Flyfisher
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8534212.stm
Words fail me.
Words fail me.
- Thread starter Flyfisher
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Gareth Hughes
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One or two possible flaws. No mention of its fire performance.
And more importantly, when we all start living in a more sustainable way and stop making everything out of plastic, and sending everything to landfill, where's the raw material going to come from?
It also looks utterly, utterly awful but that never stopped people assuming they could sell things.
And more importantly, when we all start living in a more sustainable way and stop making everything out of plastic, and sending everything to landfill, where's the raw material going to come from?
It also looks utterly, utterly awful but that never stopped people assuming they could sell things.
FamilyWiggs
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You know what - maybe it's not such a bad idea after all?
Ok - it looks utterly horrible, but it is relatively cheap and made from a large proportion of what is currently a waste product that causes us landfill problems. I'd much rather we turned oil into plastic and then into houses, than we burned the stuff.
There will be suitable applications for this type of building (providing I never have to look at one!).
I do wonder how eco-friendly it is though - how much embodied energy is in one of those blocks - given it isn't easy to turn an old tv into one of them? More or less than alternative modern concrete and cement monstrosities?
Ok - it looks utterly horrible, but it is relatively cheap and made from a large proportion of what is currently a waste product that causes us landfill problems. I'd much rather we turned oil into plastic and then into houses, than we burned the stuff.
There will be suitable applications for this type of building (providing I never have to look at one!).
I do wonder how eco-friendly it is though - how much embodied energy is in one of those blocks - given it isn't easy to turn an old tv into one of them? More or less than alternative modern concrete and cement monstrosities?
JoceAndChris
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They're hideous, but I wish my hen house was made out of them as they don't look very easy to chew into. :x
Flyfisher
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Well, quite apart from the aethetic aspects, I'd be concerned about plasticiser evaporation from all that plastic combined with minimal ventilation.
Schoolmarm
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Me too FF! I would be terrified of what I was breathing in.
Penners
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My first reaction is to be horrified. But I think I have to try and separate my reaction to the utterly vile design of the building from the concept of the material.
The amount of plastic waste that is generated by our society must be enormous. A proportion of it is recycled nowadays (or so we're told), but as far as I can make out, there are still huge quantities that cannot be, or are not, re-used. So if we can find an energy-efficient way of using these materials, that must be A Good Thing.
And of course there's no reason why a house constructed of plastic blocks has to be hideous. The solution to that problem is purely down to the amount of good taste, effort and money put in at the design stage.
The question of plasticiser evaporation is way above my pay-grade. Is there no way of eliminating this with a surface coating?
The amount of plastic waste that is generated by our society must be enormous. A proportion of it is recycled nowadays (or so we're told), but as far as I can make out, there are still huge quantities that cannot be, or are not, re-used. So if we can find an energy-efficient way of using these materials, that must be A Good Thing.
And of course there's no reason why a house constructed of plastic blocks has to be hideous. The solution to that problem is purely down to the amount of good taste, effort and money put in at the design stage.
The question of plasticiser evaporation is way above my pay-grade. Is there no way of eliminating this with a surface coating?
Flyfisher
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I certainly agree about the importance of reusing this sort of stuff but there must be other applications than residential property. Roads? Paths? Outside brick walls? Exterior paving slabs? Roof tiles?
Plasticiser evaporation has been implicated in the post-war rise of asthma cases; synthetic carpets and/or backing/underlays, foam insulation and many more domestic plastics in general. I don't know if there's a definitive conclusion but a baked clay brick seems intuitively rather more inert than processed plastic waste.
Plasticiser evaporation has been implicated in the post-war rise of asthma cases; synthetic carpets and/or backing/underlays, foam insulation and many more domestic plastics in general. I don't know if there's a definitive conclusion but a baked clay brick seems intuitively rather more inert than processed plastic waste.
You mean a thin, flexible, non-permeable material such as . . . . . er, plastic? :wink:Penners said:
Penners
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D'you know, even as I was typing my question, I had a suspicion that would be your answer!Flyfisher said:
But what about other surface coatings? Natural paints, plaster, clay even...?
It doesn't look like the answer to all our housing needs but it's not the end of the world either. I don't want one, however I applaud the attempt to do something with waste that would otherwise end up in landfill doing nothing for 1000's of years.
I doubt the fire performance is a worry - you could probably level the same criticism at modern wooden houses one must assume they aren't death traps either.
When the raw material dries up or the cost rises then the builders will move on to the next material I'm sure.
It does put a whole new slant on the phrase "cheap plastic houses" I wonder how long it'll be before you can chuck up a cheap plastic extension without planning permission through relaxed permitted development
I doubt the fire performance is a worry - you could probably level the same criticism at modern wooden houses one must assume they aren't death traps either.
When the raw material dries up or the cost rises then the builders will move on to the next material I'm sure.
It does put a whole new slant on the phrase "cheap plastic houses" I wonder how long it'll be before you can chuck up a cheap plastic extension without planning permission through relaxed permitted development
Flyfisher
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It's been tried before, of course, and nobody wanted to keep it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8269479.stm