Summary of Green Solutions
· Small Eco-footprint
· Reduced wastage with Factory Built
·_Sustainable and Recycled Materials – Cork, Cherry Veneer, Cedar, Paper,
Framing Lumber, Plywood, Cotton, Wool & Silk
· Breathable Building Wrap & Rainscreen
· Sprinklers
· Energy Efficient Lighting, Appliances, Windows and Fireplace.
· Integrated Home Control System (Smart Wiring)
· Minimal or zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
· Cabinets – 100% Recycled Paper, zero VOCs with photo-imprinted Teak Veneer
· Built-in Recycling Bins in Kitchen Island
· Local Products
· Water Conservation
·Green Paint
· Continuous Ventilation
· Hydronic Heating System and DHW – 95% efficient
· Individual Thermostats for Radiators
·_Solar Panel for Hot Water (Integrated w/ Hydronic System)
prefab, modular, built green, green, sustainable, eco-friendly
Duration : 0:5:14
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Summary of Green Solutions
· Small Eco-footprint
· Reduced wastage with Factory Built
·_Sustainable and Recycled Materials – Cork, Cherry Veneer, Cedar, Paper,
Framing Lumber, Plywood, Cotton, Wool & Silk
· Breathable Building Wrap & Rainscreen
· Sprinklers
· Energy Efficient Lighting, Appliances, Windows and Fireplace.
· Integrated Home Control System (Smart Wiring)
· Minimal or zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
· Cabinets – 100% Recycled Paper, zero VOCs with photo-imprinted Teak Veneer
· Built-in Recycling Bins in Kitchen Island
· Local Products
· Water Conservation
·Green Paint
· Continuous Ventilation
· Hydronic Heating System and DHW – 95% efficient
· Individual Thermostats for Radiators
·_Solar Panel for Hot Water (Integrated w/ Hydronic System)
prefab, modular, built green, green, sustainable, eco-friendly
Duration : 0:2:55
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The movie we posted illustrates Robolithography (Robotic assembly/printing of 3D products).
The machine in this movie is actually just a CNC machine set up to place interlocking blocks into place. We like to use the term robolithography as it generally provides a more insightful view as to the machines functionality. CNC stands for computer numerical control. A CNC machine traverses thru the x-y-z planes by means of numbers provided to it. It’s actually a bit more complicated…but that’s the gist of it.
The machine in this picture is assembling a section of wall out of Zipblocks. Zipblocks are very simple building blocks that interlock by virtue of placement. When this section of wall is finished it will be moved into place and filled with concrete. This machine can build virtually anything out of Zipblocks. It only needs to be programmed and supplied with some Zipblocks.
Zipblocks are like giant toy-construction bricks that interlock on placement. People can easily use them as well as robots. They are ideal for use with robots as they are based on a cube and this makes it easy to manipulate blocks thru the x-y-z planes. As they interlock on placement…another ideal feature for use with robotics.
Zipblocks are inexpensive and simple to manufacture. They are made from only two parts…sides and lugs. Sides are simply long flat rectangular shaped pieces. Lugs are S-shaped pieces that are used to connect blocks together. To create Zipblocks of different lengths you need only to increase or decrease the length of side pieces and have an adequate supply of lugs. The size of the lugs remains constant among blocks of different lengths. The length of the sides is the only thing that changes.
The components required to create basic Zipblocks are incredibly easy to produce and assemble. Virtually any solid material can be transformed into basic Zipblocks with ease. The materials that one chooses to build blocks from will clearly be dictated by their use, costs of raw materials, durability, and many other factors. Zipblocks are so simple that you can make them out of plywood by making a few cuts and gluing or nailing a couple of pieces together.
What makes Zipblocks so appealing is the fact that you can transform raw materials into Zipblocks at very low costs and this transition adds a great amount of value to your raw materials in that they are now a very easy to use product.
To put things in perspective consider this scenario. Let’s say that it costs $20 for a sheet of ¾ inch plywood and that it costs a factory $2 to transform one sheet of plywood into fully assembled blocks. In this case the transformation from plain plywood to Zipblocks generally speaking adds 10% to the costs of the raw materials. We can now visualize home improvement stores selling sheets of plywood for $20 and the equivalent plywood in bundles of Zipblocks for $22. Now let’s say that you need to build a custom wall unit for your living room. Would you rather buy plywood and all of the other materials needed to build your wall unit and then go home and labor hard to assemble your wall unit or would you rather just buy the equivalent materials in Zipblocks and instantly assemble your custom wall unit in minutes without using a single tool?
Based on the above scenario it’s clear that the transformation of raw materials into Zipblocks provides significant savings in time and in ease of use.
When Zipblocks finally enter the market we intend to offer convenient plans for DIY (do-it-yourself) projects like building dog houses, wall units, tables and etc. These plans will provide a manifest of the blocks needed as well as step by step assembly directions. More or less these plans will be similar to what you get when you purchase a toy-construction brick kit. What’s more is that we anticipate the development of simple software programs that will generate block manifests and building plans based on drawings entered into simulated 3D environments.
http://www.zipblocks.com
Visit us to find out more about Zipblocks.
Duration : 0:1:16
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Radiant roof sheathing being installed at another Hibbs Homes custom home near St. Louis Missouri. Radiant roof sheathing is plywood or OSB (Oriented Strand Board) with a thin layer of aluminum on one side to help reflect the suns radiant rays. Your attic stays cooler, your home stays cooler and that leads to a more comfortable living environment and lower utility bills. The product is Energy Star rated and according to its website, “can lower roof surface temperature by up to 100-degrees” and “can reduce peak cooling demand by 10-15 percent.”
