As Texas deals with low inventory in the housing market, some builders are beginning to offer new types of construction, relying on innovative materials to build greener, more energy-efficient homes in less time. NBC 5 took a tour of the first home being made mostly of foam in Texas.
Every day Aaron Roswell takes Ginger on their daily walk two doors down to check the progress crews are making on their dream home made of foam.
"I've always been really intrigued by the technology from the first time that I saw it. So, you know, the benefits of building out of foam which are high energy efficiency, you don't have to worry about tornadoes, floods, it's pest resistant, it's full, it's fire resistant," Roswell said.
Roswell says he has been following the progress of new technology involving foam construction for nearly 20 years. He says the same foam used to make coffee cups is being stacked stories high to build homes around the world.
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He says the Expanded Polystyrene foam (EPS) is lightweight, flexible and recyclable. It's strengthened when covered with concrete coating as part of the patented three-layer SABS building system. You can think of it as a concrete sandwich with foam filling.
The concrete coating is a blend of sand, cement, glass fibers and other additives the company calls Sabscrete. The system was created by Dr. Nasser Saebi. He and his team at Strata International Group worked for eight years and spent $4 million on development and testing for approval from the International Code Council. Saebi's son Amir serves as vice president of the company. He spoke to NBC 5 from their headquarters in Arizona.
"Our technology is very simple. It comes down to providing a type of system that can make housing available for everybody," said Saebi.
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Saebi says the SABS system cuts out the need for framing and insulation, meaning fewer workers and less heavy equipment trimming build time and lowering the cost.
"Anywhere between 60 to $75 a square foot, our insulation factors are about anywhere between 100 to 75 R, which basically results in your heating and cooling bill to be slashed in half," said Saebi.
He says the system wind tested at 260 miles per hour, making it ideal for disaster-prone areas and disaster relief projects. The company also reports zero percent flame spread.
Over the years, the company's reach has expanded, but Saebi says its material costs remain roughly 10% lower than average. Strata has built disaster relief projects following the earthquake in Haiti and is working on transitional housing pods for the homeless in Los Angeles.
"There's a lot of crisis in homelessness and in shelters as needed around the world. And our concept and our biggest vision is to turn that around. And I think if we're able to do that, and we could bridge the gap and close the gap on shortage of housing around the world, or affordability of the housing in the world," said Saebi.
He says we can expect the first batch of their custom foam homes in the Dallas area in 2024.
Roswell's 10,000-square-foot build is the first in Texas.
"A lot of people have questions about well, how does the electrical work? How do you cut the trenches? So they'll come through with a hot knife. That just slices through then they pin it, you know, kind of to the wall and then once the electrician is done, they'll put it back together, glue it up and then cover it with concrete and then it's a pretty wall at that point," Roswell said.
"And I mean, there's no concern. This doesn't erode?" NBC 5 Anchor Brittney Johnson asked.
"It's protected. If it's exposed to the elements it can degrade over time but when it's protected from the concrete like that it's going to be like that for years and years," said Roswell.
As the designs and foam pieces come together, Roswell also plans to be here for years and years.
"We want to be the grandparents that win. And so the kids come here for the holidays," Roswell said
"Ginger, what do you think? She approves?" "Ginger approves," said Roswell.
Roswell has a background in construction and believes so much in the system, he's invested in it.
Right now Strata says it has a list of homebuyers interested, but a shortage of contractors who know how to build the foam homes, the company is working to conduct training for those interested. The company was featured in Forbes in September of 2023 as one of the top companies seeing success building with foam.
