they solve some of these challenges. ICF’s (Insulated Concrete Forms) are one such example of forms that snap together like lego, add a layer of insulation to the foundation, and provide a reinforced cavity for the concrete to be poured into. However, this process still involves precise pouring of rapidly hardening concrete, made even slower by the intricate floor plans found in many of today’s new homes. This complexity invariably slows down the work of cribbers, which adds more to the costs, logistics and timelines of any project. There is also a growing amount of evidence that illustrates the large environmental impact and high embedded energy involved in the production of concrete and steel rebar.
Paul Belanger, one of Canada’s leading eco-architects, is now introducing innovative ways to build homes using concrete-free foundations that use no rebar whatsoever, thereby saving both labour and materials costs and further contributing to the simplification of the procurement process and the overall project. Couple this concrete-free concept with a focus on basement-free structures and the overall timelines and costs of any build project can be noticeably reduced.
Paul’s new company, Apex Advanced Building Systems, is dedicated to producing some of the most ecologically progressive, healthy, and affordable homes in the world today. We will look forward to his works being a regular feature in this newsletter. For more information on Paul and his Apex homes, visit www.sunandstraw.com.
The Fundamentals of Foundations:
1. Concrete Foundations have high thermal mass (good) but contain a high amount of embedded energy (bad) and should be used strategically for solar gain and sparingly to keep your ecological footprint low. One Solution: build up rather than out.
2. Complex concrete forms are more expensive and time consuming to set up. Our solution: Keep your footprint simple with pure geometric shapes (round, octagon, rectangle, etc.). Try to avoid footprints with too many custom corners, angles, and features.
3. Concrete Foundations take time to harden (cure). This adds a ‘necessary evil’ step to any build project because construction activities on and above the newly poured concrete must be temporarily halted. It ranks right up there with ‘waiting for water to boil’ and ‘watching the paint dry’. The problem this time is that the stakes are much higher. In the majority of cases, the developer is still paying for their construction mortgage, their raw land mortgage, and several other carrying and opportunity costs whether construction is happening or not. This fact alone should be enough to encourage developers to consider using time-saving construction methods. These alternatives have the ability to completely eliminate the form-building (cribbing or framing) step, the time-sensitive and error-sensitive concrete pouring step, the time-vampire curing step, and much of the ecological footprint attributable to concrete use. There is a compelling case indeed for considering some of the new “Eco-Logical” building methods making their way to market. I’ll speak more to this in the next issue when we talk about structural wall panels that can also act as the foundation itself!
By Re-Thinking the “Fundamentals of Construction” we can finally see, right in front of our faces, precisely why our homes cost so much to heat. It becomes clear why we are dependent on paying hundreds of dollars per month for comparatively low quality, high eco footprint, and inefficiently distributed non-renewable energy produced by others who may very well have undisclosed conflicts of interest. It becomes crystal clear why it’s time for a wholesale change to our definition of the Fundamentals of Construction.
In Part 2 of this series, we’ll take an in-depth look at the wall systems and roofing systems that are changing the way we build and protect homes.
Until next time…
Happy Eco-Investing,
Kevin.
—-
Kevin Ablett is an eco-investor, business consultant, author, speaker, philanthropist, and community leader in the fields of business strategy, real estate, renewable energy, and environmental entrepreneurship. For consulting requests, investment partnerships, speaking engagements, or to license content, he can be reached at kevinablett(at)gmail.com
