The Reimagined Homes Building System

This is where we get into the specifics of how to build a home using the Reimagined Homes system. You will find information here covering materials, planning, tools, techniques and instructions. This information is meant to help both owner/ builders, and construction professionals understand the system, and potentially build a house using the system.

The first thing to understand is that nothing in the Reimagined Homes system is new. The ideas might not be commonly used, or might be commonly used in the United States. The ideas or might be borrowed from other areas such as hotels or commercial buildings. It’s really a collection of 20+ ideas, combined with an industrial design and manufacturing perspective, to create a new type of house. The goal is to optimize the house for affordability and disaster resistance, while creating a beautiful house that people want to live in.

This section covers specifics of the building system. To understand the design principles used to develop the system, start with Principles

OVERVIEW

The building system has a few key principles. Here’s a summary:

Walls and Roof

• The walls and roof are constructed with SCIP Panels (Structural Concrete Insulated Panels). The walls and roof contain no wood. It’s a sandwich of concrete, wire mesh, rigid foam, wire mesh and concrete. Here’s an image:

This construction system was invented 50 years ago, and has been used throughout the world, although it’s extremely uncommon in the United States. SCIP Panels have been ICC code approved for about 12 years. This code approval makes it easy to work with for structural engineers, and simplifies the building permit process compared to experimental building materials. Building with SCIP panels means that there is no wood in the walls or ceiling, and the building has very good disaster resistance to fires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.

FOUNDATION

• Slab foundations are used. Slab foundations are low cost and durable. Eliminating the crawl space below the house eliminates an ideal living space for mice and other critters, and eliminates an ideal entry point for wildfire embers. Why doesn’t everyone use slab foundations? The crawl space below a house is commonly used for heating and air conditioning ducting, electrical wires, and plumbing. It also can be very expensive to repair plumbing and other problems if the pipes are run in the slab foundation. These two areas of concern are addressed later.