How the Cave House in Kula
Kai Came to be Built of Steel
Over a lifetime, natural calamities will happen, people will
make mistakes, bad people will do malicious things, and termites will continue
eating all the wood they can find and making more termites. Most people prefer
not to think much about these things. An unpleasant event that is unlikely to
happen in the immediate future can be rationalized as something that happens to
other people. Denial can provide a comfortable justification for not planning
to address these events, and instead take a traditional and easiest course of
action. Traditional house construction in the
The harm caused by natural disasters such as forest fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes has been much greater than it would have been if people gave these things some consideration before building a house or other structure. Cultural and political factors are also important in determining a building type and location.
Houses can last many years, and barring an unfortunate event or circumstances leading to an alternative use for the land upon which the house is built, it is plausible that a house could stand for centuries if it is properly designed and built.
The decision making process in determining how we selected the manufacturer, Kodiak Steel House, and chose the location, is summarized below.
Structural integrity
catastrophic loss
Fire
Houses located in a forest are far less likely to be damaged by fire if the roof, sofit, and walls are metal or concrete, and vegetation and other flammable material is not close to the house. The Cave House has steel siding, roof and sofit. Fires can start inside a house, and when they do, steel houses are better at containing the fire where it starts, primarily by not contributing combustible material to the fire. Most houses have combustible furnishings, so a completely fire-poof house would be difficult to build, and probably no one would find it very pleasant.
Wind, Tornados, Hurricanes
In the aftermath of hurricanes and tornados, it is not
unusual to see that the only buildings left standing are either steel or
reinforced concrete. Wood frame houses are notoriously poor at withstanding
high winds. The usual sequence of destruction of a wooden house in very high
winds is that the roof is blown off and then walls fall down. The Cave House is
constructed of red steel beams with diagonal braces. There have been no
recorded hurricanes or tornados to strike
Floods and Tsunamis
Building in a flood plain or below sea level could be considered high risk behavior. Steel buildings will withstand floods and waves much better than wood; however, a better solution is to build on high ground. The Cave House is several miles from the ocean and about 1000 feet in elevation. Anything that causes a tsunami that large will most likely disrupt the entire planet and the damages to one house will be of little consequence in the overall scheme of things.
Earthquakes
Termites
With the exception of cold places such as
Lava
The Cave House is in Lava Zone Two, a high risk zone
classification. Lava flows are an ongoing event in
They further state that “hazard zone boundaries are approximate. The change in the degree of hazard from one zone to the next is generally gradual rather than abrupt, and the change can occur over the distance of a mile or more. Within a single hazard zone, the severity of hazard may vary on a scale too fine to map. These variations may be the result of gradual changes that extend across the entire zone. For example, the hazard posed by lava flows decreases gradually as the distance from vents increases.”
My assessment of this map is that it is reasonably helpful
in determining the likelihood of a lava flow in a particular place in
Some people are reading more into the Lava Zone maps than was probably intended. Over time, markets have a way correcting poor prognostics such as “the lava is coming to Kau.” The Ocean View area real-estate market remained depressed for many years due to a variety of factors including the Lava Zone map; however, in recent year the market is reflecting some skepticism on the rational behind the Lava Zone map. The price of land and the quality of new building have both substantially increased in the Kau District. It is plausible that a better model that reflects a regional sequence for lava flow would be a more useful and accurate tool.
The Lava Zone map provides insurance underwriters criteria for rejecting all policies in Zones one and two; and allows Lloyds of London to make big profits on policies in these two zones. Full time residents can get limited insurance coverage through the Hawaii Property Insurance Association - HPIA, PO box 2880 Honolulu, HI 96802-2880, phone: (808) 564-8200, fax: (808) 564-8457.
Maintenance and Warranty
Steel houses have very low
maintenance, low upkeep costs, and low insurance costs. Steel buildings often have a
paint warranty as well as a lifetime structure warranty. Steel houses
use treated steel that is not affected by water damage and does not expand or
contract, swell if wet, or crack if too dry. Steel does not warp over time and
rot as does wood. The walls, ceilings, and roof remain
strong and straight; doors don’t stick, walls don’t bend; ceilings don’t sag;
and floors don’t squeak.
Health and Environment
Wooden houses must be constructed with treated lumber and receive regular chemical treatments to limit termite damage. During the lifetime of the wooden house, there is the continuing cost of the termite treatments and the risk that the treatment will be done unsafely at some time. When the house is replaced, most of this wooden material contains toxic chemicals that must be processed appropriately or cause environmental contamination.
Energy Conservation
Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which
happens to be the largest surface heat sink on the planet. Heat sinks help to
stabilize the surrounding temperature. Depending on the base temperature,
houses in
Most people find the 70 to 77 degrees comfortable, especially with the low humidity typical in semiarid Kau. The well insulated Cave House stabilizes the daily temperature swings, keeping the temperature in comfort zone without requiring energy-intensive heating and cooling systems.
Flexibility of Design
The nature of steel allows far more options than wood. The strength to weight ratio of steel is the highest of any residential building material, and it can be easily formed and joined. For the Cave House, the steel design provides a clean span for the great room of 33 feet. This was much easier with steel than wood, and the first floor rooms could be made in any configuration. In fact the location of several internal walls was changed from the original plans with no additional cost.
Expediting the permit and
design and construction process
The pre-engineered design expedited the
Accuracy and Ease of
Construction
The Kodiak steel house was mostly prefabricated, so its construction was less noisy, less dusty, faster, and cheaper.