Elongated racetrack shape provides optimum headroom and versatility. Any length desired can be created.
With the DIY air-crete dome, it’s going to be hard to decide what’s more satisfying—building your own home with the help of family and friends, or reaping the savings each month on utilities, to say nothing of not being shackled to a mortgage for 20 to 30 years.
It is specifically designed to be assembled in a matter of weeks by unskilled labor. Constructing it is as simple as putting together Legos.
Air-Crete is the most practical, high-quality, low cost material there is. It is easy to make, easy to work with and requires only basic skills.
Here is a two-minute tutorial on making it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-6NlUWGg28
In the DIY dome, Air-Crete plays a double role as structure and insulator. With its 18" thick building blocks, the dome not only meets but exceeds building code. Air-Crete has an insulation value ranging from R3 to R6 per inch.
40% of the energy loss in conventional structures is around the thermal bridges where studs, floors and roof meet the exterior walls. There are no thermal bridges in an Air-Crete dome; it is a sealed envelope with no air leakage.
On top of that, the seamless integration of floor, walls and roof allows the natural flow of interior convection currents that make it easier to heat and cool.
The dome will incorporate the Bernouille chilling effect for passive cooling. If you’re not familiar with it, this cartoon best explains how the Bernouille effect pertains to domes:
http://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comic/chilling-domes/
In short, conventional homes take too long to build and cost too much. A DIY Air-Crete dome can be built for $32 per sq ft of floor space, (finished including poured foundation, plumbing, electric, flooring, fixtures and basicappliances).
The thermal efficiency of an 18"-thick wall might be so high that you could splurge on a powered heating and cooling system that would use very little power.
Benefits of the DIY air-crete dome are:
*Incorporates passive cooling
*Weathers 4-season climates, withstands tornadoes and hurricanes, flood.
* Simple to construct. There is no need to create the dome curve because the curve is inherent. Self-insulating building blocks do away with the labor and expense of adding insulation.
* Goes up fast. Large, light-weight building blocks make the dome less labor-intensive than other dome designs. The largest block at 55 lbs. can be moved by two persons. However, when blocks are poured in place, weight is not a concern.
* Placement of blocks is intuitive: largest blocks are placed on the bottom, the next smaller block is mortared above it, and so on, up to the capstone.
*Economic to heat and cool. The DIY dome is a low-profile sphere with natural air flow.
*Any size dome can be built with the same set of molds, from cozy single family homes to large fellowship halls, by simply elongating the racetrack footprint.
For a look at a similar Air-Crete dome,please see:
http://www.domegaia.com/ (Dome Gaia, a thin shell dome, is made of small bricks and the curve must be created.)
To keep it simple, and so as not to interrupt the natural air flow, there are no riser walls, no lofts or second stories. If additional space is needed, smaller domes can be abutted to the main dome to create a ‘dome plex’.
Bedrooms abutted to a main common room (kitchen/living area) best preserves natural air flow and reduces utility cost. Floor space is not chewed up by halls.
Rebuilding with an air-crete dome after a natural disaster will require far less time than conventional construction.
With over over 70 million refugees in the world today, this do-it-yourself dome can mobilize their greatest asset: a willing labor pool. Working together to build their own homes, refugees can quickly transform ramshackle camps into livable settlements.
Whatever the context, building homes among friends and neighbors creates a unique sense of place and of community.
The domes can serve many purposes including classrooms, clinics, chapels, stores, inns, etc. A single set of plywood molds can be used to construct many domes.
Extremely strong, stable and eco-friendly, the DIY Air-Crete dome offers accessible technology for those who wish to assemble their own homes, live a simpler, sustainable life style, and enjoy greater financial freedom.
Aso Farm Land's Styrofoam dome hotel in Kyushu Japan is a good example of possibilities for a community of domes. Nowadays, 15 years after its inception, the Japan Dome House Co. ltd.'s Styrofoam dome home costs $30,000 US and requires skilled workers.
This 'igloo' style dome is inspired by the sea urchin.
Small scale cardboard model, and building brick of shredded paper and rice glue
Creative solution captures dead space for storage
Dome survives wildfire in 2015 undamaged. Owner remained safely inside during fire.
Dome survives tornado in Moore OK
Dome survives hurricane
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