JD Composites, a Canadian homebuilder, has constructed a three-bedroom home in Nova Scotia that is made of 612,000 recycled plastic soda bottles. But the attention has mostly centered on how the home can withstand extreme winds—even a category 5 hurricane.
The builder, which melted thousands of plastic bottles and injected them with gas to form the walls of the home, tested the plastic panels for hurricane resistance and found they could withstand 326-mile-per-hour winds. JD Composites says the house could withstand winds even higher.
The plastic material provides better insulation, the builder says, and it’s resistant to moisture and mildew. The house can also be built in a matter of days, rather than months. The house cost about $306,900 (U.S. dollars) to build.
Following an uptick in natural disasters over the last few years, architects and urban planners have been in a race to develop more disaster-proof structures. Hurricane Maria, for example, destroyed Puerto Rico in September 2017. Floods, tornadoes, and wildfires over the last few years also have caused widespread destruction. Architects have proposed a range of solutions for homes to better withstand weather, including floating homes to houses raised on steel beams.
Source: “Builder Creates a Home Out of 612,000 Plastic Soda Bottles,” Interesting Engineering (July 6, 2019)
