During our past century, it seemed wise to live far from smelly factories and noisy industrial areas. That’s no longer true. Most smelly factories and industrial areas have been cleaned up. So why are we still settling for two-hour commutes to work?
When Kelton’s one school building became overcrowded, its Board of Trustees proposed a $5 million bond election for an additional building. On May 10, 2008 voters overwhelmingly passed it.
Many of you have supported Domes for the World over the years, and followed our progress as we have worked to improve the lives of people in desperate need of safe and affordable housing. Now you have the opportunity to let the world know what you think about our efforts.
When we started the El Dorado Chemical Company plant in early 2010, we started doing some research on different additives to put in the concrete, to help with its chemical resistance. Early in our research, we came across an additive called MetaMax.
A Monolithic Dome is often used in its most economical configuration as part of a sphere. But sometimes the customer wants something more grand.
I met William Singer in 1995, first by phone, then through the Monolithic Workshop he attended, and we have talked considerably since then. I am guessing that William was sixty plus when we first met, and, of course, the years piled on us all. After graduating from that Workshop, William, one of those independent guys who makes things happen, built his own dome-home.
David B. South has spent most of his life trying to change the world. Since building his first Monolithic Dome in 1975, he has been working to convince people to think outside the box. Now he has a chance to be formally recognized as a Changemaker as part of an international competition for sustainable urban housing.
It took nearly 10 years of planning, fundraising and construction, but Fellowship Bible Baptist Church finally got their Monolithic Dome. About 3,000 people recently attended the first church service inside the new dome sanctuary.
David South answers questions about Monolithic certification, approval and credibility.
On the Monolithic Forum (Bulletin Board) there is an entire discussion topic titled “Low Income Housing.” Recently, David B. South made a post detailing his experiences in the subject matter.
We now have the technology! It’s here. We have it! We now know how to construct domes affordably. Monolithic suggests that architects, engineers and anyone else involved in structural design or construction learn the advantages of modern domes, and study the technology it takes to build them. Let us teach you.
Recently David South created a discussion topic on the Monolithic Forum (Bulletin Board). In this thread, he is spreading the word about dome home financing.
In a lengthy discussion about dome hybrids and greenhouses on the Monolithic Forum (Bulletin Board), David South recently added a comment. With more and more inquires coming into the Monolithic offices regarding these types of structures, read what David had to say on this subject.
On its homepage, SprayFoam.com, a website designed to serve the spray foam insulation community, is featuring Urethane Foam: Magic Material – And the Best Kept Insulation Secret. It describes the book as “a must-read for anyone with questions about the nature of urethane foam or its insulating qualities” and provides links for its purchase or free download.
Earlier this fall a thread was started on the Monolithic Forum (Bulletin Board) about radiant heat. Read the discussion along with what David South had to add.
Last month I was able to visit the fertilizer blend plant that we built in Bryan Texas, and it was really exciting to hear what the managers of the plant had to say.
Haiti’s devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010 claimed millions of victims. Some of the most destitute were parentless children living at an orphanage called Pwoje Espwa (Creole for Project Hope) in the Southern Region. Project Hope, which had been operating since 1998 by providing shelter, food, education and vocational training, was completely destroyed.
The Domes For The World Foundation’s mission is to improve the lives of people worldwide through the introduction and construction of Monolithic Domes and EcoShells for personal and public use. We will initiate and coordinate efforts to alleviate shortages of housing and community facilities in struggling cultures and impoverished lands.
You’ve found the dome home of your dreams or you have plans to build one of your own; now you need financing to make it happen. While getting a mortgage used to be relatively simple, the 2008 downturn in the economy changed everything. Now lenders are requiring squeaky clean credit, bigger down payments, and solid appraisals.
Permafrost is something most of us don’t ever have to worry about. In some parts of the United States, such as Florida, South Texas, Southern California and Arizona, the ground never freezes. You go further north and the ground only freezes a foot deep during the coldest winter months. But as you travel north, the ground may freeze two or three feet, then five or six feet.
