local sustainable bldg materials and methods?

[Rob Tucker]

It was manufactured in Arizona and the company went done and the owner died. I still have a source.

[punikahakaiferret]

Gonna attempt to chime in again and not get "squirreled" like I last did and start rambling, but what is the opinion and viability evaluation of a material like aircrete, like the gorgeously unusual Gibran family compound down on the Red Road?

[Ccat]

Gonna attempt to chime in again and not get "squirreled" like I last did and start rambling, but what is the opinion and viability evaluation of a material like aircrete, like the gorgeously unusual Gibran family compound down on the Red Road?

Yep, I am following Domegaia and aircrete progress.  Lots of potential.  I am awaiting domegaias first set of engineer stamped and permittable plans.

Ccat

---

Why not use palm tree trunks instead of imported doug fir?  foxtail, for instance.  

You can easily grow them in puna.  They are straighter than a coconut palm and have good height.  They would make a good Aframe structure.  You could bind them together with polypropolene cord which is rot resistant.  

This would look very polynesian.

[randomq]

Waiwi poles. Many lots have thousands...

[dobanion]

I was thinking about that, were one to take the local and sustainable angle to the greatest extent and not be too concerned about convention or permits.

Think of a lava rock base, 3' tall, A-frame off of that of waiwi poles, and then thatched. Pretty much a traditional Hawaiian canoe house (hale wa'a).

I done a lot of reading on traditional thatching, and while you can thatch out of grass or palm, reed is much better in several regards (much more durable, sheds moisture better, absorbs less moisture during rain, less flammable). Perhaps a good use of some of these flammable lands would be to grow the South African cape reed plants?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegia_tectorum

_________________________________________________

Going back to Rastra, as I understand it the blocks are made of recycled EPS (ie shredded styrofoam) and cement. What happens to all the styrofoam on the island? End up in a trash heap I'd guess. Locally manufactured Rastra blocks using all the discarded EPS would be a good business model, you'd think.

[Ccat]

palm leaves for a thatched roof?

In mexico, the most common, old style roof is layered palm leaves, however, a big wide palm leaf, not coconut style. I visited cozumel right after a major hurricane. The only roof not leaking was palm thatched with a cord mesh holding it down. The major negative would be rain catchment and frequent maintenance. Otherwise, very comfortable.

---

Rastra sounds similar to aircrete, but with the air bubbles made of something that is preformed and lightweight. Aircrete has a problem in that it can collapse while curing.

---

Rastra?  How much suitable waste plastic is on the island?  Enough to sustainably supply a portion of the islands building needs?  Is a rastra structure permittable?  Could you open source the technique to make rastra, itself?

[Ccat]

Of course, there are photovoltaic systems.  There are new flexible solar roofing systems that would have alot of advantages:  easier install;  less weight.  Disadvantages:  more expensive per watt.

Then there are windmills which are well known.  Hawaii generally has plenty of wind, although variable.  You would need battery backup for continuous power.  Also, they get destroyed with hurricanes/tropical storms. You might need detachable blades for them to survive.

Whats the best solution?   What about a combination?  What are your experiences?

[randomq]

We could make our own solar cells from "Hawaiian regolith"... https://www.freethink.com/space/solar-ce...r-regolith

Also, if we're making our own cells, we could design them to overlap like shingles or ceramic roof tile, so the panels could *be* the roof.

[MarkP]

Given how much rock rubble there is available on my property I would love it if I could just stack it up and build a house. This is pretty much what most of the world does and I guess it works OK as long as there are no earthquakes. Unfortunately there ARE earthquakes in a lot of the world, and we have some here too. Look at pictures out of Morocco. Endless piles of rubble, most without rebar. There are some pictures of piles of rubble with rebar sticking out but I think that, besides sufficient rebar, there must also be sufficient cement in the mix, and one or the other or both are lacking in most of the construction throughout Morocco.

Construction with stone and earth is an ongoing experiment that has been going on as long as people have been building. We pretty much know what it takes to build properly but since we don't make sure that everyone has adequate food and health care it should come as no surprise that we let the majority of the world's population fend for themselves when it comes to building adequate housing as well.

[dobanion]

See my attachment. I pondered doing something like that, but with lava rocks. So the bulk of the wall is still lava, free material, and it looks cool, but backed with steel reinforced concrete.

I have a 6ft tall circular outdoor shower made of stacked lava rocks, but I wouldn't trust it to last during a 7.0+ quake. It took a 5.8 ok.