Across Ontario and California, builders are rethinking concrete housing through inflatable-shell design—an approach that replaces wooden formwork with air and innovation. A 1,000-square-foot low-carbon concrete shell, insulated with hempcrete, can be erected in a day and cost far less than conventional construction. Over time, the savings in energy, materials, and mortgage costs make this model a realistic response to rising living expenses and climate stress. With low-carbon cement, hempcrete walls, and renewable energy, inflatable concrete homes show how even the world’s most carbon-heavy material can become part of a sustainable future—if built smartly, and within local building codes.
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Some small Binishell prototypes have been built for around US $3,500 using sprayed concrete over an inflatable form. Automatic Construction reports shell costs of roughly $10–$30 per square foot for 100- to 200-square-foot prototypes—far below standard homebuilding prices. The Vienna method is described as “quick and cost-saving” for double-curved shell structures, but specific dollar/€ cost numbers are not given in the available sources.
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Sand is the most important building resource and it is being mined illegally at sea.
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Eco-entrepreneur Shimrit Perkol-Finkel, 45 and a mother of 3 girls, was killed on the streets of Tel Aviv while riding an electric scooter this week. The streets of Tel Aviv are dangerous and deadly for drivers and pedestrians.
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We have created a concrete jungle, heavier than all the world's real, living jungles.
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What is up with Israeli designers? On the whole, they’re an eco-conscious group that use their creative genius to churn out groundbreaking designs, but two young students seem to be heading in the wrong direction. We recently featured Yariv Goldfarb’s Bezalel graduation project with 3d printing technology called “Play with Poop.” In order to deviate […]
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Groundbreaking “Concrete Cloth” allows ancient building material to be used in a totally new way. Concrete Cloth is a pioneering “building-in-a-bag” that requires only water and air for construction: it was named material of the year in the 2011 Material ConneXions MEDIUM Awards. Concrete is one of the world’s most popular building materials. It follows […]
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