CASE STUDIES

RETAINING WALLS

Design Issues:

A model home complex in Riverside County, CA is required to be surrounded by a solid wall/fence by municipal ordinances. Additionally, the ground is blue granite and very hard digging and quite sloped, requiring retaining walls.
A final complication is that the power and communication feeds for the entire neighborhood runs in the same alignment as the needed retaining wall and fencing.
A CMU block retaining wall as required (5’ to 7’ tall by over 500’ long) would require a wide footing and several steps to accommodate the loads and sloping ground.
The width of the required footing for a CMU block wall would either end up over the top of the utility duct bank which is not permitted by code, would require major time and expense to excavate the rock needed to flip the footing to the inside, and in any case, the excavation needed for the continuous footing in the rocky soil would be difficult.

Solutions:

The BP2 SCIP panels are relatively light as compared to conventional CMU masonry construction (a finished BP2 SCIP panels weighs about 25#/SF) and they do not require continuous footings, rather they are typically built with 12” drilled foundations at about 10’ o.c. Because of their great strength they can also be used as retaining walls, again without continuous footings. This attribute allowed the retaining wall to be built immediately adjacent to the duct bank without the footings covering the duct bank or without the additional excavation needed for conventional construction.
The BP2 SCIP panels were finished in a stucco texture and color to match the theme of the project.

FENCING and PROPERTY LINE WALLS

Design Issues:

A single family residence in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles had a small front yard (16’ deep by 24’ wide) on a major surface street, on a very steep hillside lot. The front yard was surrounded by a waist-high privet hedge and filled, to a nearly unusable level, by a very large sycamore tree.
The owners desired more usable space for themselves and guests and a small daughter, with privacy, sound protection from the street traffic, and protection for the child and pet dog from the street.
The yard was be used mostly for entertaining for the adults and playing with toys, dollhouse and tricycle for the daughter. An area for the dog to relieve itself was also desired.
The final space needed to be very attractive and planted, however, the plantings must to leave the space usable and be easily maintained.

Solutions:

The BP2 SCIP panels are relatively light as compared to conventional CMU masonry construction (a finished BP2 SCIP panels weighs about 25#/SF) and they do not require continuous footings, rather they are typically built with 12” drilled foundations at about 10’ o.c. Additionally, they have a Sound Transmission Coefficient of over 50, making them ideal sound walls. Here, all these characteristics came into play. The drilled foundations allowed the steep hillside lot and existing utilities to be readily dealt with and the inherent sound protection created and ideal sound barrier to the street traffic.
The BP2 SCIP panels are solid when finished and this provided the privacy and protection desired. The house is of a modern angular style and finished in painted stucco and the new Green Sandwich sound wall was finished to match.
The local ordinances limit fence height to 6’. However, the steeply sloping lot resulted in a pedestrian being able to look over the fence from the lower end. Here a unique solution was reached. The insulated core of the BP2 SCIPs Panel was removed and replaced with a planter and drip irrigation along the top of the wall. This was then planted with grasses. When mature this will allow a taller visual barrier while conforming to the municipal regulations.
To maximize usable space the sycamore tree was removed and a planter built in the patio area of the BP2 panels. This planter both allowed for more desirable plants but also served as a retaining wall to create two flat areas and more usable space than the previous single, steeply sloping area. The flat patio areas were finished with stamped decorative concrete.

FENCING and PROPERTY LINE WALLS

Design Issues:

Two neighbors in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles have an old, rotten, falling down, wooden lattice fence which they wish to replace with a solid fence / wall. Each party wants a different appearance to match their very different landscaping environments. One owner wants pot shelves with power and drip irrigation to them.
The existing wood lattice fence sits on top of a masonry retaining wall. The existing footing can not carry the loads of a new 6’ tall masonry fence on top of the existing retaining wall.
The yards are fully landscaped with mature plants along side the existing fence. Both yards have swimming pools within 10’ to 15’ of the existing fence. To demolish the existing retaining wall to build a new footing would create concerns for both pool decks and also for the pool structure on the uphill side yard.
It is late spring and the project needs to be completed before summer and the pools and yards are needed for outdoor entertaining and recreation.

Solutions:

Because BP2 SCIP panels are finished with shotcrete / plaster each side of a fence / wall can easily and cost-effectively receive its own finish treatment. The final design solution was to finish one side with stamped concrete stones and pot shelves in a field painted to match the adjacent house and garage. The other side was finished in all stamped concrete with a color to match the rose colored slate pool deck with stamped concrete columns at 10’ o.c. stamped to look like dark stone masonry.
The BP2 SCIP panels are relatively light as compared to conventional CMU masonry construction (a finished BP2 SCIP panels weighs about 25#/SF) and they do not require continuous footings, rather they are typically built with 12” drilled foundations at about 10’ o.c. Because of this the existing wall and footing were core drilled through and a light rebar cage installed. This allowed the new BP2 SCIP fence to be built on top of the existing wall and footing but not add a load to them.
The BP2 SCIPs are light weight, are quick to install and can be plaster finished by hand. This allowed a minimum of plant material to be removed, the existing retaining wall and footing to be left intact and the plaster applied by hand, working around the remaining mature plants.
The project was completed in record time. Demolition was one day. Core drilling another and setting the rebar cages and pouring the foundation a third day. On the fourth and fifth days the panels were set in place and prepared to receive the plaster finish. Plastering took only a few days to complete, including the stamped concrete finishes. The final step was painting the one side and clean up. All the work was complete well in advance of the summer pool season.

