Anyone built a house with EPS building elements?

imported_jo · 25 Mar 2010 at 5:31 PM

I'm calculating a fairly large house construction and have gotten into the concept of low-energy houses and passive houses. Since I want a plastered facade, this should be great.

There are a few building systems that are quite similar at the core: some are made of cellplast and some in EPS, etc. The Norwegian company Bewi has a U-value of 0.10 on finished walls!! That is incredibly good, but I haven't gotten a price for it yet, so it's probably very expensive...

http://www.dorocell.se, click on 'thermomur'

www.bewi.no

http://www.isorast.se/

Anyone have any opinions or experiences with this building material? Any insights would be appreciated

Saterborn · 25 Mar 2010 at 6:05 PM

Just came from Nordbygg and looked at the ones you mentioned and it seems almost too good to be true. Cellplast direkt has a system they call legolit which seems the most convenient. They also showed an entire roof of cellplast with a metal roof directly on it, looked really good...

But in answer to your question, I have no experience with this.

jeppeknaster · 25 Mar 2010 at 6:51 PM

use the search function and you'll find plenty

imported_jo · 25 Mar 2010 at 7:07 PM

saterborn, ok thanks for the info, did you see any prices per sqm for those represented at the fair?
Just got to know the prices of isorast, 1000 kr/sqm + plaster which makes it about 2000 kr per square meter.....oops!
Hope the other systems are a bit more accessible for us mortals.

jeppeknaster · 25 Mar 2010 at 9:30 PM

http://www.sundolitt.no/download.asp?object_id=36655DDFCA8946D5AA08E4B8A3484156.pdf

Saterborn · 25 Mar 2010 at 9:30 PM

Yes, I managed to get some info. Cellplast direkt has a website with a price list and it costs 1000 Sek/m2. I got a price list from Bewi and theirs costs about 700 Sek/m2 (Though a system with a U-value of 0.19 I believe it was). You say that Isorast costs 1000 Sek/m2 so I suspect you mean without concrete?

Saterborn · 25 Mar 2010 at 9:33 PM

Then you also have www.besta.se, looks pretty interesting as well.... requires no casting.

imported_jo · 25 Mar 2010 at 9:46 PM

Saterborn said:
Yes, I managed to get some information.
Cellplast direkt has a website with a price list and it costs 1000 SEK/m2.
I got a price list from Bewi and theirs costs about 700 SEK/m2 (Though system with U-value of 0.19, I think it was).
You say that Isorast costs 1000 SEK/m2 so I suspect you mean without concrete?

yes, exactly, that's without concrete, but I have a good friend who owns a concrete factory nearby.. what luck

and isorast charged the following:
Passive house wall U-value 0.10 - 1065 SEK/m2
Low-energy house wall U-value 0.12 - 915 SEK/m2
Low-energy house wall U-value 0.17 - 780 SEK/m2
Standard wall U-value 0.29 - 529 SEK/m2

But damn, it still gets expensive with such walls it seems.
I wonder if it's worth it....

imported_jo · 25 Mar 2010 at 9:55 PM

Saterborn said:
Then you also have www.besta.se, looks pretty interesting too.... requires no casting.

This looks nice, but damn what insulation 246 mm EPS + mineral board at 95 mm
only gives a 0.11 u-value according to their info. Looks solid anyway.
They also had a good website, good pictures of a house they built in Gävle.

Well, I've sent them an email, let's see what they say...

imported_jo · 25 Mar 2010 at 10:00 PM

a rough quick calculation ... I need 200 sqm for the outer wall!

Saterborn · 26 Mar 2010 at 7:33 PM

Exciting... please let me know the answer as I am extremely curious! Good luck

imported_jo · 26 Mar 2010 at 10:04 PM

Talked to bestahus today, but apparently everyone has been at the nordbyggmässan, but I should get an answer next week.
This option seems the most reasonable at the moment, I think. If they are in the same price range as the other systems, I think I'll build the besta blocks myself, but in that case, I'll make them bigger. We'll see....

Saterborn · 27 Mar 2010 at 7:20 PM

Yes, if you have the time, I believe you can build really cheaply! If you roughly calculate, you should be able to build for about 300 SEK/m2 (if you disregard your own time).

As I said, please let me know you talked to them.

imported_jo · 27 Mar 2010 at 8:16 PM

Yes, time is scarce with two kids and two businesses...
I wonder what they glue the plywood to the EPS with? I must find that out...
I will get back to you when I have the prices.

jeppeknaster · 28 Mar 2010 at 11:41 AM

Polyurethane glue.

You can find it under "about us" > "questions and answers" about besta (in the right-hand menu)

Wondering what strength they have on the foam blocks? Hardly s80

Then maybe you can't build them larger (taller) as you thought, because there's probably a good reason why they're only 30-40 cm high. But you should be able to make them longer.

Then one wonders how long the glue lasts. Not fun to see the outer frame starting to fall apart in 20 years...

Did some calculations:

Construction plywood 130 SEK/m2 (both sides) Byggmax

20 cm foam s200 210SEK/m2 FoamDirect

Gives about 340SEK/m2 + the cost of glue and a hell of a puzzle just for the exterior facade. The time it takes to saw the plywood, puzzle, and put all the pieces under pressure... By then, you'd be halfway through a stick-built house