Building & Construction

In a recent U.N. report it was noted that there is huge potential in the building and construction sector for combating climate change that remains vitually untapped.  The report noted that only 10% of the 4000 Millennium development construction projects seek to reduce energy consumption.  The report further notes that “report after report is now underlining the huge, cost-effective savings possible from addressing emissions from existing buildings alongside designing new ones that include passive and active solar up to low energy heating and cooling systems and energy efficient appliances.”

The complete report, “The Kyoto Protocol, The Clean Development Mechanisism and the Building and Colnstructtion Sector", and its recommendations can be found at: Buildings & Climate Change

Fortunately, building technology has developed today so it is now cost-effective to build for disaster reduction, and energy efficiency and to do so at no extra cost.

The Monolithic Domes, for example, are rated by FEMA as “near absolute protection”, meaning that they are fire proof, tornado proof, earthquake proof, termite proof, and can resist hurricanes up to 300 mph winds.

These buildings use only 1/4 to 1/2 the energy to heat and cool, which means that during a disaster only 1/4 to 1/ 2 of back-up systems are needed to fully function.

Furthermore, the insurance reduction potential, lower maintenance costs, and lower energy bills make these buildings cheaper to operate.

Actual construction costs are no more than conventional construction and considerably lower for larger bulldings.

Domes can be built to fit any desired architechural style or design need and have proven themselves all over the world for the past three decades.

            

          Dome building in Belize allows for island style architecture but with disaster protection.

A new paradigm shift in construction is taking place when it comes to disaster prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery.

Today we are able to build homes and commercial buildings with added value at no extra cost.

Some of the key added value includes:

• FEMA ratings for building of "near absolute protection".  This means that the buildings are totally fire proof, tornado proof, insect proof, and hurricane resistant up to 300 mph winds.
• Energy efficient using only 1/4 to 1/2 the energy of conventional buildings the same size.
• Lower maintenance costs with the buildings not built to last decades but to last centuries.

Monolithic Domes

This home took a direct hit from hurricane Ivan, yet suffered no major damage.

To watch a video report of this building and the hurricane Click Here

Domes and Disaster Recovery

Following the earthquakes and tsunamis in Indonesia, the Ecoshell design was used to quickly rebuild an entire village both ahead of schedule and under budget.

The use of energy efficient and disaster resistent construction such as the Ecoshells in New Nglepen allows recovery to take place in a community much quicker.

First, the construction design was able to be built much quicker than conventional construction.

Second, the use of local labor affected by the disaster puts people back to work since the building process is relatively simple to learn.

Third, the construction, once completed, requires less energy to operate the village.

Perhaps more important to many communities is that using this type of construction for the recovery phase of a disaster allows for less insurance, maintenance, and operational costs that in turn allows local resources to be channeled for other areas of the community disater recovery process.