SAFE HOMES IN MONOLITHIC DOMES BEAT CLIMATE CHANGE.

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PLEASE NOTE SAFETY ENGINEERING ARE NOT CONNECTED WITH MONOLITHIC BUT ARE CONVINCED THAT THEIR STRUCTURES ARE THE SAFEST WAY TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE! 

This page is dedicated to a company in the USA called Monolithic who design and build the type of building that will withstand all we have seen in the recent hurricanes in Florida and the Carolinas and much more. I am convinced that these are the type of buildings we need if we are to adapt to Climate Change.

Before I introduce them on this page, some history on Dome structures.

Barnes Wallis the famous UK aeronautical engineer and scientist started his career in airship design calculating stresses on the structure. He used a geodesic design which gave great strength with minimum weight. The following from the Barnes Wallis Foundation: -

What is a Geodetic Design?

A geodetic (or geodesic) airframe makes use of a space frame formed from a spirally crossing basket-weave of load-bearing members. By having the geodesic curves form two helices at right angles to one another, the members became mutually supporting in a manner that the torsional load on each cancels out that on the other. In addition to being comparatively light and strong, the fact that the geodetic structure was all in the outer part of the airframe meant that the centre was a large empty space, ready to take payload or fuel. 

Keep this in mind when we discuss our dome structure!

In a hurricane, typhoon or cyclone the box structure which most houses are built to are very vulnerable. Any sharp corners or structures such as roofs will be ripped apart and the house destroyed.

However, with a curved surface this does not occur due to an effect discovered by a Rumanian Aero dynamist pioneer Henri Coanda the air flow sticks to the curved surface and in effect keeps the structure contained. This is known today as the Coanada Effect.

The following from Wikipedia shows how the strength of the geodetic structure as used in Barnes Wallis aircraft was applied to buildings.

The first dome that could be called "geodesic" in every respect was designed after World War I by Walther Bauersfeld chief engineer of the Carl Zeiss optical company, for a planetarium to house his planetarium projector. A first, small dome was patented, constructed by the firm of Dykerhoff and Wydmann on the roof of the Zeiss plant in Jena, Germany. A larger dome, called "The Wonder of Jena", opened to the public in July 1926 Some 20 years later, R. Buckminster Fuller named the dome "geodesic" from field experiments with artist Kenneth Snelson at Black Mountain College in 1948 and 1949. Although Fuller was not the original inventor, he is credited with the U.S. popularization of the idea for which he received U.S. patent 2,682,235  29 June 1954. 

Having looked at the geodetic structure let us look at nature and one of the strongest structures – the egg. Watch this dramatic video on the strength of an egg: -

Strong Egg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xukNq7JO4dE&t=13s

The dome is, however, a curved structure - it has no angles and no corners - and it can enclose an enormous amount of space without the help of a single column.
 

What the dome essentially does is that it distributes the weight and the pressure applied on the top evenly to the entire structure. In fact, in architecture, the dome is one of the strongest designs for it supports the weight of the roof evenly so that no single point on the dome supports the whole load and gives way under stress.
 

Similarly, the dome shape of each end of the egg distributes all the weight evenly and minimizes stress and strain.
If we now marry the dome shape with a geodetic structure, we now have something that is immensely strong. 

One such company to follow these principles was the founder of Monolithic of Italy Texas a David B South. The following is from his book “Think Round”.

From the log cabin in Idaho Falls where he lived until his 14th birthday, to his present day role at the helm of the Monolithic Dome Institute in Italy, Texas, Think Round chronicles the life of a persistent visionary.

Once the youngest licensed real estate salesman in the state of Idaho, David found his life’s calling when he heard Buckminster Fuller speaking about geodesic domes on a radio broadcast in 1956. That chance event led David to the eventual invention and patenting in 1979 of the construction process used to build Monolithic Domes, steel-reinforced, concrete structures that are known for their energy-efficiency, durability and strength.

In the early days, Monolithic Domes were used primarily as storage facilities for crops. Over the ensuing 25 years, these round buildings have proven to be highly versatile, and today serve as virtually indestructible sports arenas, churches, schools and homes. For more information about Monolithic Domes, visit www.monolithic.com.

Recently, Monolithic Domes have been the focus of intense media interest because of their ability to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s criteria for near-absolute protection from hurricanes and tornadoes. During the recent spate of hurricanes in Florida, Monolithic Dome homes were featured on Good Morning America, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, MSNBC, CNBC and the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Their strength and energy efficiency were also touted in a recent column by syndicated Sensible Home columnist James Dulley.

Although David South started out building the geodesic dome pioneered by Buckminster Fuller, he came away from the experience convinced that there had to be a better way. By 1975, David recalls in his book, “I had talked with Buckminster Fuller and studied his data on geodesics…now I decided to see what others were doing because no one creates in a vacuum. So I began traveling extensively, contacting anyone and everyone who had anything to do with domes.” One day, driving down the highway, all of the bits and pieces just came together, he says. “I knew how we would build big domes!”

The Monolithic Dome construction process that David and his brother, Barry, patented in 1979 is essentially the same one used today. It starts with an Airform, a balloon-like tarp that is attached to the building’s circular foundation and inflated using giant fans. Work then moves to the interior where three inches of polyurethane foam are sprayed on the structure. A grid of steel rebar is placed into the foam and later embedded in Shotcrete that ranges from 4 inches at the top to 8 inches at the base. This process creates a safe, permanent and energy-efficient structure.

Frank, forthright and often humorously self-deprecating about great successes and the occasional setbacks, Think Round is the story of one man’s dogged determination to make the world aware that Monolithic Dome construction is the finest, safest and most durable architectural system available.

The buildings designed by David have been proven to withstand almost anything that nature can throw at it and survive. I hope people will seriously consider if they have to rebuild the designs and structures Monolithic have to offer. The peace of mind in knowing you are safe within their walls are priceless