Innovation makes your house far more valuable

(NC)—If owners insist on using the most advanced methods and materials for the most important building steps, they can be assured of owning a home with a structure that is far stronger, far more cost efficient, far healthier for occupants and far more valuable than most houses to date, industry observers say.
Take a look at just one revolutionary development for example. Now, there is an innovative system for replacing traditional wood framing with concrete. Instead of stick framing, interlocking concrete forms are used to build the house—or school, office building, hospital, or more. In addition to far improved homeowner benefits, this innovation is just one more reason why the best builders need to re-train continuously to stay ahead of the curve on the latest – and greenest – methods, systems, techniques, and materials.
“As with any industry, those who excel in business never rest on their laurels,” says Todd Blyth at Nudura, a leading firm in Canadian construction technology. “It may be demanding to keep up, but wasteful and inefficient practices soon go out of date and therefore every effort by builders to apply the latest innovation is going to pay off quickly.
“Let’s take walls, ceilings and floors for example,” he continued. “The builder focus now is on integrated systems for the strongest, most attractive, and most efficient building envelope possible.”
Benefits of concrete
This newest wall-building system by Nudura (www.nudura.com) consists of pre-assembled, interlocking forms delivered to the construction site.
“Each form is designed with two, stay-in-place panels of polystrene connected with a hinged folding web, making transportation easy, and assembly quick, with no waste,” Blyth explained. “The forms (like Lego) are stacked, reinforced, and then filled with concrete, creating the industry’s strongest walls.
“A solid building envelope of this kind delivers twice the energy efficiency of stick-frame walls,” Blyth continued, “and that could translate to a 70 per cent saving on your bills. Your home will also be far less prone to wood rot, mustiness and mould – and be up to three times more sound resistant, four times more fire resistant, and up to nine times stronger without drafts and cold spots.”
The building industry views this innovation as a win-win for all involved: the architects get unlimited design possibilities; builders cut their construction time in half; and the homeowner has the satisfaction of choosing a major green component for their house. The Nudura wall system contributes to standards set by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) the international benchmark for sustainable high performance buildings.
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