Natural disasters can devastate entire communities. More than 16,000 houses and other structures have been destroyed January fire from California alone.
Reconstruction can be long and costly, but a Florida company says that it can rebuild in a few weeks for less money.
An analysis of CBS News found the cost of construction house Supplies across the country have increased by 47% since 2016.
Patrick Murphy, a former member of the Pennsylvania Congress, is the director general of Renco, the company behind the new technology, which was inspired by an unusual article: LEGO Bricks. Bricks are a glass composite, recycled plastic and other materials.
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“We can mainly produce around 16 houses a day in this establishment,” said Murphy.
Their factory in Jupiter, Florida, should start to increase operations in April.
How does technology work
The company said that built houses can withstand winds of 240 MPH and are more fire resistant than most bricks and wood. Another bonus: they are water resistant.
“We decided to start in the most difficult area, as well as years of testing to ensure that it could resist hurricanes in category 5,” said Murphy about the launch of their factory in Florida.
Yessica Coronado lives in an apartment near Palm Beach, Florida, for almost a year. Coronado said that she did not know that her complex had been built differently from other buildings. The four buildings of its complex contain 96 units and are the first of its kind in the country.
“I have just considered it as an ordinary apartments complex,” said Coronado.
Eleven workers have built the walls, floors and ceilings of each building – in just eight weeks.
“We have built much faster than we would have done that we did it with wood or concrete, a kind of traditional material,” said Murphy.
Save on costs and time
Although the Renco bricks are more expensive, Murphy said they always save 20% due to the decrease in time and work. They also save insurance.
“We can get many more products built much faster with unskilled workers.… This whole house of 2000 square feet can be built by two people in one day,” said Murphy.
Renco said the main limitation is that they are currently capped in buildings of less than five floors.
“They have been given a lifespan so long that the insurance of our first building is about 20% cheaper for the type of long -term insurance,” said Murphy. “He doesn’t rot, that doesn’t rust. The parasites don’t eat it, right? Termites don’t eat it.”
Illya Azaroff, an architect who teaches a sustainable construction at the University of the City of New York, calls for a “huge moment of change” for construction.
“Global scale last year, 114 million people were moved to natural and artificial disasters. So when I think about it, it must be a moment of change,” he said.
Azaroff has said that if products like Renco have design limitations and tend to be blocked, the structural and economical advantages are crucial.
“When I see innovation on the market like this, yes, we can build to draw resistance, resistance to earthquakes, the winds of force of hurricanes, the winds of tornado force, we simply have to have The political will to do it and we must have the Gutte to try new ways of doing things. “”