Articles

The Blue Ocean Home Advantage 

By Dean Konstantine
 

It is one thing to add a little solar and call yourself green,
it is all together something else to truly build
cost effective ultra-high efficient, Green built, Low
Energy use, Fireproof homes!

Outer wall construction

Blue Ocean Homes Development (BOH) utilizes a specific ICF block constructed of recycled polystyrene and Portland cement to build the main structure of its homes. This block system was chosen because of its true recycled properties, its fireproofing qualities, its waterproofing qualities and the overall strength the blocks provides to any building which utilizes this type of block system for its foundational construction.

Wood vs. Steel Framing
 

Blue Ocean Homes on the other hand has designed the wood out of our residential properties using in stead steel products with only a small exception of cabinets, doors and floor molding where needed. When our block has a four hour fire rating why would anyone want to fill the house with wood products? BOH is implementing light gauged steel interior wall framing to provide the structural integrity and fire retardant or more over the non-fire fuel properties of steel. As an added benefit BOH saves an acre of trees each time we build a new home.

Energy
 

The ultra energy efficiency of our construction far exceeds traditional track homes and most spec home construction could ever hope to achieve and still make a profit on their product.  While our homes will actually eliminate several trades during construction one of which is wall insulation causing a natural progression toward emerging energy systems like solar.

A study, conducted by Dr. Pieter VanderWerf of the Boston School of Management and sponsored by the Portland Cement Association revealed that homes built with insulating concrete forms (ICFs) consume, on average, 44% less energy to heat and 32% less energy to cool than conventional wood-frame homes. Adding solar to the equation further enhances the savings to near zero energy consumption for optimally located properties where sunshine is in abundance for most of the year.    .
 

BOH implements solar energy to generate electricity, hot water and in some cases utilizes solar power for evaporative cooling of the home. These system are currently available for use, although, initial cost may be higher, designing these products into new construction saves thousands and some of these costs will be offset by tax credits and home design savings but when proper estimate calculations are employed it is easy to see how the savings will exceed the slightly higher initial costs.

Building Design & Features   
 

The design of a building makes a huge difference in energy efficiency. All most all builders of desert homes use the traditional high pitched roof systems with huge surface areas sporting the square footage of a small basket ball court. Additionally, these designs have huge volumes of wasted space in the attics that requires large amounts of insulation to protect the interior of the house of the built up heat which gathers in the attic all day as the sun beats down on the concrete tile roof.

BOH has designed its homes so the volume between the roof and ceiling is on only 48 to 24 inches or less.  This design aspect does not allow for super heated air to accumulate in the attic space which then wants to penetrate into the house requiring additional air-conditioning for cooling to make the home habitable.

Highly pitched roofs in the desert are of little value, designers are neglecting the fact that very little accumulating snow falls in the desert requiring that steep of a pitch. To create these pitches in modern construction mandates the use of intricate trusses to support the large volume roofs sporting the enormous weight of concrete roof tiles.

BOH’s design has dispatched the use of high pitched trusses even though our roof have a substantial pitch creating water run off sufficient to handle rain generated by desert thunder storms.  

All of our homes feature these enhancements:

• Recycled Polystyrene & Concrete ICF Block Outer Walls
• Steel Stud interior wall construction
• Metal Dual Glazed Tempered Windows with low E glass
• Solar Hot water and Central Heating System
• Whole House Air Exchange/Filtration System
• Low Voltage/Solar Back up Central Air Conditioning
• Photovoltaic Net Metering Electrical System
• Water Saving Showers and Toilets
• Special Exterior Wall Coatings for Superior Strength 
• Gray water reclamation system for irrigation
• Low e-appliances

The structural advantages of a Blue Ocean Home:

• Impervious to Fire Damage
• Impervious to Water Damage
• Impervious to Mold
• Impervious to Insect Damage
• Impervious to Earthquake Damage
• Impervious to Wind Damage (if windows and doors are properly protected)
• A Very Quite Home, Sounds are Deadened by ICF Block

I understand people will say there is no such thing as a green,, fireproof house! Tell them the world was flat until Columbus proved it wasn't.   

For more information please contact Dean Konstantine at dean@blueoceanhomes.info or call me directly at
(619) 572-9191