In May 2008, the Museum of Science and Industry opened the exhibit "Smart Home: Green + Wired," featuring a modular home created by California-based Michelle Kaufmann designs.
The 2,500 square-foot mkSolaire model home demonstrates several green building techniques including the use of recycled materials, sustainable gardens and a green roof.
In this video, Mark Boyer of YoChicago.com talks to Anne Rashford, MSI's director of temporary exhibits, about the exhibit's history, purpose and design.
Showing posts with label Green Construction Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Construction Technology. Show all posts
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Green Technology - Build large via small wooden blocks
This video illustrates Zipblocks being used to construct bridge columns, cinderblock-like walls, and how pre-tiled Zipblocks can be used to instantly assemble tiled walls & floors.
Zipblocks are a unique modular interlocking construction technology that allows builders to instantly build "finished" projects on just about any scale.
***Some advantages of building with Zipblocks are***
Green Technology: Zipblocks create zero waste during construction as when you cut a Zipblock in two you are only creating two smaller Zipblocks. Zipblocks can be manufactured from renewable resources or from recycled materials. Unless Zipblocks are glued together they are a re-usable building product.
Bond any two different materials together: You can join Styrofoam Zipblocks to steel Zipblocks to wood Zipblocks to rubber Zipblocks with ease. Because Zipblocks mechanically interlock they will always bond to other Zipblocks...regardless of the materials from which they are made.
Simple: Zipblocks simply lock together on placement.
No tools required: No tools are required to build using Zipblocks.
No adhesives required: Use of adhesives with Zipblocks to enhance stability is optional.
No Screws or nails required: Use of screws and nails to enhance stability is optional.
No skilled labor required: If you can assemble a toy-construction brick kit...you have the skills necessary to build with Zipblocks.
Add fibrous strength to large structures: You can add fibrous strength to structures by weaving lengths of Zipblocks together in opposing directions. Think of it like this. Plywood is very strong but it only comes in limited sizes. Zipblocks allow you to build things virtually any size and at the same time the entirety of whatever you build can exhibit the strength characteristics exhibited by plywood.
Extremely strong: It is extremely easy to reinforce Zipblocks via rebar and steel reinforcements.
Save time: You can build life-size structures almost as quickly as you can put toy-construction brick kits together. Click here to see how fast a course of Zipblocks can be laid.
Inexpensive to manufacture: Because Zipblocks are so simple...we estimate that manufacturing them would only cost 10% of the actual cost of the raw materials used to fabricate them.
Pre-tiled wall, floors, patios, and walkways: You can build instant tiled flooring with Zipblocks.
Limitless Application: What can you build with Zipblocks? Well you can build anything that you can build with toy-construction brick's...but on a much larger scale. You can build bridges, toys, landscape edging, tunnels, balconies, walls, etc. etc.
Easy for robots to fabricate products with: Because of their cubic/interlocking properties it is easy to program CNC machines to fabricate products using Zipblocks. At Zipblocks we like to refer to this process as robolithography.
Variety: Zipblocks come in many flavors. There are basic Zipblocks, advanced Zipblocks, snake Zipblocks, Curve Zipblocks, and etc. They all have special characteristics that make them ideal for certain applications.
You can learn more about Zipblocks at http://www.ZipBlocks.com
Zipblocks are a unique modular interlocking construction technology that allows builders to instantly build "finished" projects on just about any scale.
***Some advantages of building with Zipblocks are***
Green Technology: Zipblocks create zero waste during construction as when you cut a Zipblock in two you are only creating two smaller Zipblocks. Zipblocks can be manufactured from renewable resources or from recycled materials. Unless Zipblocks are glued together they are a re-usable building product.
Bond any two different materials together: You can join Styrofoam Zipblocks to steel Zipblocks to wood Zipblocks to rubber Zipblocks with ease. Because Zipblocks mechanically interlock they will always bond to other Zipblocks...regardless of the materials from which they are made.
Simple: Zipblocks simply lock together on placement.
No tools required: No tools are required to build using Zipblocks.
No adhesives required: Use of adhesives with Zipblocks to enhance stability is optional.
No Screws or nails required: Use of screws and nails to enhance stability is optional.
No skilled labor required: If you can assemble a toy-construction brick kit...you have the skills necessary to build with Zipblocks.
Add fibrous strength to large structures: You can add fibrous strength to structures by weaving lengths of Zipblocks together in opposing directions. Think of it like this. Plywood is very strong but it only comes in limited sizes. Zipblocks allow you to build things virtually any size and at the same time the entirety of whatever you build can exhibit the strength characteristics exhibited by plywood.
Extremely strong: It is extremely easy to reinforce Zipblocks via rebar and steel reinforcements.
Save time: You can build life-size structures almost as quickly as you can put toy-construction brick kits together. Click here to see how fast a course of Zipblocks can be laid.
Inexpensive to manufacture: Because Zipblocks are so simple...we estimate that manufacturing them would only cost 10% of the actual cost of the raw materials used to fabricate them.
Pre-tiled wall, floors, patios, and walkways: You can build instant tiled flooring with Zipblocks.
Limitless Application: What can you build with Zipblocks? Well you can build anything that you can build with toy-construction brick's...but on a much larger scale. You can build bridges, toys, landscape edging, tunnels, balconies, walls, etc. etc.
