Conception
Conception
When Building Your House Becomes Child's Play |  |
Bill Loftus originally set out to design and build the "perfect neighborhood," focused on the needs of the families who would live there.
Instead, the Florida resident ended up inventing a building system that may change forever the way homes are built, and which he hopes will provide an environmentally sensible solution to worldwide housing needs for years to come.
It all started when Loftus, who spent 19 years as a builder and contractor in Boston, envisioned a planned community. "Some friends and I wanted to create a neighborhood that revolved around our children's needs, instead of a neighborhood designed around cars' needs," he explains.
Loftus went on to invent a simple building system that combines recycled materials, concrete, steel floor and roof trusses to create structures that are 60 percent less expensive that traditional ones. He also dramatically reduced the amount of time it takes to put up a house, from 3 months to just a few days. The construction can be done by family members and friends. All they need are a few words of explanation and four unpowered hand tools.
"We wanted these homes to be able to be built by a family, using simple tools -- no power tools," says Loftus. "We ardently believe this system can really make an impact on world housing."
At the heart of the system are precast blocks used to create the walls. Comparable in the concept to children's building blocks, these stack on top of each other and interlock to form a lightweight, insulated wall. These blocks are created in molds from a blend of concrete and up to 85 percent recycled materials; it helps solve some of the pressing environmental problems many communities are faced with today.
Loftus' company, Environmental Building Products, is marketing his revolutionary technology worldwide. "We've received numerous calls from around the U.S., and the rest of the world," proclaims Loftus. "People are extremely interested in this."
