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CEB House Cost Scenario in Belize v2

Vapor barrier + sand base

Foundation - 15% Cement SCEBs, 5” tall - concrete+rebar

Gravel Base - 9” 6” thick, 20’x20’ ( 11.1 cu yd). Packed down hard.

12% SCEB, 5” tall for foundation, 96 block needed at, 41 cents/block. $40 total.
Windows and doors are inside frames wrapped in lath
Stucco - 3 lb/sf or

Door

Windows, 3

Sink

Shower

Stove - CEB

Prewire Electrical

Prewire Plumbing

$375 $250

$40 $212

$170 + 85

4 Frames

$165

$80

Floor - 288 SCEB at 5% stabilization

$32

Acrylic stone sealer for floor

$122

2 X $15 + 50

$180

Fibalath, 512 sf = $400

Or 17 ga stucco wire (¼ cost)

Site Grading - 4 hours. 1 gal/hr gas. $75 + $40 + $25 labor

$140

$100

Bond Beam - 4”x12” rough lumber, lath wrapped around it. Concrete Bond Beam

$180

Shed Roof - 2x8 rough lumber, 16’ long, 2’ centers

Fibalath, 512 sf

Or 17 ga stucco wire (¼ cost)

$150

Tin roof

$320

$250 screws

$25 screen (100 sf)

$100

$200

$100

$4127

$200

Stucco

800 sf

$80

$300

Truckload of soil for SCEB

$120

Digging soil for SCEB from site

$220

10 Pallets

$96

Tractor operator for soil loading or

14 workers

Does not include forms for laying the bricks against

Walls, Bricks, 8 sections + 4 sections for patio

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CEB House Cost Scenario v2.1

Vapor barrier + sand base

Foundation: $ 110 labor, $175.75 Cement, $2.50 Gas, $90 ½” Mesh, $20 Wooden Forms, $10 Rebar

Door

Windows, 3

Sink

4 barrels

Stove - CEB

Prewire Electrical

Prewire Plumbing

$418.25

$840

$150

$100

Floor - 288 SCEB at 5% stabilization

$32

Acrylic stone sealer for floor

$122

2 X $15 + 50=$80

Truckload of sand for CEB - Factored into cost of block

Concrete Bond Beam

Wood for entire house (i’ll try to reduce this price)

Basket Material:

$700

Tin roof

$320?

$250 screws

$25 screen (100 sf)

$100

$200

$100

RED: OSE

$4990

Needs updated

$1506

Stucco

800 sf

$80

Truckload of soil for CEB - factored into cost of block

26 Pallets

3000 4” block, 10% stabilization

$0.28/block:

$65

Drying, Crushing, Mixing Soil, Loading Machine, Stacking Blocks. 12 days due to shit ass weather. Crew: $130/day

BLUE: SCOTT

$418.25

Gutters and Rotoplas

$250

Tractor Renta for workshopl: $200

$100

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Workflow

Door

Pallet

Window

Pallet

Slurry

Pallet for floor

Slurry

Pallet for floor

Pallets are 200 full block each and 300 floor block each

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CEB House Cost Scenario in Belize v1

Foundation - 15% Cement SCEBs, 5” tall - concrete+rebar

Gravel Base - 9” 6” thick, 20’x20’ ( 11.1 cu yd). Packed down hard.

12% SCEB, 5” tall for foundation, 96 block needed at, 41 cents/block. $40 total.
Windows and doors are inside frames wrapped in lath
Stucco - 3 lb/sf or

Walls, Brick, 8 sections

Door

Windows, 3

Sink

Shower

Stove

Electrical

Plumbing

$375 $250

$40 $212

$170

4 Frames

$165

$80

Floor - 288 SCEB at 5% stabilization

$32

Acrylic stone sealer for floor

$122

Vapor barrier + sand base

$15 + 50

$180

Fibalath, 512 sf = $400

Or 17 ga stucco wire (¼ cost)

Site Grading - 4 hours. 1 gal/hr gas. $75 + $40 + $25 labor

$140

$100

Bond Beam - 4”x12” rough lumber, lath wrapped around it. Concrete Bond Beam

$180

Shed Roof - 2x8 rough lumber, 16’ long, 2’ centers

Fibalath, 512 sf

Or 17 ga stucco wire (¼ cost)