Easy for robots to fabricate products with: Because of their cubic/interlocking properties it is easy to program CNC machines to fabricate products using Zipblocks. At Zipblocks we like to refer to this process as robolithography.
Variety: Zipblocks come in many flavors. There are basic Zipblocks, advanced Zipblocks, snake Zipblocks, Curve Zipblocks, and etc. They all have special characteristics that make them ideal for certain applications.
You can learn more about Zipblocks at http://www.ZipBlocks.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Basic Zipblocks Demo - Simple Green Interlocking Technology
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.
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.
Green Technology - Solar Building Blocks
SOLAR ZIPBLOCKS - This movie illustrates the concept of how solar Zipblocks would work. It shows how the solar film on the outside is interconnected via a circuit embedded within the Zipblock, how this circuit easily interconnects to multiple Zipblocks, and how batteries can be embedded within blocks. This extraordinary configuration allows you to build, generate power, and store power...all by simply stacking solar Zipblocks together.
It's worth mentioning that hybrid electric vehicles can easily benefit via Zipblocks as well. The modular aspects of Zipblocks allow for grids of batteries to simply be stacked and interconnected in one simple step. Though our movie only illustrates a very crude depiction of how power can traverse throughout Zipblocks...additional control lines and control units can easily be embedded as well...thereby providing ability to isolate and manage batteries independently of each other or in groups. This configuration eliminates the need for a lot of wiring, saves space, and simplifies construction. With a few minor modifications to Zipblocks...battery sizes can be maximized and heat dissipation can be integrated as well.
You can learn more about other green technologies that we are promoting at http://www.zipblocks.com
Green Construction Technology - Advanced Curve Blocks
About This Video
Curve Zipblock Demo - There are many different ...
Curve Zipblock Demo - There are many different types of Zipblocks...this video illustrates how advanced curve Zipblocks work.
Advanced curved Zipblocks are unique in that they can be custom manufactured such that any given number of blocks linked together will form a perfect circle. The minimum number of blocks required to form a complete circle is three. I.e. you could easily manufacture curve block of type-3, 4, 5, 1000, etc. Type-3 curve block would take three blocks to form a complete circle; type-4 blocks would require four blocks to form a complete circle, and so on and so on.
Regardless of how many blocks are used to form a circle...the blocks will always stack perfectly as their widths and heights will remain constant.
Zipblocks are green in that they never lose their value and/or purpose unless they are physically damaged. They can be used and reused for different projects.
http://www.ZipBlocks.com
Visit us to find out more about Zipblocks.
Curve Zipblock Demo - There are many different ...
Curve Zipblock Demo - There are many different types of Zipblocks...this video illustrates how advanced curve Zipblocks work.
Advanced curved Zipblocks are unique in that they can be custom manufactured such that any given number of blocks linked together will form a perfect circle. The minimum number of blocks required to form a complete circle is three. I.e. you could easily manufacture curve block of type-3, 4, 5, 1000, etc. Type-3 curve block would take three blocks to form a complete circle; type-4 blocks would require four blocks to form a complete circle, and so on and so on.
Regardless of how many blocks are used to form a circle...the blocks will always stack perfectly as their widths and heights will remain constant.
Zipblocks are green in that they never lose their value and/or purpose unless they are physically damaged. They can be used and reused for different projects.
http://www.ZipBlocks.com
Visit us to find out more about Zipblocks.
Green Construction Technology - Robotic Part Fabrication
About This Video
You can build anything with Zipblocks. Just slide them together and instantly create fully interlocked structures on virtually any scale.
Sides and lugs are the only two components needed to build Zipblocks. Via the use of some basic robotic machinery, some side pieces, and a few lugs you can instantly build curved Zipblocks.
What does all this mean? It means that you or I can instantly build round structures of any diameter instantly.
Here are a few potential applications for curved Zipblocks:
1) People in third world countries could build round homes that are 10-20 feet in diameter. They could simply dip their blocks into a vat of glue and have instant homes.
2) Zipblocks can be made from just about any solid. As long as the sides are flexible...pipe of any diameter can easily be manufactured.
3) Half pipes could be used for aqueduct construction.
4) Roads and/or rail systems built out of Zipblocks can have precise turns built into them.
Why is our technology green? Zipblocks are reusable and never lose their value unless they are physically damaged. They can also be manufactured from sustainable resources like wood or bamboo...or from recycled plastics.
To find out more just visit us.
http://www.ZipBlocks.com
You can build anything with Zipblocks. Just slide them together and instantly create fully interlocked structures on virtually any scale.
Sides and lugs are the only two components needed to build Zipblocks. Via the use of some basic robotic machinery, some side pieces, and a few lugs you can instantly build curved Zipblocks.
What does all this mean? It means that you or I can instantly build round structures of any diameter instantly.
Here are a few potential applications for curved Zipblocks:
1) People in third world countries could build round homes that are 10-20 feet in diameter. They could simply dip their blocks into a vat of glue and have instant homes.
2) Zipblocks can be made from just about any solid. As long as the sides are flexible...pipe of any diameter can easily be manufactured.
3) Half pipes could be used for aqueduct construction.
4) Roads and/or rail systems built out of Zipblocks can have precise turns built into them.
Why is our technology green? Zipblocks are reusable and never lose their value unless they are physically damaged. They can also be manufactured from sustainable resources like wood or bamboo...or from recycled plastics.
To find out more just visit us.
http://www.ZipBlocks.com
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