An Ongoing Project in Lockwood Valley, CA:
Did you know that 3/4 of the US falls under the category of high risk for natural disasters now? At Hubbell & Hubbell, we love using innovative green building techniques that are especially known for their fire resistive qualities. This small 420 SF home located in Lockwood Valley, CA, is built with foam core sandwich panels, which are manufactured by RSG 3-D. These panels are made of pre-fabricated recycled expanded polystyrene (EPS) and are framed by welded wire space frames. Not only are they fire resistant with a 4 hour fire-rating, they also can resist 200 mph+ winds during hurricanes and are resistant to seismic events.
We recently made a post featuring an ADU made of these panels and concrete form blocks, and we wanted to go into more detail on the foam core sandwich panels. Here are some specific examples of buildings built with these panels withstanding natural disasters:
During the 2015 Valley Fire, 1900 homes in the community were deemed a complete loss while a home built with RSG 3-D panels had zero structural damage.
A research center in Essex, CA has endured intense earthquakes, including one measuring 6.9 Richter and another measuring 6.5 Richter, and were completely unharmed. Not only that, but with over 1,000 seismic events recorded in several countries, none of the structures built with these RSG 3-D foam core sandwich panels have had any damage whatsoever. In San Jose del Cabo , Mexico, a beautiful hotel called La Residencia has been hit with not just one, but five Category 5 hurricanes, and miraculously, no damage has ever occurred to the building, thanks to this amazing material.
We love the versatility of these panels and have designed several unique structures with it. Check out our tab to learn more about these panels here!