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Sarasota Herald Tribune by Harold Bubil
July 12, 2003

Build up that wall

What is a wall, other than something to confine us by defining our space?

To manufacturers who specialize in walls for building construction, they are much more than that. Making them better means making them stronger and more energy efficient for the consumer, and more profitable for the contractor by reducing labor costs and the time it takes to build a house.

Besides wood and concrete block, new wall systems have come onto the market. Manufacturers cite three main benefits over traditional construction: increased strength, increased energy efficiency and shorter construction time.

"It's our marketing strategy to be cost-competitive with concrete block," says Herman Guevara of Efficient Wall Systems. Also known as E-wall, the company offers a panelized wall system. Made of structural-steel studs with

2 inches of extruded polystyrene on the interior wall, the pre-insulated panels are assembled at the factory, drywall- and stucco-ready. Once installed on site, the panels are filled with concrete for strength.

"It's a stay-in-place form system is what it is, because the forms stay as an integral part of the wall," says Guevara. "We cut the window and door openings at the facility so we can hold the tolerances tight, which is an issue now with the new building code. We tested it to Miami-Dade (hurricane-resistant) protocol at a certified testing laboratory in Orlando, and everything tested to exceeding by two to three times Miami-Dade protocol."

E-wall, based in Detroit, opened a plant near the airport in Sarasota at the beginning of the year. Vision Homes is using the system to construct a 3,950-square-foot custom home in Three Oaks.

Vision Homes' Mike Padgett says the consumer wants an affordable wall system that will offer strength and energy efficiency. "E-wall was able to convince us that this process would be able to offer that," he says. "We're pretty impressed with it. We also have a community coming up that should be ready in spring 2004 of 19 homes in Sarasota that will be strictly E-wall, along with other energy-efficiency items. We're going to be marketing it as a 21st-century neighborhood, and expect the homeowners will have a 35 percent lower energy bill."

And you thought walls were just for privacy.
 

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