HOUSING

Design Issues:

A couple is seeking a retirement home in the Arizona desert and has found a manufactured home community they like.
While they are quite pleased with the cost of the homes in the area, they are not pleased with the lack of insulation and resultant high cost of air conditioning in the summer.
The couple is also desirous of a different floor plan and elevation than those being offered by the manufactured homes in the community.

Solutions:

Because BP2 SCIP panels are pre-fabricated in a plant and then site installed they generally meet the requirements for both manufactured housing communities as well as conventional, site-built, neighborhoods.
The BP2 SCIP panels offer about an R-40 thermal performance compared to the R-11 usually offered by 2 x 4 conventional construction or R-19 for 2 x 6 conventional construction. In the Arizona desert it is common for a conventionally constructed home to cost $250/month or more for air conditioning. A home built of BP2 SCIP panels, of the same size, would normally see air conditioning costs less than $60/month.
The BP2 SCIP panels are very fast to install and very cost competitive. The home was completed in the same time as a manufactured model (from order date to occupancy) and the selling price was the same in terms of $/SF.
An unexpected advantage was in the mortgage financing. The couple found that because their new retirement home was “site-built” vs. manufactured, they were able to secure a better rate through conventional lending sources which will also provide future benefits when the home is sold, in the future.

LIGHT INDUSTRIAL

Design Issues:

A light industrial building is needed inside an existing industrial campus to serve as a equipment maintenance and repair shop.
The existing industrial campus has an architectural theme of both pre-cast or tilt-up concrete and the new building needs to conform to this appearance standard. Additionally, the owner has a roofing standard to use 20 yr. standing seam metal roofs.
The budget for this project is extremely limited. The building may only be in place for 3 to 7 years, until another major development replaces it.
The building has already been competitively bid as a pre-cast, tilt-up and stucco finished light gauge, red-iron and stucco finished CMU block. Each of the four efforts resulted in proposals beyond the project budget.
Patience, time and money are fast running out.

Solutions:

Because BP2 SCIP panels are so cost competitive and fast to install and so flexible in application, they were the ideal and, perhaps, only available solution here.
The BP2 SCIP panels are relatively light as compared to conventional CMU masonry construction (a finished BP2 SCIP panels weighs about 25#/SF) and the final solution was to employ them as a “hard-wall” skin on a pre-engineered structure with the desired 20 yr. standing seam metal roof.
The project was completed in record time. The BP2 SCIPs are very quick to install and very harmonious to the speed of installation of a pre-engineered metal building. This project was ready for occupancy 16 working days after the slab/foundation was poured.
The BP2 SCIP panels were finished with sheet metal stucco accessories fabricated and installed to match the joint lines of the adjacent pre-cast and tilt-up buildings. The shotcrete was hard troweled to a finish to match the surface of the adjacent buildings, as well.

INSTITUTIONAL

Design Issues:

A church building committee is preparing a new church building project and is seeking improved insulation to save operational expenses compared to their existing building, across town.
The initial construction cost must be carefully weighed against operational savings to justify the initial expenditure to the entire building committee.
The committee is also sensitive to the desire to be a good neighbor and have an attractive building in the neighborhood.
The committee is open to non-conventional methods if they are cost justified and design needs are not compromised.

Solutions:

The BP2 SCIP panels are relatively light as compared to conventional CMU masonry construction (a finished BP2 SCIP panels weighs about 25#/SF) and the final solution was to employ them as a skin on a steel structure with a standing seam metal roof. This allowed the church to have very large clear spans in the roof as desired and yet enjoy the thermal flywheel benefits of the BP2 SCIP panel walls.
The BP2 SCIP panels were also employed as the interior partitions and as the floors for the 2-story section of the building. This offered two benefits: 1) it added to the thermal flywheel, improving heating and cooling savings, and 2) the STC (Sound Transmission Coefficient) rating of over 50 allowed the church to enjoy quiet and privacy not cost justifiable in conventional construction methods.
The church members and committee love their new building and are enjoying HVAC savings of over 40% compared to their existing conventional building of the same size.
Because the entire building is constructed of non-combustible materials, the church saved over $100,000 in reduced fire protection / fire suppression costs.