House made of plastic bottles

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Blokle

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Hi,

I've got an idea for building houses out of specially designed plastic bottles ( http://blokle.com/design ). Since I'm not a mechanical engineer I would like to ask your professional opinion on this matter. Do you think it's possible to build a one floor house out of "Blokle" bottles using these instructions: http://blokle.com/applications ? If yes, please provide your estimated answers to following questions (compared to a brick or/and wood house, where relevant):

1) How secure would such a building be (mechanical stability, inflammability, etc)?

2) In terms of thermal and acoustic insulation how comfortable would it be?

3) Is it possible to build it 2.5m high?

4) What are expected maximal dimensions for the square of one its room if the ceiling is made out of

4.1) empty bottles

4.2) water filled bottles?

5) How fast could such house be built?

6) Do you see other useful applications for Blokle?

Thank you very much in advance!

ps: In a case you find this project useful - would you like to volunteer and help to create CAD design from the drafts for Rapid Prototyping?

 
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Hi,
I've got an idea for building houses out of specially designed plastic bottles ( http://blokle.com/design ). Since I'm not a mechanical engineer I would like to ask your professional opinion on this matter. Do you think it's possible to build a one floor house out of "Blokle" bottles using these instructions: http://blokle.com/applications ? If yes, please provide your estimated answers to following questions (compared to a brick or/and wood house, where relevant):

1) How secure would such a building be (mechanical stability, inflammability, etc)?

2) In terms of thermal and acoustic insulation how comfortable would it be?

3) Is it possible to build it 2.5m high?

4) What are expected maximal dimensions for the square of one its room if the ceiling is made out of

4.1) empty bottles

4.2) water filled bottles?

5) How fast could such house be built?

6) Do you see other useful applications for Blokle?

Thank you very much in advance!

ps: In a case you find this project useful - would you like to volunteer and help to create CAD design from the drafts for Rapid Prototyping?
First issue I can see - before anything else, define the specific material used. Plastics can be very weak or very strong against fire, for example, or have different bending strengths.

1) This would vary significantly depending on the specific materials used.

2) This would vary significantly depending on the specific materials used. However, a 12-16" thick wall of plastic bottles with water in them would have a significant insulating ability.

3) Probably, with enough bottles set up in the grid pattern. Probably not with just a single row though.

4) This depends on everything else. With the correct testing and specifications, I can see a grid like you have set up there working as a shear wall, especially if you fill the bottles with something other than water (say, concrete).

5) Depends.

 
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