Construction

To get an impression of how our cabins will look, please check this post for some renders.

We plan to build without concrete.   Besides the environmental footprint, the logistics in a hilly, remote terrain are a challenge.  It would make no sense claiming to build environmentally friendly and then have to cut trees just to get your materials on the location!

We’re very glad we came across this Australian system.  This allows us to build with minimal disturbance of the existing landscape.

All our buildings will have a steel frame.  Steel is fully recyclable and termite proof.  We smartly build our homes off-site, have all steel parts galvanized and then put the structure together on location.  All parts can be carried/put together by 1-3 people.  Houses can even be taken apart again.  The focus is on low cost of ownership (minimal maintenance),  environmentally friendly materials, passive cooling (no air conditioning required) and powered by renewable energy (solar & mini-hydropower).

Our buildings will have a lot of outdoor spaces.  They are continuously exposed to the tropical sun and water.    Here we made the choice for a wonderful wood-composite product from the Netherlands called EnviroDeck

EnviroDeckĀ® is a distinctive wood composite that has been in production since 2007.   The plank profiles are composed of recycled hardwood dust, recycled HDPE plastic and various high-quality process additives.  EnviroDeck meets the highest environmental and quality criteria. Compared to traditional materials, Envirodeck wood composite has a number of important advantages such as:

  • no dirt or algae adhere to it, it is graffiti proof
  • has a theoretical life of more than 50 years
  • cannot rot, is not affected by insects
  • requires little maintenance and can be processed like wood

With its circular character and thanks to its solid bio-based content,  EnviroDeck plank profiles make a positive contribution to achieving LEED, BREEAM and C2C objectives.

The same company also offers a cladding product with the same advantages.

cladding

Why use wood when there are products like these?

Especially in country like Panama where FSC-certified wood is hard to come by.