$150

Tin roof

$320

$250 screws

$25 screen (100 sf)

$100

$200

$100

$3487

$180

Stucco

800 sf

$80

$300

Truckload of soil for SCEB

$120

Digging soil for SCEB from site

$220

Items in green not included

Pallets

$96

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CEB Microhouse Build in Belize - 12x12 foot Interior space with Outdoor Kitchen

Derivative of MicroHouse 1 and 2 and Seed Eco-Home
Uses backing plates to lay brick against, no strings attached
Tractor auger slurry mixing for mortar
Tractor loading, unless we have a conveyor belt
Dosing soil mixer measures cement by volume for Stabilized CEB (SCEB).
Basket Technique for seismic reinforcement
CEB foundation or concrete stem wall foundation?
CEB floor - derivative of Microhouse 1 and Seed Eco-Home Utility Room

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Narrative

CEB is a superior building technique on structural, thermal, and ecological grounds. The Smithsonian Institution predicts that Sophisticated Buildings Will be Made Of Mud.
We have designed and built the world’s first open source, automated CEB press, and published the plans on the internet for free.
OSE has done 8 CEB construction projects at its USA headquarters, with the last project being a thermal wall and CEB floor in the Seed Eco-Home. We are ready for the first pilot project outside of our Missouri, USA home base. We are following the support of a benefactor interested in affordable housing, and taking on a pilot project fisherman’s village in Copper Bank, Belize.
We have trained and are working with a respected local entrepreneur/builder/politician jack-of-all trades to produce bricks for the local community in Belize.
As the pilot project, OSE is doing a Microhouse Build on land donated to OSE by the local benefector.
The house is leased-to-own to a qualified community member via an innovative land stewardship agreement.
The house cost is reduced by the OSE CEBs produced at 14 cents with local labor - to make block comparable to commercial block at $1.09 per block. . The block will be used for the foundation, floor, and walls.
The resulting 85% cost reduction in block cost allows for an enterprise to be set up for self-help housing
House builders in the local community will have access bricks at 75% lower cost, thereby contributing significantly to local development.
The local mayor and community is selecting the community member via an application process that vetted by third party oversight by the benefactor and trusted third parties
Social impact assessment indicates several points: (1) lease-to-own and OSE co-ownership of the land assures that property speculation does not occur and the intent of affordable housing is assured; (2) Local ownership and access to open source machines assures distribution of the technology as opposed to monopoly creation.
When this idea becomes truly sound, then the implications are significant. When we build lower-cost housing, other communities will notice. When other communities notice, the technology will spread and address a major need of affordable housing. By lowering barriers to entry with open source technology, everyone can win.

Land Stewardship

A public interest land trust will be set up to hold the land.
Land stewardship involves best practices of ecological design
Edible and habitat landscape is to provide natural services to denizens, with Afforestt-style planting preferred.
6th day of Microhouse Workshop will install the edible landscape using the Afforestt method

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Baseline Costs Assumptions

Unskilled labor - $15/day
Machine operator - $50/day
Gas - $5/gal. Machine takes 1 gal/hr, and produces 5 block per minute minimum.
Cement - $10/ 50 kg bag
Rental of Tractor with loader - $150, no gas or operator
Each block is 20 lb, so each block gets 1 lb cement for 5% stabilization - or 10 cents per block
Labor costs 2.1 cents per block for machine operation ($50/2400)
US$15 for 2x12 rough lumber, 8’ long
2x6 is $15 for 16’ long
$13 for 39’ stick of ⅜” rebar

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Brick Cost + House Cost in Belize

Note successive overlap of 4’ wide panels to keep shape square and improve corner strength

Framed module: - window can be replaced with a door for the next addition.

