A University of San Diego architecture professor built an incredible, fire-resistant house in his backyard in just three days.
CBS 8 in San Diego showed off the astonishing creation, known as the "Polyhaus," on Instagram. The 500-square-foot digs are the brainchild of USD Architecture department director Daniel Lopez-Perez.
The secret behind the Polyhaus' fire resistance is the material with which it's built. Lopez-Perez used cross-laminated timber, which is a type of lumber made from gluing layers of wood panels together in alternating directions.
"There is no oxygen within the section [of timber]," Lopez-Perez said, "and that's what causes it to be so fire-resilient."
Cross-laminated timber chars and burns at a much slower rate than normal lumber, and with the house constructed from 64 panels of it, it would take forever to catch fire and burn properly.
In a wildfire, the slower burn rate increases the likelihood that a house can either avoid catching fire in the first place or that it can be saved by firefighters if it does ignite.
Even more impressive, the Polyhaus took just three days to build, and all of the materials needed to construct it fit on the back of a single truck.
Housing is becoming a bigger and bigger concern around the globe, and there are lots of efforts being made to address it.
In Ontario, Canada, 16 tiny homes have been built, with 50 more planned, while another company has designed a tiny home of its own to tackle the issue. And in Oklahoma, a legislator has proposed a bill to help subsidize 3D-printed homes in an effort to expedite the building process.
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Definitely 🙁 In this case, Lopez-Perez says his idea was in response to feeling "the pressure of the housing need."
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