October 25, 2010

By: Kelley O. from Pasadena, CA
Comments: 15

Posted By: Kelley Oxley
On: 10/26/2007 11:52:19 PM

Hello all... I come to you from California, and, believe it or not, I am in one of the very few areas void of fire. I live and teach in Pasadena so I have fires in all directions but nothing too close to me to warrant concern. However, watching the devastation and the tears on the television is so sad and puts so much in perspective. Although I am far away from many of the fires, I still feel the heat, smell the smoke, and hear the constant sirens. And I ask myself, could there be better ways to build these houses? I hear that some families, including that of Jane Seymour, spent extra money by surrounding the house with water and coating the exterior with some kind of flame-retardant paint...but could more be done? And what to do with all of the smoke in the air? It spreads fast. I am at least 20 miles away from any fire and the smell is almost unbearable. It almost makes your stomach hurt. Some people with asthma have had to take time off of work, and once again I mention we are more than 20 miles away from any flames. I know these issues seem too large to think about, but we've got to start somewhere right? :)

Posted By: Barbara Nikoomanesh
On: 10/29/2007 10:23:19 AM

Kelley, I know everyone's thoughts are with all of you in California. This once again brings up how important it is to talk to students about Current Events to make them more aware of what is going on outside of their own little world. I think it is a great idea to once again introduce disaster planning in design. Students can research and be made aware of what is already being used in the design process to protect homes and businesses in fire prone areas. This would help them brainstorm new ideas and also be advocates in the future for disaster designing. Babs

Posted By: Don Domes
On: 11/4/2007 6:24:18 AM

I agree the California situation is so sad and frustrating. I am from Oregon but I remember seeing the blackened hills from the fires that ravenged the hills between Oakland and San Francisco a number of years ago. Only concrete foundation outlines remained of those houses. There is a great way to build with concrete using ICF's. These Insulated Concrete Forms assemble like LEGO's. They have stryrofoam insulation that creates the form on both sides and the concrete is poured inbetween. The result is a steel reinforced concrete wall that if covered with a concrete board like Hardie Plank has almost no combustable content. If the roof does not have the overhanges that capture heat the building can be significantly fireproff. I have done some construction with these and I love ICF's. I am planning on building my shop building with heating concrete floor and ICF's. We may even build an addition to our school with ICF's. The thermal mass created by the thickness of the concrete really helps with tempature variation and cuts energy costs. R values in the R-40 range or greater are common. Just put Insulated Concrete Forms into Google and you will get tons of information. If you look at some ICF homes you would not know they are made that way. They often look just like any other house from the outside and if you are a little creative on the interior work the thicker exterior walls fit right in. Interior walls made with steel studs and sheet rock are also non-combustible. Don Domes, High School Architecture Instructor, Hillsboro OR

Posted By: Carolyn Drake
On: 11/11/2007 9:35:00 PM

Thanks, Don, for this information. I'm definitely intrigued. I'm curious about the styrofoam insulation -- how much damage does the manufacture and installation of it due to the environment? Also, do you know if there are off-gassing problems with its use? I have a few projects of my own that I think this would work well for, but I'd really like to avoid using materials that compound the effects of greenhouse gases. Any additional info you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Posted By: Daarina Abdus-Samad
On: 11/24/2007 6:31:09 PM

More Santa Ana Winds... fires... devastation & sadness!!! Since the first fire this season the use of air jets have been incorporated into fire defense to stop the Malibu fires. The jet planes have been re-designed with the ability to drop 8 seconds of fire retardant as compared to the single drop method usually used. Here's an example of re-designing design for a good purpose!!

Posted By: Don Domes
On: 12/2/2007 6:16:40 PM

Carolyn, I don't know about the off-gassing. Styrofoam has been around a long time. I made projects with it in college where we put these small pellets in a rigid form and then heated the form. The pellets expanded inside the form and created an insulation surface. I have worked with two different ICF manufactures. I was curious if the ICF from Poly Steel would burn so I got one and tried to catch it on fire. It did melt some of the styrofoam, but the styrofoam would not support the flame after I pulled the flame away from it. I know concrete does not burn..... There is a ton of information on the internet. I did most of my initial research with Google and just using key words like styrofoam, ICF, etc. Styrofoam is so common (building material supplys, general merchandise stores (coolers), etc. It would be interesting to let some students analyze the material! Don Domes