If bigger is better, then this year’s International Builders' Show (IBS) in Las Vegas was the best show ever. Filling up four massive million-square-foot buildings, the show, which combines the Kitchen & Bath Show and the Builders' Show, was overwhelming to the attendees and the city’s transportation systems–sardines come to mind after being stuffed in the monorail cars for 30-minute rides. Nevertheless, as always, the show offered a chance to see, touch, and try out many new and upgraded products, tools and, of course, AI “apps.”
I was at the show to see what the industry was doing for disaster recovery and, more precisely, with “Survivability,” the latest term for building resilient shelter in a world that’s tossing increasingly violent and recurrent natural disasters at housing stock that is simply unprepared for them.
I live in Santa Barbara, Calif., where we have a wildfire about every four years, and I’m 90 minutes from the two horrific fires that recently destroyed parts of Los Angeles, so my focus was on fire-resistant (I hesitate to say fireproof) construction technologies. Naturally, many manufacturers were “fire-washing” their products, implying that their Class-A ratings were going to somehow keep buildings from being destroyed in the hellish conflagrations such as we saw in Pacific Palisades and Altedena.
No matter what you think, no house, no matter how it’s constructed (unless it’s windowless and made of concrete and/or buried underground or protected by streams of water) is going to survive a 90-mph wind-driven blow-torching. That said, there are ways to mitigate the effects of fire and to keep one house from becoming kindling for the houses next door until suppression is possible. In that regard, building products that are Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) compliant can help create an environment where living with wildfire is possible.
One such company is FireStorm Building Products. Its product addresses the “#1 cause of structure ignition,” the embers that are blown at astonishing speeds from structure to structure in a firestorm. The company's FireStorm Ember and Mesh Vents resist the entry of embers into roofs, eaves, soffits, and crawlspaces, first by blocking the embers with metal mesh designed to allow a high airflow ratio, and then by closing off completely with intumescent coating if the fire’s heat reaches a certain point. It also makes a FireStorm Gutter Guard (as if we needed one more gutter guard) that promises to keep embers from landing in leaf-filled gutters.
Another product, a wood siding by Nakamoto Forestry, which I ran across and with tongue-in-cheek suggested to the salesman was “pre-charred for fire resistance,” was just that: a wood siding deeply burned by fire, a Japanese preservative heat treatment that improves the siding’s durability without chemicals, coatings, or maintenance. It's called Yakisugi, which means charred cedar, and the effect is stunning, with brushed versions in cypress also available.
Plenty of modular and panelized ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) were being exhibited as affordable solutions to rising housing costs and as a way to get disaster victims into code-approved and mortgageable shelter quickly and without putting them into throwaway FEMA trailers.
One in particular was from Mesocore, which has engineered a clever ADU that it calls an Advanced Dwelling Unit and describes as “a hybrid construction system with a steel core and all the home’s electric, solar and plumbing.” It's delivered to the site as a 20-foot container (see photos, below), and the company claims that it remains a permanent structure built on a slab or on concrete piers or helical “screw” piles. Once on site, the “core” expands on both sides to a 420-square-foot ADU with bedroom, 5-by-8-foot bath, kitchenette, and 7.5-square-foot closet. With the included frosted glass sliding doors, the living and sleeping spaces can be completely cordoned off.
More interestingly, the company claims the unit can be completely assembled and livable in five days. Scanning over the remarkably clear five-day schedule/assembly instructions, I’m inclined to believe it, since the steel-cage core comes stuffed with every component you’ll need to complete the assembly. That includes a small manually controlled crane ("boom jig" in illustration, below) to move wall and floor panels into position from being stored on the innovative roof, which doubles as a cistern storing rainwater and feeding into a gray-water system.
The MesoCore unit also includes solar panels and a storage battery to round out the “off-grid” disaster readiness of the system. The company quoted me a price–something you rarely run into–of $125K + $3,000 delivery to California, which, if it holds up, is an affordable price considering it’s not uncommon for ADUs in Los Angeles to cost three to five times that.
Speaking of piers, I saw two companies offering helical piers at the show, and more were probably hidden in the 4 million square feet, which is impossible to navigate in three days of crowd-filled noise and sparkle.
Helical piers are giant screws that are driven into the soil until the torque needed to drive them equates to uplift and compression strengths required by your foundation. They're driven by impact motors usually mounted on a Bobcat; a torque meter measures the resistance, and a book of tables converts the amount into soil bearing and uplift amounts.
American Ground Screw is one of the pier companies exhibiting this year at IBS. Its version looks just like a huge–up to 4 inches in diameter–wood screw with a pointed end that makes it easier to drive into soil mixed with rocks.
Helical piers have several advantages over concrete spread footings, the first being that they eliminate concrete, arguably one of the worst CO2 pollutants on the planet. The piers are steel, but most steel today is recycled, so the carbon footprint is already “spent.” There is no soil removal, and a small Bobcat or handheld lever allows foundations to be built on the back of lots with narrow side passages. In addition, the piers can be removed and used again. Cost was quoted at around $120 per pier, and a small ADU can usually be supported by nine to 12 piers.
There’s a new(ish) panel product on the market that I’m excited about that might be able to substitute for OSB/plywood sheathing and siding–saving time and labor while offering fire and water resistance. Magnesium Oxide (MgO) boards, also known as mag boards, are versatile building materials made from magnesium oxide, a naturally occurring mineral, and are known for their fire resistance, durability, and eco-friendliness. MgO boards are used for walls, ceilings, subflooring, and exterior sheathing. They resist mold, mildew, and pests, are easy to install, and can be cut, nailed, or screwed like traditional drywall. Several manufacturers, including DuPont, Huber, and NexGen, have recently introduced the panels into the market. I used ½-inch mag board for a combined sheathing/siding with board and batt, on an ADU we built for HUD and placed on the Mall in Washington, D.C. (see photo, below). We also used ¾-inch half-lap MgO on the subfloor and left it as a finished floor that looked like terrazzo.
Lastly, in the Start-Up Zone, which was hidden among myriad cabinet companies and countless window flashing companies, I found one intriguing startup whose value goes beyond rebuilding after wildfires. CleanFiber uses waste cardboard in lieu of newsprint to create a better cellulose insulation solution that its customers claim is cleaner and more consistent, leading to a better, denser installation. You’re probably reading this article on a computer or phone screen, which is why the stream of newsprint is drying up. As a result, insulators frequently bemoan the quality of cellulose, which often contains a high percentage of garbage that is not doing their blowing machines any good. But thanks to Amazon, the folks at CleanFiber maintain, the supply of cardboard remains strong.
