Comments about ‘Styrofoam homes built in a flash’

Wow! This is an amazing concept put into practice. What a creative mind...I love it! Where can I see one in person?

Polyurethane is a better insulator than styrofoam. It has to do with the cell structure of the air bubbles inside, polyurethane isolates the air bubbles which allows for less heat conductivity.

But this is the first home I've seen of just foam, the houses I've seen that use polyurethane, are in conjunction with domed shaped cement structures.

Inovative idea, but perhaps polyurethane would be a better material?

That's still more than $30 per square foot for a shell. Do it yourselfers can build a complete home for between $50 and $100 per square foot. This includes electrical, flooring and low end appliances.

And when it burns you get Cyanide gas.

for here because the big one is comming soon!

So it's not a bargain because someone with knowledge, skills, tools, and materials can spend twice as much or more to build a house that will take months to construct and be less durable in the face of earthquakes and tropical storms? Yeah, you're right. Not such a bargain.

I'd like to see the home you can build for $50/square foot.

I want in on this, someone hook me ups! Got a link?

My kudos to Christensen and Haslem for acting on their desires to elevate the living standards of the impoverished!!!

Now if we could just get our self-centered earth-worshiping government to ship the clunkers overseas instead of destroying them.

No cyanide danger - polystyrene contains no nitrogen.

I built a Tuff Shed in my backyard for around $1,500.00 and it is approximately 400 square feet and probably more durable. It sounds like someone is getting rich selling these oversized ice-coolers to the government.

Some charities report it costing only $4000 or so to build a home in a poverty striken country. That may also include free materials, I just don't know? If it's free materials that means it also includes shipping them or buying them local increasing the economy to where the house will be built. Is it more strong than a cinderblock home?

Glad new methods and process for home construction for the poor are being considered though. A person making a dollar a day $12,000 is 32 years of every dollar going into the home.

$33/sq ft just doesn't sound like that much of a bargain for a basic shelter. Perhaps I am missing something?

utah always trying to right what someone is trying to do ..at least he offers an opportunity to the poor on his own merits. never good enough such as k-whatever that means oh knuckle head gots ya.

"It's called ecosheet," he said. Developing countries around the world have more waste or recyclable material than they know what to do with, he said. He and the Haslems can take it all off their hands at no cost and turn it into cheaper homes for those countries' homeless. It would even create construction jobs, Christensen said."

That's also a great idea, I love it! But uh-oh now you're gonna be in trouble with the tree-huggers who made the Wall-e movie. No more doom & gloom to spread around on how the planet is going to be buried under mountains of garbage and we'll all have to live in outer space. Dang.

And how warm is your Tuff Shed in the winter? How cool is it in the summer? How easy is it to take apart and move? What upkeep is needed to prevent it from rusting and corroding? And what does it sound like inside it during a rain storm?

Exactly, not all impoverished people work in construction. I've seen plenty of third world leantos built of tin. Some of these people dont really have engineering education.

This is a great project and service. And for those of you who think this is not much of a bargain or think you could build something similar for less money...you can, but in the end shipping your structure to a third world country would cost much more. I ship high end wood all over the world, sometimes the freight costs more than the high priced wood. These metal and foam structures will weigh a fraction of the same size building with wood framing, OSB sheathing and asphalt shingles, and therefore cost a fraction of the price to ship. And it sounds like they are working to reduce the cost.

It's easy to determine whether the cost of the shelters is "a bargain" or not. Are people/governments buying them? If there is an option that provides the same functionality at a lower price, why are governments buying thousands of them.

Glad they are doing this-this will clearly be a great help to those in countries with limited income.