Concrete Homes and Another Hurricane!
Posted on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 @ 02:52 PM
Concrete homes and hurricanes - what's the connection? As I write this, a major hurricane (Irene) is bearing down on the east coast of the US, likely to bring substantial costly damage to homes, commercial buildings, and other structures. It happens nearly every major storm.
Take a look at this picture:
The only home left standing after a major storm - a concrete home! Why aren't we building every structure out of concrete in areas prone to storms?
Concrete homes and buildings have a tremendous number of additional advantages over traditional materials such as wood. A wealth of energy savings, due to the thermal mass of concrete, reduced heating needs, reduced cooling needs, insulating properties of concrete, "tightness", etc. With concrete energy savings are a no-brainer.
Some may argue that the initial costs overwhelm the benefits. Not so. Current life cycle analysis by places such as MIT have proven that concrete homes and other structures are not only competitive over the long run, but more cost effective.
But are they ugly? Look here and you tell me.
Think of the concrete home above. Stronger. Far more energy efficient.
But with a major hurricane approaching, which would you wish home do you wish you and your family were living in - the concrete home, or the one across the street?
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