Concrete and steel are one of the most characteristically cooperative materials with which to build. This duo of 'reinforced' concrete including its cousin re-bar ensures a very strong construction. The walls of netzero home are reinforced with varying widths of re-bar wending its way through the courses of block construction in a very precise pattern. There is one other steel structure in the home and that is the proud and solitary steel beam.
He (and that can be the only gender this proud, strong and stalwart friend) arrived on the site in quite a unique way. And I will share this story with you today.
Early one sunny day of an extended long Canada Day weekend the extended family announced its great collective will to lie lazily on the beaches of the famous Sandbanks only 11 km. away. As the clan queried Bob about his joining us, he quietly declared that his day had been spoken for. He was hunting for a steel beam. Upon gently questioning, the architect's wife found that he was heading for a junkyard in the vacinity where he was sure He was waiting. The architect had a steel and determined will to set out on this solitary mission.
And it was only one he needed as his calculations indicated. 'He' straddled the ceiling of the southeast corner where the architect's office and greenhouse would elegantly attach itself to the main section of the two-storey structure.
When he arrived at the junkyard, he looked behind the barn as instructed and there He was lying in wait for re-use. Just the right width, just the right height but sadly rusted.
He was delivered by local crane the same day the hollow core slab arrived. In quick course, the architect lovingly painted the beam with a silver anti-rust paint. The beam was now ready for placement.
The netzero home holds firm and solid today with a complex network of rebar, concrete and mortar, and finally, a shining, re-cycled silver beam.
This off the grid net zero home is designed by Robert Beckett, an Ontario architect while this blog is written by Robert and his wife, Linda Girard. This netzero home features a slab on grade construction, massive concrete block walls and hollow core slab second floor and large solar windows to contain the sun's warmth. It is the plan for a couple committed to low energy consumption in an aesthetically graceful environment.
