Let us start with Monolithic Domes

For a growing number of people, parishes, and industries, a strange new shape has come into their lives. Sometimes it looks like a boob or two but most of the time it just looks awesome. Here is a good example. It's commonly called a Monolithic Dome(tm) but that's the trademarked name. It's really super cool name is "insulated thin-shell concrete structure."
What is really sweet about them Dan? Well...

• They are tornado proof
• They are fire proof
• They are hurricane proof
  
• They are pest and rot free
• They require no roof to re-shingle
• They sides are easy to clean
  
• They often save 50% or more on electricity each year
  
• They have high energy star ratings.
  
• They can often save on home insurance.
  
• They will last hundreds of years with proper care.
• They use far less material than conventional buildings.

Who could say no to that right? Well a lot of people apparently. Not many respond to the change of structure well. When they are proposed, officials aren't quite sure about them, but its quite another story when they are built. The guy that built the one pictured above lives in Australia Tornado country. He was going to build a few of them for rental units to make some money and protect people from tornadoes. He was totally shot down but he did end up building his own house that you see up above. Once everyone sees them they are usually like, "that kicks butt" or at least "looks better than I thought."

How can you save a bundle by living in one? Its really simple. The whole dome is one continuous shell and acts as a thermal battery, soaking up the sun during the day and releasing the heat absorbed during the day at night. This regulates the temperature year round. Not to mention that no wind can penetrate a properly constructed dome.

The Airform or outermost covering is made in Texas and is made of the stuff used to make river rafts. This is inflated and insulation, rebar, concrete are sprayed on from the inside. Thats right, you don't have to worry about the outside weather. It just has to be hot enough for the concrete to keep mixing. All this sits on top a concrete base. There are other processes explained in detail at www.monolithic.com

It's totally customizable and scalable. You can have a 30 ft. dome or a dome for an entire school. Domes can be buried as well. For hot climates or storage you don't even need the insulation!

Look for Monolithic blogs here and there. My favorite is Peggy Atwood's site, she has a great slideshow accompanied by her own music. There are some really great architects that specialize in this on the web as well.

This is a totally awesome technology that needs to be utilized for our future. These would have survived Katrina, and survived the wild fires in Southern California. If these were square there would be no problem accepting them. The hardest part is when you want one the banks are all weird about it.

Stop being conventional everybody! Isn't the future supposed to be all domes?