Radiant roof sheathing used to cost more than standard plywood/OSB, but lumber prices are down and product competition is up, making radiant roof sheathing an affordable option. A similar type radiant barrier can be added to existing roof sheathing during renovation projects.
Duration : 0:0:33
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Zipblocks are boring…for that matter so are bricks, cinderblocks, and most other building materials. But hey…lets not forget get that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built from blocks.
This video on Zipblocks is also a bit boring…but if you watch it and then take a few seconds to think about how simple Zipblocks are and what you can do with them…you might develop an appreciation for Zipblocks. What’s more is that if you do like Zipblocks and you introduce them to a company and as a result they decide to manufacture them you’ll get a percentage of the royalties. To learn more about this just visit our website.
What is really nice about Ziplocks is that the entire building system consists of only two types of block and that longer blocks are simply multiples of a single block. Zipblocks can be made from virtually any solid material. Zipblocks are so simple that you can make them in your garage out of plywood if wanted to. Sides and lugs are the only two parts needed to create Zipblocks. So all in all this entire building system consists of only two different block types that can be created from two simple parts.
The costs of manufacturing Zipblocks are low. To put things in perspective consider this scenario. Let’s say that it costs $20 for a sheet of ¾ inch plywood and that it costs a factory $2 to transform one sheet of plywood into fully assembled blocks. In this case the transformation from plain plywood to Zipblocks generally speaking adds 10% to the costs of the raw materials. We can now visualize home improvement stores selling sheets of plywood for $20 and the equivalent plywood in bundles of Zipblocks for $22.
Let’s say that you wanted to create your very own custom wall unit in your living room that covered an entire wall from floor to ceiling. Let’s just say that this wall is 20 feet long and 12 feet tall. Can you imagine how much it would cost you if you walked into your local home supply center and made this request? It would probably cost you a fortune in both labor and materials. Now picture yourself walking into the same store and ordering 4 to 5 pallets of Zipblocks, having them delivered to you home, and then building your very own wall unit all in a days time. The cost would of course be much less and you would have a custom wall unit that you designed and built all by yourself. This would indeed be a much more rewarding experience.
What we just spoke about is more than ideal. What’s more is that when you build with Zipblocks and you make a mistake. No problem. Just disassemble your mistake and fix it. Moving to another home and the living room is smaller? Again…no problem…just dissemble your wall unit, ship it to your new home, and when you get there build another custom wall unit that suits to your needs.
You know, the great thing about these blocks is that you can build just about anything with them. Imagine how much fun you could have building some really cool workbenches in your garage or putting up some giant shelves in there. How about building a dog house for your dog or a playhouse for your child or a closet organizer?
You see there are simply countless things that you can build with Zipblocks and if you ever get tired of what you built…just break it down and use your blocks for something else! Zipblocks are essentially a product that never loses its value or usefulness.
Some other uses for Zipblocks:
1) Robotic Building Blocks — It is easy for robots to manipulate Zipblocks thru the x-y-z planes as they are cubic in nature and interlock upon placement.
2) Concrete Forms — rapidly build a disposable custom concrete forms using some wooden Zipblocks.
3) Levee Walls — 16 foot lengths of Zipblocks made from a hybrid of plastic reinforced with steel and then woven together would certainly aid in the construction of levee walls. New Orleans and other flood prone areas are in need of cheap and effective solutions.
4) Walkways and Patios — 8 foot lengths of plastic based Zipblocks could be used to instantly build patios and walkways.
5) Shipping containers — Build custom shipping containers. Upon arrival in 3rd world countries containers could be broken down and used to construct shelter.
http://www.ZipBlocks.com
Visit us to find out more about Zipblocks.
Duration : 0:0:31
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This video shows how furniture can be built using green technology (Zipblocks).
Zipblocks are green for several reasons.
1) The biggest reason that they are green is simply because you can use them over and over again. If you get tired of what you built, just take it apart and build something else. In this sensetheir value never diminishes.
2)They create zero waste during construction. When you cut Zipblocks in two you dont create waste you only create two smaller blocks!
3)They can be made out of sustainable resources. The ones illustrated in this video were made out of wood.
In this video we demonstrate the assembly/disassembly of a small planter box that has a somewhat fancy design. We chose to make it small and somewhat fancy so that we could demonstrate this building systems ability to effortlessly morph into almost any geometric shape.
We get a lot of requests for Zipblocks and/or Zipblock pricing. Unfortunately we have not found a manufacturer to make them out of wood yet so we dont have any to sell and we dont have any exact pricing. Despite this, we do have an idea as to what they may cost when they do become available.
The blocks in this movie were made out of cabinet-grade plywood. A sheet of this plywood runs around $33 at your local home supply center. You can easily create 333 two inch Zipblocks from a sheet of this plywood. This means that each two inch Zipblocks costs $33/333 = 10 cents.
The blocks used to create the planter box ranged from 2 to 6 cubes long. The total number of cubes needed to build it was 62 cubes. So at 10 cents per cube this planter box would cost around $6.20 to build. Please keep in mind that bulk purchasing and manufacturing would drive costs down. Also keep in mind that we used expensive plywood to build our blocks with. One could easily make blocks from materials that are much less expensive.
To learn more about these and other blocks you can visit us at http://www.ZipBlocks.com
Duration : 0:9:51
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