Five Innovative Products
Date Posted: June 11, 2024
Posted In: Discussion, Ideas,
From Offsite Builder: This magazine’s definition of offsite construction includes just about any type of factory-based process that can make for a more efficient building process. With that in mind, here are five new, or recently introduced, products we are watching.
When it comes to engineered building systems, the LEGO analogy has certainly been overused. However, the interlocking CMU replacements made by Miami, Fla.-based RENCO USA actually fit the bill.
According to CEO Kenneth Smuts, buildings made from the blocks can stand up to hurricane-strength winds, and the company has already used them to build a 100-unit multifamily project in Palm Springs, Florida. The RENCO USA structural building system, known as MFCR, won the international award at the BLT Built Design Awards in Lucerne, Switzerland in 2023.
“We came up with a [block] which is made like you’re making waffles on a Sunday morning,” Smuts says. “You take the wet ingredients and mix them together. In our case, it’s unsaturated polyester resin. To that, we add wet calcite, which [comes from] limestone dust, and fiberglass, which is there for tensile and flexural strength.”
“Then you mix that all together and there’s a catalyst that’s added to the mix,” Smuts explains. “It goes from a batter-like consistency to a dough. That takes a few hours. The next day, it goes out to the press-room floor. We mold different shapes. For example, we have a mold that looks like an adult-sized LEGO, the size of a concrete masonry unit, which is made out of carbon steel with some admixtures in it. We use that to press the ‘dough’.”
Using these blocks could save large amounts of time and money and could allow builders to hire more unskilled labor, Smuts says. This is because carpenters, rod setters and cement masons are not required. Constructing a building for the Palm Springs project took a crew of 11 workers eight weeks. A similar building made of reinforced concrete block and plank would have taken 40-50 workers 15 weeks.