Wire + polystyrene + cement = house

SILVER SPRINGS - The fence in Ron Bell's front yard is made from Styrofoam blocks wrapped in wire. Not only are the panels perfect for keeping sand out of his lawn, but they also can withstand hurricane-force winds, if a storm that big should ever blow into the Nevada desert.

Bell, a retired automation engineer, said Thursday that the welded-wire sandwich panels, which contain recycled metal and polystyrene insulation, will become an important component in future development because of its sturdiness and recycled origin, in a time when commodities are increasing in price.

"Anything that you can recycle and put back into a new building is beneficial," he said.

More builders are investigating conservation as energy prices increase across the board. At a business meeting last week in Reno, a green builder preached the benefits of energy efficiency to members of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. He advocates for low-voltage light systems and recycled water in toilets. Builders who normally shy away from the "tree hugger" status are embracing the concepts that save money.

But Bell's business proposal is to build houses out of cement-coated panels, which may be about 4.5 inches thick, a material that hasn't been used that much in Nevada.

The 63-year-old builder said the panels he imports from Central America can be used to build a home to withstand category-4 hurricane winds - which is what he used them for in Crystal Beach, Texas - and a garage once he gets the permit from Lyon County.

At the same time, he's starting a new business, called Sierra Insul-Panel Corp. Bell has gathered information about the fire rating of the panels - a two-hour rating - and the strength. He plans to distribute them to contractors and home builders.

"I can put about 450 pounds per linear foot on a panel without any structural support," he said. That's before the cement coating.

Jim Bolton, of Reno, is building two homes in Reno and a garage in Dayton using a brand-name panel that's also constructed out of Styrofoam and wire mesh. He and his partners started a panel distribution business because they wanted to save on their energy bills. He knows a home owner who cut his heating and cooling bills by 70 percent.

"The price of wood is skyrocketing," he said. "The technology isn't new, but you don't hear much about it in America because we have always used wood." Bolton has plans to build his own home out of the panels, once interest rates go down again.

Bell's home isn't built out of the panels. He would've had to wait longer than he wanted for a permit. Even though the panels are made from recycled materials, they are still just about as costly as wood, he said.

Each panel costs about $65. To build that fence cost him about $2,000. The two-story, 2,400-square foot home in Texas house cost about $360,000.

But it made it through Hurricane Rita.

• Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.