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1. Light building, what for? Isn't energy consumption
during building exploitation much more important?
That depends on the perspective. During the lifecycle of one building energy consumption for climate control and lighting constitute by far the largest contribution to environmental impact. However, you can also look at the building trade it in a wider perspective. Dependent on the assumptions building accounts for about a quarter of all transportation and the share of building in waste production bye and large is one third. There is a lot o be gained here.
2. Doesn't climate control matter to you at all?
Yes, but via the building structure. Lightweight building automatically leads to integration of functions, such as climate control, in the construction. Climate control systems must also be light. That implies that among other things you have to try and use heat accumulation capacity that is available on the spot, for example in ground water or rock. An option that has been getting more attention lately is geothermic energy, the heat locked up under the Earth's crest. Then you can control the climate intelligently with valves and pumping water and air so that the amount of heat or coolness that has to be generated is minimal. There have been some developments in heat accumulation in plastic fibres. They might get us somewhere.
Moreover you can think of principles in the are of moisture regulation, materials that can take up water and release it later on. In desert areas there is age old experience in this field. We have to learn to appreciate them once more.
3. For light building you use composites and plastics.. Aren't they hazardous in fires?
In the building practice fibre reinforced polymers are seldom used, but they are in other trades, such as shipping and aerospace technology. Not all plastics burn equally well. Some are self extinguishing and some don't burn at all. Take for instance the Teflon coating in pans. You can also make plastics less flammable with additives or coatings. There is a house of polystyrene foam that met the fire safety requirements because of a simple layer of plaster.
Apart from this: fire safety is not so much a matter of materials, but rather of the whole design. The issue is not that the structure is completely incombustible, but that during a fire it can be left in time and safely. In some cases it can even be safe if a certain building element disappears very quickly during fires.
In the past big mistakes have been made with this. In the Thirties of the last century it was believed that metal was safer for airplanes. The real danger appeared to be the fuel. More recently plastic LPG containers appeared to be safer than metal ones, because during a fire they calmly melted down and did not explode.
4. Light by definition means little mass and for sound insulation that is what you need for dampening, isn't it?
No that is only true if two spaces are only separated by one massive wall or ceiling/floor. That is why you need hollow walls between dwellings. It is also why in the Netherlands concrete floors are being made thicker and heavier over the past years up to no less than 800 kilograms per square meter, whereas you could also work with hollow ceilings. You can prevent sound from transfer through structural measures, such as separating spaces with double walls, dampening vibrations in structures that are shared by spaces and through sound absorption.
5. During gales building parts often get blown off causing daanger. Is it not safer to use heavy materials?
Again that is a matter of structural design. Airplanes fly with a speed, compared to which the fiercest tornado is a spring breeze. They don't get blown to pieces. On the other hand in high buildings wind is a more important load factor than weight. In architecture the attention for aerodynamics is increasing.
6. In the project concrete, steel and sheet glass are not allowed, but can't you build relatively light and cheap with those as well?
Lightness Studios is not against these materials. All we want to do is detach ourselves from thinking in known solutions for building and instead think in terms of functions and how to fulfil them with light materials. A standard house, for example, weighs about 200 tons. Could this be replaced by a two ton house, eventually replenished with materials available on the building site (sand, water, air)?
7. Suppose you succeed in light building, wouldn't that mean the end of the Dutch building industry?
We are convinced that, because natural resources are reaching an end, we can give a new impulse to industry in the Netherlands through innovative light solutions. It can be a great stimulus to generate new internationally competing applications of existing as well as yet to be developed materials and technologies.
That depends on the perspective. During the lifecycle of one building energy consumption for climate control and lighting constitute by far the largest contribution to environmental impact. However, you can also look at the building trade it in a wider perspective. Dependent on the assumptions building accounts for about a quarter of all transportation and the share of building in waste production bye and large is one third. There is a lot o be gained here.
2. Doesn't climate control matter to you at all?
Yes, but via the building structure. Lightweight building automatically leads to integration of functions, such as climate control, in the construction. Climate control systems must also be light. That implies that among other things you have to try and use heat accumulation capacity that is available on the spot, for example in ground water or rock. An option that has been getting more attention lately is geothermic energy, the heat locked up under the Earth's crest. Then you can control the climate intelligently with valves and pumping water and air so that the amount of heat or coolness that has to be generated is minimal. There have been some developments in heat accumulation in plastic fibres. They might get us somewhere.
Moreover you can think of principles in the are of moisture regulation, materials that can take up water and release it later on. In desert areas there is age old experience in this field. We have to learn to appreciate them once more.
3. For light building you use composites and plastics.. Aren't they hazardous in fires?
In the building practice fibre reinforced polymers are seldom used, but they are in other trades, such as shipping and aerospace technology. Not all plastics burn equally well. Some are self extinguishing and some don't burn at all. Take for instance the Teflon coating in pans. You can also make plastics less flammable with additives or coatings. There is a house of polystyrene foam that met the fire safety requirements because of a simple layer of plaster.
Apart from this: fire safety is not so much a matter of materials, but rather of the whole design. The issue is not that the structure is completely incombustible, but that during a fire it can be left in time and safely. In some cases it can even be safe if a certain building element disappears very quickly during fires.
In the past big mistakes have been made with this. In the Thirties of the last century it was believed that metal was safer for airplanes. The real danger appeared to be the fuel. More recently plastic LPG containers appeared to be safer than metal ones, because during a fire they calmly melted down and did not explode.
4. Light by definition means little mass and for sound insulation that is what you need for dampening, isn't it?
No that is only true if two spaces are only separated by one massive wall or ceiling/floor. That is why you need hollow walls between dwellings. It is also why in the Netherlands concrete floors are being made thicker and heavier over the past years up to no less than 800 kilograms per square meter, whereas you could also work with hollow ceilings. You can prevent sound from transfer through structural measures, such as separating spaces with double walls, dampening vibrations in structures that are shared by spaces and through sound absorption.
5. During gales building parts often get blown off causing daanger. Is it not safer to use heavy materials?
Again that is a matter of structural design. Airplanes fly with a speed, compared to which the fiercest tornado is a spring breeze. They don't get blown to pieces. On the other hand in high buildings wind is a more important load factor than weight. In architecture the attention for aerodynamics is increasing.
6. In the project concrete, steel and sheet glass are not allowed, but can't you build relatively light and cheap with those as well?
Lightness Studios is not against these materials. All we want to do is detach ourselves from thinking in known solutions for building and instead think in terms of functions and how to fulfil them with light materials. A standard house, for example, weighs about 200 tons. Could this be replaced by a two ton house, eventually replenished with materials available on the building site (sand, water, air)?
7. Suppose you succeed in light building, wouldn't that mean the end of the Dutch building industry?
We are convinced that, because natural resources are reaching an end, we can give a new impulse to industry in the Netherlands through innovative light solutions. It can be a great stimulus to generate new internationally competing applications of existing as well as yet to be developed materials and technologies.