We wonder what Bilbo, Tolkien’s hero hobbit, would have thought about the earth-bermed, 1400-square-foot, Monolithic Dome home, completed in October 2004, in Flag Pond, Tennessee.
Green construction – that term has now taken on a lot of new meanings. It obviously can mean something as simple as painting a building green. But it more likely means something we do that helps keep our planet user friendly – since we and all living things are the users. There are many ways to make our planet greener. One, obviously, is to build smaller homes.
Chris Ecker, a Monolithic Dome owner and designer, says, “There are numerous ways you could go about designing your dream dome, whatever the intended use will be. Based on our experience, here are our suggestions.”
Charlotte, Vermont is a traditional town. Its charter dates back to 1762, its name exalts Charlotte Sophia, the wife of King George III, and most of its residents live in very traditional, wood frame, New England homes. However, in 2007, construction began on Vermont’s first Monolithic Dome, the unique home of Trisa and Dennis Gay and their son.
Kay and Ernest Mudd moved into their 4900-square-foot, two-level Monolithic Dome home just about seven months ago, but they’ve already shown it to 1000 people. That number almost equals the population of their hometown: Dighton, Kansas. Located at the crossing of two state highways, K96 and K23, Dighton has about 1200 residents in its 0.9 square miles. So where did all the tourists come from?
Since 2005 Managed Organic Recycling, Inc. (MOR) has been improving the process of composting organic waste – something our society produces by the thousands of tons every year. But while some people continue seeing this waste material simply as waste, John Bouey, MOR’s president, calls it a valuable resource.
The image of children running around in bathing suits, in the winter, in Minnesota, Maine or Canada, seems an unlikely sight. Equally unlikely may be the sight of sweaty adults and children standing in a long line, baking in the hot Arizona sun, waiting for a short water ride. But waterpark fun can be enjoyed year round if designed inside a Monolithic Dome.
News articles are supposed to contain all the most important information about a topic in the “lead” or first paragraph of the story. Chris Sweifel very succinctly sums up the key advantages of Shotcrete domes in his article, which appears in the current issue of Shotcrete Magazine. Headlined “Shotcrete Domes: A Model of Sustainability,” the article starts off as follows.
On December 3, the Science Museum in London will open a new exhibition that explores climate science. The exhibition is an immersive experience with a variety of objects, audiovisuals and interactives for the visitors to explore. One of the visuals - a touch screen information zone examining climate change — features hurricane resistant buildings. Among them is a Monolithic Dome home.
Inventor-illustrator Steven Johnson first fell in love with Monolithic Domes when he attended a builders’ workshop in Italy, Texas. This week, he had the opportunity to showcase dome technology in an unusual way - in a cartoon panel for GOOD magazine. Each week, Steve features leading-edge, pioneering designs in a cartoon-style format. His assignment is to find examples of products and ideas that move the world forward in creative ways.
It is imperative that you, the dome owner/builder, understand the basics of foam application to monitor the process and look for potential problems. This article describes the foam application process and could be given to a foam contractor so expectations are clear.
In a Monolithic Dome, the simplest sound treatment is a cloud of sound absorbing material hanging in the center (focal point) of the dome.
Correct rebar hanger placement takes a detailed, well organized process.
Indoor swimming pools are one of the many facilities where Monolithic Domes really shine. Essentially, a dome is an upside-down swimming pool.
In the following sample chapter of the ebook Urethane Foam: Magic Material – And the Best Kept Insulation Secret, David explains why the R-value is misleading, how it was devised and why it’s flawed and biased. It also includes case histories and discusses the purpose and workings of insulation.
Because many people still are not familiar with Monolithic Domes, one of the biggest hurdles proponents face when pitching this new technology is a lack of awareness. In Port Colborne, Ontario Canada, resident John Mitchell is making sure that city council members understand the many advantages that dome buildings have to offer.
