Features: Dec. 17, 2001

Out-of-This-World Construction

Researchers at Rensselaer are studying how novel materials used to build antennas and reflectors for space can be applied to home construction to create economically and environmentally friendly homes and a safer construction site for workers.

Steven Van Dessel, assistant professor of architecture, and Achille Messac, associate professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, are investigating ways to design houses using rigidified pneumatic composites (RPC) technology. RPCs are thin, flexible membrane structures that harden after they are deployed with pressure, similar to blowing up a balloon. Once they harden, the pressure is released, leaving a thin, rigid composite. Van Dessel and Messac will examine several ways to construct walls and roofs that will include honeycomb structures, tubular walls, and various ways to fill cavities within them.

According to
Van Dessel, this technology has an advantage because the material would provide a popular wood base, such as cellulose, without the weight of regular two-by-four construction. Because the walls will be thinner, fewer natural resources will be used. Made in a factory setting, the prefabricated components will arrive on-site ready to be put together, making construction faster and safer.

Van Dessel expects that the process will be used initially to build simpler buildings such as warehouses and then be applied to homes. Pneumatic structures have been proposed for home construction since the 1950s, said Van Dessel, but to date the homes have been unattractive domelike structures. Today, RPC technology allows for more practical design configurations.

Van Dessel and Messac's research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development. With additional corporate sponsorship, they expect to build a prototype house in two years.