commentAffresol Turns Rubbish into Recycled Homes
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If you’ve found yourself wishing that the world’s ever-increasing supply of plastic bottles and bags might find a better resting place than a landfill or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, your wishes might be coming true. The Welsh company Affresol recently announced its new line of homes and modular portable buildings made from Thermal Poly Rock (TPR), a structural compound made of recycled plastics, which the company claims is lightweight, waterproof, and fire- and rot-resistant.
TPR homes were designed to provide a green, affordable option for low-income families who are looking to purchase Code 5 housing. The Code 5 designation indicates the penultimate level of sustainability on the UK’s Code for Sustainable Homes—a point-based rating system that examines energy and water use and is similar to LEED for Homes. According to the company, TPR homes contain 18 tons of recycled plastic, have a life cycle of at least 60 years, and are able to be erected in less than a week. Additionally, each home is recyclable at the end of its life cycle. Affresol has assembled its first home in Swansea, Wales, with a TPR frame, external stone cladding, high-performance insulation that lies beneath interior plaster walls, and certified wood roof trusses supporting roof tiles made from recycled materials.
The company is awaiting accreditation from the Building Research Establishment—an independent organization that conducts testing, training, and research on greening the built environment—before beginning its first pilot project of 19 homes in Merthyr, Wales. Affresol expects to build 3,000 TPR homes in the next three years and is currently partnering with Cardiff University to establish the homes as a low-cost option for communities in South Africa, using local waste and labor as resources. In addition to marketing its plastic homes, the company is also promoting its modular buildings for use as classrooms, offices, and storage space.
Copyright 2010 by BuildingGreen, LLC
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