Charter schools are known for their innovative curriculum and pioneering strategies. It is fitting, therefore, that the Career Success Charter High School in Phoenix has housed its newest campus in four monolithic domes. Located just east of downtown, the brightly colored structures are painted to look like planets - Earth, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. The buildings are also totally solar powered and equipped with the latest technology.
U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, was back in his home district recently handing out checks to local organizations that have qualified for federal grant money. Congressman Hinojosa also took the opportunity to tour a new Monolithic Dome school building that was funded by federal grant money last year - the Woodsboro gymnasium/community center.
You can’t successfully operate a blend plant in any structure. It takes a building specifically designed for that job. This ten-minute, easy-to-follow and understand video explains and illustrates the advantages of a Monolithic Dome designed and constructed as a blend plant. The video describes the technologically sophisticated process and formula used in Monolithic Dome construction. It also details Monolithic advantages, many of which simply are not available in other structure types. They include: disaster resistance, super insulation that prevents interior temperature fluctuations, strength and durability.
On a stretch of Interstate 35, in Central Texas between Waco and Waxahachie, is an enormous caterpillar. The curious stop to explore and come across Monolithic Dome Village. The caterpillar is a manufacturing warehouse; there are dome offices, dome storage buildings and upwards of 60 domes rented out as single person dwellings. I was informed that these buildings are ‘green’ in every way. They will withstand winds of 450 miles an hour (FEMA rates them as near absolute protection), they are environmentally friendly and have an R value of 60. Their lifespan is measured in centuries, they don’t burn, or rot, or get eaten by termites. I decided to sign up for the workshop that Monolithic offers to learn how to build them.
Within any building, many things affect air quality. Those things include carpeting, paint, paneling, furnishings, etc. Each or everyone can emit gases into the air that are bad for us. Organic materials within a building can harbor their own kind of bad stuff, such as mold, mites, bacteria, viruses, insects and even vermin.
So just what is the solution?
This is a familiar problem. Administrators of various building projects, but particularly schools, often come up with a general plan that allows them to keep making the building bigger and as square as possible. Reason: Have the least amount of surface exposed to the weather because the surface is what generally lets in the heat or the cold. But Monolithic Domes give us a new paradigm – an attractive, practical one. The actual heat loss through the shell of a Monolithic Dome is close to zero, so it is not part of the equation.
It’s important to understand why we use rebar (reinforcing steel bar) in concrete. It’s used to absorb tension forces in concrete, since concrete has very poor strength as a tension material. So correct placement of rebar is essential.
While attending high school in Idaho back in the late 1950s, I listened to a lecture given by Buckminster Fuller. He was promoting his Geodesic Dome. I was instantly fascinated with the concept of a building which, because of its shape, would cover more area with less materials than any other structure.
Time and time again, we’ve seen people confuse the Monolithic Dome, invented by David B. South and his brothers, with the geodesic dome popularized by Buckminster Fuller. eHow.com, which posts informative articles on more than 1 million different topics, recently shed light on the difference between the two structures in an article headlined “What Are Different Types of Domes?”
News Radio 1080 is one of the main sources for local news in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Recently, the station launched a weekly segment called the Greener Side, which focuses on new green technologies and products.
If you’ve ever been to an inflation of a commercial dome structure, you know how exciting it can be to watch a huge Airform expand before your very eyes. For the students of Woodsboro Elementary, the excitement was contagious. During the recent inflation of their South Texas school district’s new multipurpose center, they got into the spirit by chanting: “Blow it up, blow it up.”
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Your Energy Minute is a blog sponsored by the Energy Education Foundation and the SayYesToGreen.org initiative. It was created to provide consumers with energy news, clean energy resources, conservation tips and strategies and the latest updates on energy policy.
As relief organizations prepare to begin reconstruction efforts in Haiti and Chile, a Texas-based company is hosting a five-day workshop to teach attendees how to build the earthquake-resistant, concrete structures that have proven to be a viable solution for countries around the world.