Technology of constructing cheap, energy-efficient house as an answer to the housing industry crisis

Abstract

The following paper discusses research, connected with innovative solutions in the field of cheap housing construction, relating to the economic crisis, noticeable also in the housing industry, in the form of rising costs of dwelling usage, due mostly to increasing prices of energy, in the aspect of the relatively low standard of housing in Poland. The technology of design and construction of buildings from frothed polystyrene (‘neopor’), presented in the following article, is an example of meeting the expectations of developers and dwelling users, by building houses which are less expensive to construct and maintain, in accordance with the requirements of energy-efficiency and passivity. The above is an example of innovative thinking, based not on improvements to existing building methods, but on the implementation of new solutions, which take advantage of modern materials (neopor), heretofore used only for purposes of insulation, and now being employed as a construction material. The method described in this article is not only a theoretical idea, but one that is being currently realized, in the form of buildings constructed from prefabricated neopor elements in the Małopolska region. Erecting these buildings, using the above-mentioned method, was cheaper and faster, compared to the traditional manner. Similar undertakings should be expected in the future, due to demand for low-cost housing in the period of crisis, and as an expression of the innovative potential of Polish engineers. Of course, such innovative solutions require the breaking of certain barriers of stereotypical thinking, connected with ‘living in polystyryne foam’, as well as a dose of flexibility from users of future neopor houses. However, benefits of applying such an innovative technology, presented in the article, will certainly lead to its implementation. In the future, the most important issue seems to be the development of cooperation between scientists and entrepreneurs, especially in the areas of tests and evaluations of new materials and technologies.