Resilient construction: building structures that withstand nature's fury
By Nikhil Choudhary, CEO at Zenith Engineers Inc
More than 1,600 homes and businesses in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were destroyed and at least three people were killed in the Woolsey fire in 2018. The Camp Fire in Northern California’s Butte County was deemed the world’s costliest natural disaster in 2018, destroying over 14,000 homes and causing at least 85 civilian fatalities. The 2017 Northern California wildfires destroyed 8,900 structures and killed at least 44 people. The 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked Southern California in 2019 caused no fatalities, but Governor Gavin Newsom estimated more than $100 million in economic damages.
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One common factor in the disasters mentioned above and the destruction they caused is the predominant use of wood in construction. Although wood’s tensile, thermal, acoustic, electrical, aesthetic, working properties have made it a top choice of residential construction material, it comes with its own disadvantages — especially considering the magnitude of natural disasters in today's world. For example, it is impossible to make wood noncombustible, even with coatings and treatment, unlike inorganic materials.
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Insulating Concrete Forms - commonly known as ICFs, these are forms used to hold fresh concrete that remain in place permanently to provide insulation for the structure they enclose, saving labor cost to rip apart the formwork after the concrete pour. Since ICF systems were initially more expensive to construct, their first target market was high-end homes. Innovations have reduced manufacturing costs, and ICF-trained builders have made labor costs more efficient, enabling builders to use ICFs for mid- and low-priced homes. Santa Rosa, California has seen a surge in usage of ICF homes after Northern California wildfires.
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GigaCrete’s GigaHouse - this is a steel-framed insulated expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam panel system. GigaHouse arrives at the build site as a complete kit with pre-engineered parts. An average house structure including roof can be erected in days, as opposed to a traditional structure's weeks or months. The company utilizes unique non-Portland cementitious plaster coatings and its own stucco material to construct durable, long-lasting walls and roofs built to withstand hurricane winds up to 200 miles per hour.
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