flex-crete and it's environmental advantages

how does flex-crete better the environment as a building component?

flex-crete can be rolled up and transported as a pre-fab sidewalk, road, floor etc. when sidewalks are installed tree roots are cut. the roots of trees grow in the first 6-8 of soil, exactly where sidewalks, roads and driveways go. flex-crete can be placed on top of the grade which means less equipment being used, which means less fuel burning, which betters the ozone and the atmosphere. sidewalk, etc. compress soil, soil compression kills tree roots and is the no. 1 problem in plant failure.

flex-crete can be utilized as the foundation in areas with earthquake problems. this material i have tested by burning, freezing, compression, tension, saturating in water, and the most violent ways of smashing i know. it does not change the material's state or weight.

flex-crete could be embedded with fiber optic cabling too, so that not only would it not compress the soil, it would also allow for light to pass through so grass can still grow under it which helps prevent the sidewalk from setting down into the earth.

flex-crete can be used as expansion joints. this betters the environment by never having to be replaced. which takes less trucks of the roads, which causes for less fuel to be burnt which helps against global warming and the environment is a little better.

in a human aspect, flex-crete is better on the joints and knees. with just a little give humans joints benefit and so does the environment. this material is able to be removed by rolling it back up and moving it else where is expansion or construction needs to take place. it is not a one time thing like most concrete sidewalks. this allows for tree's to grow and remain healthy. tree roots are the most vital component to a tree and when the roots are cut trees die. trees do not die like humans. a tree can die and you would not know until an arborist tells you or it falls on your head!

when construction takes place, trucks drive all over the site moving people and materials. the weight of the trucks alone is enough to compact the soil to a density where things living in it can no longer survive. materials sometimes rest for years on a site waiting on the ground to be installed or used. this too compacts soil, kills plants and tree, also ensuring that nothing else will grow there either! one solution is to use flex-crete as a temporary road for trucks to drive over to ensure less soil compaction. plant life requires sunlight but more than sun, they require adequate density of soil. these temporary flex-crete sidewalks prevent soil compaction. flex-crete is also great for storing materials on as the weight of the material is absorbed by the material which helps prevent soil compaction.

environmentally friendly concrete

concrete is known as a rigid, static component of buildings. it forms walls, ceilings, floors and more. it is structural in tension and compression. it is fairly inexpensive and easy to use. but sometimes quick and easy forms of construction are very harmful to the environment.

i have experimented with lots of knew techniques using concrete. i have used fiber optic cabling to transfer sunlight from the source to areas in a building where it would be otherwise impossible to get natural light. this makes a working environment a lot better, it also allows for plants to grow and photosynthesize. plants depend on natural sunlight to live; via concrete and fiber optic cabling this is now possible. also energy use is entirely less, saving the environment, money and more.


i have used fabrics and plastics as the form work of beams and columns. this betters the environment by using less wood. this technique saves time and money. it saves money on transportation, which allows for less pollutants to escape into the atmosphere. fabric form work is also recyclable and reusable. this makes less waste, which too betters the environment.


i have used free form concrete to make furniture. this betters the environment by using one material instead of several. proving concretes diversity as a material. and this also increases a piece of furniture's life from short to almost immortal.

i have made bricks with fiber optic cables buried inside of them to allow for a translucent barrier. i believe air and too can pass through allowing for a better working environment. and saving on energy bills which in turn is a solution to global warming as less pollutant enter the atmosphere.

i have used condoms as form work, this betters the environment by cutting down less trees. the more trees we do not have to cut down the better the ozone and atmosphere is. i have also noticed that steel prices go up everyday. i have found throughout my studies that hemp can replace steel. i have made panels with hemp embedded in it and the strength of the material is amazing. you can beat the panels with a hammer over and over and they will not break apart. this betters the environment by using more natural materials then the obvious choice of steel as an reinforcement.

continued on next post...

forgot the image...lol

horrible photography and i forgot spell check. just did not want you to think that i have forgotten the project.

designing environmently...

