Mickey Block! So far the best building material I have seen!

Mikey Block...what is that?  Those are some weird looking blocks!  Well in my search for the ULTIMATE construction material, I stumbled upon this humble little styrofoam block website.  R-28 is a phenomenal insulation rating, and the reason these blocks are so stout, is that they are created with more styrofoam than other blocks, but use less concrete filler (ok, so grout is the proper word, but concrete fills the holes).  The blocks are 4 feet long, 12" high and scored every 12", so easy to measure.  I will be designing the house in even foot increments now!  Walls end up being 10.5" thick, so nice and sound proofed too!

Last week Greg and I ventured down to Tucson to visit Mikey Block.  Dave Taggett is the owner and mastermind behind this amazing product.  He even takes in styrofoam from shipping boxes, grinds it up and mixes with cement to make these foundation walls and counter tops!

How cool is this?  Recycled!!!  

Dave was awesome and gave us a tour of his Mikey Block plant.  The blocks are stacked 6 feet high then rebar and cement is put in, our walls will be 10' high, so we will have 2 pours.  You d not need to wait until the cement is set to start your next layer either! If you want to look at more Mikey Block FAQs or check out homes built with the block, visit Dave's site at www.MikeyBlock.com.  

This last photo is of his mobile refer...refridgerator that is kept cooled by a little window unit!  Cheap and easy!  Once we get our house plans drawn up we can get a quote for materials.  Since we can literally build this ourselves and quickly, we will save a ton of money on labor costs, use recycled materials instead of expensive wood framing and insulation, have very low utility bills in the future, and overall build for less than a frame house anyway.  

That's it for tonight, will post more soon!  Keep an eye on this blog for continued research.  I'll be adding a materials and research area as well!

My quest for sustainable construction has begun!

Being in real estate for 14 years, and having served on the Prescott City Council, I have had many, many clients, citizens and friends ask about "sustainable" or "green" or "environmentally-friendly" or "healthy house" or "low impact" (some of the names used) construction.  There are many types of materials available but the key is to combine them to fit your needs and the property as well.  

My fiance (Greg) and I are purchasing 4 acres of land in Paulden, AZ, which is just a hair north of the Chino Valley town limits adjoining a neighborhood called Rimrock.  Our views are phenomenal, nearly 360 degrees, elevation is about 4600, situated on 4 acres of fairly flat land that is currently grazed on by cattle.  We are a stone's throw from the Verde Headwaters and the confluence of the Verde and Granite Creek.  

We would love to be totally off-grid, meaning not tied to a power company, but we have not been able to find any mortgages that will allow this.  I have been told that the reasoning behind it is, the lenders like a product they can easily sell and they feel that if a homeowner were to default on an off-grid property, that property would be difficult to resell.  I think they are totally wrong and actually stupid!  If lenders would get on board with truly GREEN mortgages, they could charge a slightly higher interest rate, ask for a little more down and even require the property meet LEED standards (I'll go in to LEED and other green certifications on another day).  

So today I am starting with this posting and photos of our lot.