Since November, the Tridipanel team has been erecting the structure of the house with the SCIP panels. They began with the eastern side, building scaffolding to support the first roof until concrete supports are poured.
As of Friday, all SCIP panels for the easternmost part of the building are in place, and the crew has been working very hard on the side roof which wraps around the side of this structure, and also on the window forms for the ventilation windows which will be placed between these roofs. (See pictures to the left.)
The crew is also finishing the forms for all columns and beams which form the backbone of this part of the structure. These forms should be complete within the next week or so, at which time the concrete beams and columns will be poured. This structure will then hold the structure in place, and the scaffolding can be removed.
The concrete "skin" will be applied to the SCIP panels later, when other parts of the SCIP structure have been "framed in" in a similar way.
See Teri's blog entry for more pictures and details.
On November 25, a cloudy day with periods of strong rain, the Oili Construction crew worked its magic and poured the Hi'ilani House foundation. (See a time-lapse movie of the pour.)
Assisted by drivers and crew from West Hawaii Concrete, 140 cubic yards of concrete was poured in about four hours. By the end of the day, the slab was finished and the forms removed.
The Oili Crew proved themselves to be masters of their craft. For those of us who are not normally involved in this type of construction, it was fascinating to see the intricate dance that is required to pour a monolithic concrete slab like this.
All of the work done so far on this project has been exceptional. We are incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful craftspeople working with us.
Our hats are off to all the exceptional people and crews who have worked with us so far: Krochina Engineering, Ty Drake, DeRego Grading, Oili Construction, West Hawaii Concrete, Mattos Electric, Van Dijk Plumbing, and Hadrian Tridipanel Systems.
And, of course, we have a special thank you today for Robert Mechielsen, the master designer, and his team at Studio RMA.
After an intense month of work on the foundation, we have passed plumbing, electrical, and structural inspections, and we are ready to pour the foundation! The pour will take place on November 25, giving us something to really celebrate the next day on Thanksgiving.
The first concrete truck (of 14 planned) is scheduled to arrive at 6:30 AM on Thursday. We will start uploading pictures from the webcam on that day at 6 AM HST, so that all of you can check the progress!
The foundation is truly a work of art. It contains over 1800 feet of electrical conduit, a PEX plumbing system, and a LOT of rebar.
Almost all infrastructure is encased in the concrete slab of the foundation - electrical, data and systems control, audio and video, fire sprinkler control, and water. Check out the pictures to the left and on the Foundation Picture page to see what we mean!
Work on the foundation continued at a fast and furious pace during the month of October. Trenches for the footings have were compacted, and the forms for the pad are now complete.
During the last week in October, the plumbing drains were installed in the compacted rock base. Installation of the water delivery system is now in progress.
Also, work on the electrical system began during the first week of November. Conduit for electrical power, telephone, data, and satellite cable is being routed and laid throughout the footprint of the house. Rebar for the foundation is also being prepared.
On another front, the foam and steel SCIP panels that will form the core of the walls have been completed and are en route to the site. See the Design page for more information on the SCIP building system.
During the last several months, Bobby and other members of Gary DeRego's team continued grading and compacting the site.
The site of the large catchment water tank, down the hill from the house, was also leveled and compacted. The driveway leading to the house was graded and covered with gravel.
The final levels of the main part of the house were set, and the earth was compacted on each level. (Check out the pictures of the grading and site preparation work in the Image Gallery.)
During September, under the supervision of Oili Construction, the subcontractor for the foundation, two courses of base gravel were brought to the site and spread over the footprint of the house. Each 6 inch level was then compacted and rolled flat, yielding a 12 inch solid base for the foundation.
Once the compaction had been tested and verified, the Oili crew began digging and forming the foundation footers.
Bobby, bulldozer operator extraordinaire from Gary DeRego's team, continued to prepare the site this week under Robert's direction.
The basic level of the site has now been set, and we have determined the final house orientation to match up to a base of solid rock that will support the house.
Robert and Bobby have also this week done a great deal of work to start sculpting the hillside in front of the site. We now begin to see exciting possibilities for landscaping in this area.
Teri, Robbie, and the rest of us are starting to explore the possibilities for landscaping, and especially for groundcover, which will be started as construction proceeds. Our intention with all landscaping is to use indigenous and endemic plants as much as possible.
We expect there will be another week to a week and a half of grading, after which foundation work will start. Robert had a meeting this week with the crews that will be involved with the foundation work.
After carving away one foot from the house site, it appears we will need to go down another two feet to give the foundation a firm footing. Grading by Gary DeRego’s team will continue this week. For more details, see our blog, and new photos.
While the grading continues, we are actively preparing to start the final house layout and begin the foundation work. Yesterday, Robert, Dave, and Robbie did a rough layout on the site to determine what adjustments may be needed in positioning the house on the site
The foundation planning is critical for this project. We will run most of our utilities (electrical and plumbing) in the concrete pad, and we are now actively involved with both electrical and plumbing contractors to prepare for this.
The Groundbreaking ceremony was wonderful! See the blog entry for more information on the events of that day.
Now, we are continuing to finalize all the preparations for the initial grading of the site. We need to take about two feet of dirt off the top of the site, and do some fill around the driveway and parking areas.
The grading phase of the project will also include cutting a space in the hillside below the house for the water catchment tank. The water catchment system will provide the entire water supply for the house, and the top of the water catchment tank will eventually form a patio below the living room. The stairs in the foreground of the rendering above will lead to that patio.
Finally! After several more months of planning, collecting bids, and balancing the budget with expectations (value engineering, Robert calls it,) we are set to start.
Today, we are having a Groundbreaking ceremony to officially begin the construction cycle. Starting at 4 PM HST, with close friends and family present, we will gather at the site to ground ourselves in our higher intentions for this project and our connection with the spirit of the land.
In the coming days, we will resurvey the site to establish key marker points in preparation for the start of grading.
In late October, after years of planning and engineering, we were granted a building permit by the County of Hawaii for the Hi'ilani House!
We are now in the process of reviewing construction bids, and finalizing the budget for construction.
We are working with many partners on this project, and we will be introducing you to them here in the coming days. Our growing team of partners is composed of talented and creative people and companies who are committed to sustainable building practices.
We are targeting early 2009 as the start date for construction. As activity increases in the coming days, you can expect to see frequent updates on this site, including more pictures and video.
[Sept. 6, 2008]
Things are moving along at an ever-increasing pace. Over the summer, we completed the engineering and architectural specifications, and submitted the plans for the permit process in late July. All indications are that the permit will be granted within the next days, and then we are officially into the construction phase!
Another recent development is that we have made a decision that the house will be 100% carbon neutral in its operation. This means that ALL energy needs of the house will be derived from renewable sources. We had previously planned to use propane for cooking, but we are now looking to see how to expand our renewable systems (solar and/or wind) to accommodate all energy needs. We will be looking at some new approaches to accomplish this, so stay tuned!
Mike Krochina, of Krochina Engineering in Kailua-Kona, has been instrumental in developing the engineering specifications for the house. Mike will also be functioning as our contractor during the upcoming construction. It has been a joy working with Mike on this project so far, and we are thrilled that he will be our point man for the next phase.