fiber optics + concrete= a solution to global warming


energy use goes up everyday, everyone is always ready to help after the fact, lets do something before the fact, catch the problem before it blows up in our face. lets have the energy to prevent instead of promoting awareness after the fact.
fiber optics and concrete together can make huge differences in energy use. by catching natural light on the exterior of a building 'as a skin', then distrubuting the sunlight to other areas in the building via the cables. this provides for photosythates in plants, without photosythetats plants can not live, more plants equal better environment.

more to come...
better images, and i pushed the flex-crete too. the semester is almost over and i am looking forward to putting a lot more energy into these ideas.

global energy consumption and it's effects

global warming is here and there are things that we can do. it seems in the United States and all over the world for that matter, ( since the world's total energy consumption per capita is up 43 kgoe (kilograms of oil equivalent per person) in the last three years) that we prefer houses and space that are expensive, elaborate and high in energy. I think that houses and structures could be better by demonstrating how many and how much natural resources it can save, generate, or collect. I have been focusing on the environment lately, thinking of a concrete component that betters the environment was challenging but i think i am getting the hang of it. there is scientific evidence to support the fact that natural sunlight is the key element in photosynthesis and plants can not live without photosynthesizing. plants are the answer in our struggle with global warming. but how do we get natural sunlight to places where there are no windows?

The Environment

The environment is everything that is living and non-living that occur naturally on Earth. The environment's greatest challenge in terms of sustaining itself is man. It is true; we destroy what is already beautiful and natural to build places of space for humans to inhabit. Some take advantage of zero-scape while others landscape. Where zero-scape is available it is a great solution in helping the environment. The frontier is fading quickly and soon we will not have any beautiful 'natural' landscapes.
With no real quick ways to slow down construction (being that money is the driving force), we can choose to use construction in a fashion that helps restore the environment. As the environment's condition grows worse, people's concerns expand and solutions are requested. We have a great opportunity and obligation to help restore the environment back to it’s essence of natural.
Global warming is a real condition that we can consider when designing and building. Global warming is truth behind the Earth’s climbing climate. Caused anthropogenic releases of greenhouse gases, most common carbon dioxide, and how we and the environment go about using them.

better renders only make me think it is going to be tough to make

eye wall

the e.y.e. wall. still work'n, think'n about the environment and how to use less energy.

the EcosYstEm and building componetS

E.Y.E.S.-------what if concrete walls could be translucent, porous, and not need anything inserted into it at achieve these functions? Air and light passing though without 'windows' or 'power', using only concrete. what if the form work was also light and reuseable? why does everything have to be put together? why can't a wall be everything and not a componet to a componet? can light pass though concrete without using fiber optics? images to come...

cement + liquid latex = bendable material

the making of new materials using cement. this sample is 50% rockite+ 50% liquid latex, it was made without any water. this sample is interesting to me because it dryed very fast and is bendable.

just kidding i got 1 more.

The last look at this shape

I liked the black and white so much I wanted to look at this in black and white

One possibility...

Been work'n on this image today. Just an idea on what this thing could do. The next one I want to incorporate natural plants to make this concrete componet environmentally friendly.

This concrete 'ribbon' is the shape I took from the last two canvas cast. This shape however was casted in a more traditional form. The 'ribbon' is intended for sitting, relaxing, stretching, ect. Soon I hope to incorporate plant life into this shape. My intention were to also allow for place to rest a laptop or lunch. COMING SOON: The History of Concrete and the continuation of experimentation

Using The Same Canvas For A Second Cast

What I learned from these studies was that concrete can be a componet of a building and furniture at the same time. The next model I only used the spaces from these two and tryed to cast that.

Another shot try'n to show show of the spaces

This image in particularly grabbed my attention because I felt this 'wall' componet could be rotated 90 degrees on it's side and if over exaggerated more could become places for the body to rest. more to come.

