Alternative Building Materials

The Haven House can be built from a number of different building materials. The standard pre-cast concrete structures are strong, extremely durable and relatively easy to build.  The cost of the concrete version of the Haven House is comparable to that of conventional light-commercial structures.  In order to reduce costs, alternative building materials such as bamboo, wood and recycled plastic blocks may be used.  These alternative materials aren’t quite as durable as concrete but, by utilizing the Haven House’s patented design, they will stand strong against natural catastrophes.

Bamboo

Bamboo has the perfect set of attributes for a self-sustainable, inexpensive building material; it grows quickly, is very strong and grows naturally throughout the earth’s equatorial regions. Utilizing bamboo to build the Haven House can greatly reduce the building cost while not sacrificing the structural integrity.  With the typical below grade structure being cast-in-place concrete,  the upper walls, columns and beams can be made of straight or curved bundles of bamboo. Folks living where bamboo grows can virtually grow their own home.  Some may prefer to coat the building elements with stucco to achieve the trim lines offered with the concrete version.

Bamboo Haven Houses come in the same range of sizes as those built of concrete or wood, from the 24′ diameter Tiny Haven House to the 72′ diameter model shown below (with around 11,000 sf of floor space) and even larger models that utilize concentric spheres.

Wood

Wood is the more common building material in more temperate climates.  By utilizing laminated wood columns and beams for the Haven House structure (which is situated on the typical spherically shaped, concrete foundation), one can utilize local building materials to hold down costs while maintaining the structural integrity of the post-tension design. 

 Much of the temperate climate zone in the U.S. is effected by severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.  The roofs of conventional buildings are one of the first things to fail before total collapse of the structure.  Not so with the Haven House, where the roofs are for porches and dormers, etc. and are not an integral part of the structure.

The wooden version of the Haven House has the same range of diameters as the concrete and bamboo versions.  The 48′ diamter model (shown above) offers around 3,800 sq. ft.

Recycled Plastic Blocks

 Recycled plastic blocks are another possible material to utilize in building Haven Houses.  The blocks would be strung up like beads in a necklace or cloth in a loom and stressed with cables to create the various building elements.  By lacing together the recycled blocks with post-tension cables, the strength and durability of the Haven House design is maintained.

Although the technology exists to commercially produce recycled plastic blocks similar to the shape of cinder blocks (or, in this case, custom shaped cubes), commercially viable machines to make them have yet to be established.  Byfusion, a company based in New Zealand, has produced a prototype to prove the technology but hasn’t, as yet, been able to produce their design commercially. 

By recycling the plastic waste that gluts our landfills and clogs our oceans in order to produce viable living quarters and inexpensive commercial buildings, we can both clean up our planet and help insure that everyone living on it has a safe place to live and work.