12’

Minimum of 5 block/minute - 300 block per day, 2400 block per 8 hour shift
3 shifts possible per day for up to 7200 block per 24 hour period
House has 200 block per 4x8 foot section of wall, with block wall 12” wide
12x12 foot interior space house has 12 wall sections - with 8 full block sections, 3 half wall sections, and 1 door (no block)

Total number of sections is 9.5, with 200 block each - or 1900 block

Using the Incremental Housing model, we build the base unit at low cost and add as needed.
Labor is $15/day. Gasoline is $5/gal. Machine makes 2400 block for $55 in fuel + labor, or 2.3 cents per block baseline cost, not counting tractor with operator.

Stabilized block cost not counting equipment: add 10 cents per block for cement (1 lb cement per brick for 5% stabilization at 10 cents per lb for cement) - 12.3 cents/block
Unstabilized not counting soil loading equipment - 2.3 cents/block
Unstabilized with equipment - assume $200 for a day (8.3 cents/block) of tractor rental with $130 equipment, $30 operator, $15 for stacking, and $40 gas. This gets us to 10.6 cents/block.

Stabilized adds 10 cents - so 21 cents/block for stabilized

Manual loading, unstabilized - 300 block per day at $15 = 5 cents/block for labor and $20 for gas ~ 10 cents/block

-> Labor cannot compete with machines even when labor cost is very low! Same cost, ⅛ the output.

Manual loading, stabilized - same as last point, but half the output + add 10 cents - or ~17 cents/block

200 brick wall section costs $21.20 for the block, $170 for 8 wall sections

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Basket Technique Mesh Requirement

8 wall sections, 64 sf each
Wraparound is another 24 sf
Overlap is another 8 sf
96 sf per corner, or about 400 sf total

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Stucco Wire vs Chicken Wire Calculations

Strength of 17 gauge stucco lath vs 20 gauge chicken wire
Area: 1 mm sq vs 0.5 mm sq
About 1.5” mesh size
Per 48” wall section - 32 wires
Equivalent wire of 32 and 16 sq mm

Equivalent radius of 3.2 mm and 2.3 mm
The 17 gauge lath is comparable to a ¼” wire

¼” wire has 5000 lb breaking strength - decent. Perhaps 3000 lb for 20 gauge chicken wire. Acceptable, too.

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Concrete vs CEB Stem Wall Foundation

15% SCEB 15% SCEB, 4” tall for foundation, 96 block needed at, 41 cents/block. $40 total.
Concrete comparison - 6” tall bond beam - 28 cubic feet or 1 yard. Takes 5 bags of cement. $50 right there.
Yard of gravel is $38 assuming truck is 10 yards for $375
Thus, concrete is double the cost for materials and doesn’t count the wood forms.
With wood forms -about $20 per side - or another $80.
Add rebar, $13 per side - or another $52.
$212 total for cement stem wall, vs $40 for SCEBs. But, $125 more gravel, so really $165 vs $212

Gravel, 6” deep

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Cost Reduction via 3D Printing

3d printed Vlapor barrier + sand base

Walls, Brick, 8 sections + 4 sections for patio

Ploundation - 15% Cement SCEBs, 5” tall - 3D printed block

Gravel Base - 6” thick, 20’x20’ ( 11.1 cu yd). Packed down hard.

12% SCEB, 5” tall for foundation, 96 block needed at, 41 cents/block. $40 total.
Windows and doors are inside frames wrapped in lath
Stucco - 3 lb/sf or

Door

Windows, 3

Plink

Plower

Stove

Electrical

Plalumbing

$50

$170 + 85

4 Plames

$20

Floor - 288 SCEB at 5% stabilization

$32

Acrylic stone sealer for floor

$122

2 X $50

$40

Nylon printed mesh

Site Grading - 4 hours. 1 gal/hr gas. $75 + $40 + $25 labor

$140

$15

Bond Beam - Placrete Bond Beam

Shed Roof - 2x8 printed lumber, 16’ long, 2’ centers

$30

3D Printed Roof from waste plastic

$30

$25 plews

$25 screen (100 sf)

$10

$200

$10

$2354

$200

Stucco

800 sf

$80

$120

Digging soil for SCEB from site

$50

Plallets

$50

Tractor operator for soil loading or

14 workers

Wood replaced with plastic. Includes your own labor for 3D printing, plastic bales at 10 cents/lb

$250