Canvas Cast Creates Comfort

This study taught me a lot. First, the canvas, I could not believe that there was no mess! The canvas did not have as much give as other materials I plan to use, but it is porous. Like Mark West's casts, the canvas allows air molecules to escape out of the cast making the concrete more sustainable. This model like the next one, told me a lot about what I could be making with these organic shapes. More to come, got to study horticulture, midterms. /%/

Got that comment...

condoms? i am in-between transportation right now so i couldnt get my hands of any fabric yet but i am working on it. condoms? yeah that would work, i thought latex gloves would be cool too. actually the columns that i saw on the internet which were pdf files so couldnt get the image but basically was like plastic or a latex but they were wrap'n straps around them in areas to get grooves and such.

LINK TO PORTLAND CEMENT COMPETITION

https://www.acsa-arch.org/competitions/pca2006.aspx

Architect Mark West leading the fabric cast revolution

Mark West breaks out of the 'norm'. questioning how things are done his light weight fabric molds demonstrated in the first photograph proves the little trouble of transportation. and the second photograph shows the resultant beam that was created. this techique makes the concrete stronger as air bubbles escape through the fabric, also it allows for the creation of an organic beam.

University of Edinburgh studies fabric casted cement

this is one of the inspirations behind my last cast. this example shows the before and after of a fabric mold cast and the resulting beam. a number of different elements have been casted at the university including beams, columns and panels.

study model

plastic bag concrete

it is amazing the shapes this style of casting and create. after the cement is dry we can see the space the shape makes.

plastic bag concrete formwork

fabric concrete formwork saves money, material and transportation costs. this type of formwork is the first advancements in concrete formwork since WWII when plywood was invented and is changing how things are being built. these formworks are being shipped in bookbags and are up to 300 times lighter. these woven geotextile fabrics allow air bubbles and excess mix water to seep out making the concrete more sustainable. mark west goes into great detail in this advancement at this website http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/architecture/cast/pdf_downloads/1_pr.pdf

i started rapidly seaching the library and internet to find as many examples as i could. i began to search for geotextile fabrics to buy because i wanted to make something too. with lack of money and materials i had to improvise, the rim of a fastfood cup, a plastic bag and some cardboard is what i came up with. the biggest amazement to me was that the bag did not break. when i was inspired to make my plastic bag concrete formwork that would end up in a swollen column i was looking at these websites http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/architecture/cast/pdf_downloads/4_pr.pdf

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.innovationandresearchfocus.org.uk/images/issue_62/BCA_beam.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.innovationandresearchfocus.org.uk/articles/html/issue_62/Studies_in_fabric-cast_concrete.asp&h=186&w=250&sz=27&hl=en&sig2=TE8

kind of makes me think again about movement...

of course these all have the negatives were i think they should be positives and each brick are missing opportunites, they should have (+) connectors on more sides to provide more opportunity.?

connection components

just been searching the internet a little today and thought these pieces were interesting.

i found an interesting website...

www.zianet.com/papercrete/buildingwpc.asp

when i think of componets, i think of the pieces that make up the larger idea. i dont know if you think this is possible or relevant but i think if we pushed and pulled pieces like these then we could make some interesting architecture.

silly kids stackings for cement!

ron, just got back from vegas, which was a learning experience but also a lot of time away from my studies. but as i was trying to go to sleep i kept thinking about the cement project, well i have been think'n about it for a few days now. my initail idea was for 'square' pieces of concrete connected through the center with rebar, but connected in a way that the pieces could move. then i started thinking if the pieces were light enough then they could not only be moved but also remove. so i guess i was visioning a infastructure of rebar were pieces could be taken out, kind of like opening a window or the blinds in the morning, but then the pieces that are removed could act as something else. so a interactive/reactive system. but then i wondered if that might be too much work for someone to want to do. so i thought the cement pieces could be bricks. but not exactly like center blocks were pieces are taken out to allow for rebar, these would resemble more of a 'lego' style, allowing for several different types of pieces all with the extruded male connection pieces in the middle of each piece. this would allow for a system of constuction that anyone could do, and with several types of pieces: typical brick, 45's, 90's ect. any shape could be made. but these are just some thoughts for a new component of a building system.