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The perfect time for The Perfect Block
San Diego Ecotect hopes for a more fireproof future
A Hubbell and Hubbell straw-bale home, built on the site of a house destroyed by the Witch Creek fire.
“Ecotect.” That’s what they call Drew Hubbell. He’s a San Diego architect famous for his houses made of adobe, straw bale, or, uh, styrofoam concrete block. And in the aftermath of the recent LA fires, he’s getting a lot of calls from homeowners who are having to start from scratch in devastated areas like Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
Aftermath of a fire in Malibu.
Hubbell knows about fires from personal experience. Half the buildings on the Julian-area compound owned by his legendary parents, James and Anne Hubbell, were built using a combination of concrete and adobe walls. Yet when the Cedar Fire struck in 2003, he recalls, “even my parents’ bedroom structure, which was all stone, adobe, and concrete shell, couldn’t stop the fire.” The difference in air pressure brought on by the extreme heat blew out the windows. “It got inside and gutted anything that was flammable. So the structure survived, but the interiors did not. These fires are much more intense than anything in the past.” Still, the fact that it survived at all is remarkable.
He notes that one of the most remarkable “saves” in LA was something called a passive house. “It was one of the interesting examples of a house that survived when everything around it [went up in flames]. It uses a European system of building: a very tight envelope, triple glazing, no spots where air or embers could get into the house. And yes it was built with wood, but [construction] was so tight that it survived. It had non-combustible landscape around it as well. That was in Palisades.”
The passive house that survived the LA fires.
He says that many in LA are looking more seriously at alternatives since the fires. “We’ve been contacted about building some straw bale [houses]. Straw bale has a two-hour fire rating. That means it has twice the fire resistance of wood framing. Also building codes now forbid vented attics, and tempered glazing is being used. Along with tight envelopes, these changes really do make a difference. What it gives us is time. The problem is there is still plenty of older housing stock. They are most vulnerable to fires." Is the next fire — whether in LA or San Diego — going to be as bad? “With climate change, the older housing stock that’s not built to the new codes still filling so many areas, yes, it definitely has the potential.”With climate change, the older housing stock that’s not built to the new codes still filling so many areas, yes, it definitely has the potential.”
Add to that the reality that with so many homes lost, many people want to rebuild quickly. "To meet that demand, there’s going to be all sorts of materials used. And not many architects are using materials that are truly fire-resistant.”
Hubbell is hoping that at least some of those people will turn to things like The Perfect Block, made by a group in Peoria, Arizona. "They mix recycled polystyrene foam with cement, and then they form these blocks which are four feet long by a foot tall, and ten inches wide. So you can stack these up quickly, and you can fill them with rebar and concrete. It creates a strong, pretty indestructible structure. We’ve used it in areas where there is potential flooding, fire, and earthquakes. It’s just a superior building material, especially compared with wood frame, which is easy, but I think is past its time.” The block costs around five percent more than timber construction, but delivers four times as much fire protection.
Eventually, that trade-off may start to look worthwhile. “It’s like a big ship at sea. It’s hard to turn or change the direction. The industry has worked with wood for so long, everybody knows how to build with it. But we are trying to team up with contractors and suppliers and build whole sections of [LA] neighborhoods where they can be much more efficient than when everyone does their own single rebuild.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
The perfect time for The Perfect Block
San Diego Ecotect hopes for a more fireproof future
The perfect time for The Perfect Block
San Diego Ecotect hopes for a more fireproof future
A Hubbell and Hubbell straw-bale home, built on the site of a house destroyed by the Witch Creek fire.
“Ecotect.” That’s what they call Drew Hubbell. He’s a San Diego architect famous for his houses made of adobe, straw bale, or, uh, styrofoam concrete block. And in the aftermath of the recent LA fires, he’s getting a lot of calls from homeowners who are having to start from scratch in devastated areas like Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
Aftermath of a fire in Malibu.
Hubbell knows about fires from personal experience. Half the buildings on the Julian-area compound owned by his legendary parents, James and Anne Hubbell, were built using a combination of concrete and adobe walls. Yet when the Cedar Fire struck in 2003, he recalls, “even my parents’ bedroom structure, which was all stone, adobe, and concrete shell, couldn’t stop the fire.” The difference in air pressure brought on by the extreme heat blew out the windows. “It got inside and gutted anything that was flammable. So the structure survived, but the interiors did not. These fires are much more intense than anything in the past.” Still, the fact that it survived at all is remarkable.
He notes that one of the most remarkable “saves” in LA was something called a passive house. “It was one of the interesting examples of a house that survived when everything around it [went up in flames]. It uses a European system of building: a very tight envelope, triple glazing, no spots where air or embers could get into the house. And yes it was built with wood, but [construction] was so tight that it survived. It had non-combustible landscape around it as well. That was in Palisades.”
The passive house that survived the LA fires.
He says that many in LA are looking more seriously at alternatives since the fires. “We’ve been contacted about building some straw bale [houses]. Straw bale has a two-hour fire rating. That means it has twice the fire resistance of wood framing. Also building codes now forbid vented attics, and tempered glazing is being used. Along with tight envelopes, these changes really do make a difference. What it gives us is time. The problem is there is still plenty of older housing stock. They are most vulnerable to fires." Is the next fire — whether in LA or San Diego — going to be as bad? “With climate change, the older housing stock that’s not built to the new codes still filling so many areas, yes, it definitely has the potential.”With climate change, the older housing stock that’s not built to the new codes still filling so many areas, yes, it definitely has the potential.”
Add to that the reality that with so many homes lost, many people want to rebuild quickly. "To meet that demand, there’s going to be all sorts of materials used. And not many architects are using materials that are truly fire-resistant.”
Hubbell is hoping that at least some of those people will turn to things like The Perfect Block, made by a group in Peoria, Arizona. "They mix recycled polystyrene foam with cement, and then they form these blocks which are four feet long by a foot tall, and ten inches wide. So you can stack these up quickly, and you can fill them with rebar and concrete. It creates a strong, pretty indestructible structure. We’ve used it in areas where there is potential flooding, fire, and earthquakes. It’s just a superior building material, especially compared with wood frame, which is easy, but I think is past its time.” The block costs around five percent more than timber construction, but delivers four times as much fire protection.
Eventually, that trade-off may start to look worthwhile. “It’s like a big ship at sea. It’s hard to turn or change the direction. The industry has worked with wood for so long, everybody knows how to build with it. But we are trying to team up with contractors and suppliers and build whole sections of [LA] neighborhoods where they can be much more efficient than when everyone does their own single rebuild.”