The Vitruvian Building System: green, cost-efficient and fast

Steel framing has been around a long time and has known issues. Steel framing conducts heat 300 times better than wood, so any insulation between the steel framing does little more than block airflow. Blocking airflow is very important, but unless there's something insulating the steel framing from outside temperatures the overall insulation peformance is very low.

Ants don't get nutrition from wood or other construction materials either, they merely nest in it. EPS is excellent nesting material for ants.

windy

- February 16, 2009 @ 09:02 am PST

The wall design has a thermal break. Carpenter ants generally don't enter a wall unless there's water present.

This design is similar to the Arco system of a few years back, with the addition of interlocking and re-configurable wall panels. It looks like a great way to build efficient buildings without cutting down too many trees.

clovisman

- February 17, 2009 @ 09:02 am PST

Hi Windy,

Great questions, I appreciate your interest.

You're right, commercial steel framing creates a thermal bridge, which allows heat to conduct past the insulation.

The steel studs in the Vitruvian system are nested on either side of the foam, but don't penetrate all the way through, creating a thermal break. The screws and top plates don't have enough cross-sectional area to conduct heat. Here's an illustration: http://vitruvianbuilt.com/images/Foam Panel 02-12-09 REDUCED.jpg

In the houses we've built so far, the overall cost was equivalent to conventional construction, framing time was reduced to 1/3 of normal, and energy consumption has been 60-80% less than normal housing.

With regard to ant infestations, you may be right that this is a problem with other foam housing products. We're using a special blend of EPS, with borax mixed in, which makes the foam inhospitable to insects.

If you have more questions, please feel free to visit vitruvianbuilt.com or contact me at patrick@vitruvianbuilt.com

Thanks,

Patrick

Vitruvian Buildings

Vitruvian Building Systems

- February 17, 2009 @ 09:02 am PST

How does it stand up to an ocean breeze? And i'm not talking about a light ocean breeze, i'm talking, can't-clothesline-dry-your-laundry-or-you'll-get-really-salty-clothes kind of salty, right up to the ocean breeze. Can you upgrage the grade of steel? Are there additional products/processes that can be applied to these extremely rust-prone environments?

Samuel Cheney

- February 22, 2009 @ 11:02 am PST

how do you mount things to the wall, like shelves and cabinets? Is the material dense enough?

gormanwvzb

- March 10, 2009 @ 12:03 pm PDT

Samuel Cheney,

These walls are incredibly strong. Sure, you could upgrade the steel if the engineer thought it necessary. We use galvanized.

gormanwvzb,

The light-gauge steel studs are spaced at 24 inches on center.

Nick Huston

- March 29, 2009 @ 08:03 am PDT