In pursuit of the ideal low cost home.
Foamed Concrete (FC) of a density between 800 and 1200 Kg m3 is most likely the ideal material to create a low cost healthy home (and other buildings.
Read the information on the other pages of this website to find out how and why.
Construction of a Low cost house.
Let’s assume we use FC as the construction material. We also going to assume we can use the monolithic wall and roof structure. Meaning we only us FC, and re-enforcement bar when needed.
The strongest shape in nature is the sphere, thus if we make a dome shaped structure we getting close to that.
Of course we need doors and windows in the dome, thus reducing the perfect shape and strength. We can compensate for this by using reinforcement around the cut outs and the shape of the cut outs.
The creation of the dome shape with FC can be done by using an inflatable dome. This is already done, but “normal” concrete is used
There is a system that sprays the concrete on the inside, then spray PU from on the inside against the first layer of concrete, they place some rebar holders in place and the rebar and then spray the final internal layer.
I am in pursuit of a system and FC composition where we can spray the FC on the outside of the inflatable dome shape.
At present I have not yet found a Foam Concrete mix that can be sprayed on a vertical wall without slumping.
This system would reduce the building cost by a very large amount. The inflatable dome can be used again for other houses. I have seen a method where they also stretched the material out to form frames for the windows and doors. This created a fantastic looking house. (unfortunately I lost the link to this, anyone found it, please let me know)
Is there anyone out there that can help finding this Foam concrete mixture and method?
If you are interested in eco systems and building your own, check this out.
The Ideal Shape