ON-SITE WITH MIKE: Episode 2

We reconnect with Michael Gwynn, COO at Shibusa Systems to hear updates on the construction process. How did the site hold up during a hurricane? What elements of sustainability are included in the On-site Precision Component Assembly process? What surprised Mike about the progress? Tune in to find out more!

TRANSCRIPT:

Hey Mike great to see you again how you doing?

Great, Sally, welcome back.

Thank you, thank you, how many work days have passed since we were last on site?

Well, since you’ve last been here it’s been 9 days plus a hurricane and you can see — I think I mentioned last time you were here — our building process: fast, starts with foundation, which you saw last time, then we go into armature, which you see now is being finished and done, the armature is all the framing, the roof and the flooring in place, next, we’re about to move onto our skin. That’s where the entire outside and inside will be put together, we’ll install the windows, we’ll install the doors, and everything will be set.

How did everything hold up with the hurricane?

Oh — not a worry. The Port-a-Potty had a little issue, the house didn't move one inch.

That’s awesome. Zeta is yet another example of how devastating hurricanes are and how threatening they are to both the livelihoods and homes on the coast. How does Shibusa hope to improve housing for folks who live in vulnerable coastal communities?

Well, durability is one of our hallmarks when we’re trying to build. We create incredible strength for our homes. One of the biggest things you’ll find is what’s called uplift, and in particular for the last hurricanes, when the wind will literally come through and lift a house off of its foundations and then drop it back down. With our timber frame, everything is so locked down, we didn’t experience any issues when the hurricane came through.

That’s great! Everyday, it seems like we are experiencing hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and heat waves enveloping our planet. These extreme weather patterns are tied to climate change, and the world’s unsustainable practices. How does Shibusa bring green technology and sustainable practices into this process of home building?

Well, as you can see, with the heavy timber frame, the wood itself, the timber is a great absorption of cold carbon. And so our frame holds an incredible amount of carbon and we’re not putting carbon out.We’ve minimized our shipping, when we order our parts we don’t order them from the source to a mid-point and then to us, they come straight from the source to us so we eliminate the extra round trip for the product to get it on site. So, every aspect of our build, from sourcing to the materials we use are all about sustainability.

Amazing! Are there any parts of the assembly process that have surprised you thus far?

I think one of the biggest surprises and benefits is that it doesn’t take a whole lot to put this house together. Normally, you’re used to seeing a hoard of carpenters, construction workers out, building up a house with heavy equipment, moving everything around… what we’ve found is we’ve really been able to put this thing together with minimizing the amount of heavy equipment, that really allows more people to build homes.

Amazing! Well we look forward to catching up with the next phase. Thanks so much for the time, Mike, we appreciate it!

I look forward to having you back once the skin is done!

Awesome — thanks, Mike.