Residential Project with SCIP

October 12, 2023

Architecture & Design: Homeowner

Engineer of Record: Mark Thomey, P.E. of Structural Engineering

Project Type: Residential, Sustainable, Resilient

Photographs by: Homeowner and Scott Miller

Project Location: Alabama

It’s amazing how sometimes the most surprising connections are born out of a shared interest for SCIP panels. This was the case when the homeowner approached Scott Miller (our GCT Technical Advisor and Sales Lead) about our panels. The homeowner had already been researching SCIP Building Systems extensively online for his new home. After many phone calls and email exchanges, the homeowner finally chose our SCIP Building System for the construction of his home because of its strength and thermal efficiency.

The homeowner designed his own residential property, and alongside Mark Thomey, they were set out to work constructing an ideal single-family home implementing our System. Our thermo-insulated concrete panels and additional building components helped create a reinforced structure designed for durability and resistance.

Carmelo and GCT Products used for the Home:

SCIP Building System: The home was created using our innovative Structural Concrete Insulated Panels (SCIPs) System with a high R-value and lightweight construction. The System offers a solid, energy-efficient and durable construction. The panel’s thermal insulation properties help regulate both hot and cold temperatures, resulting in a more energy efficient home and reduced overall heating costs. Our system also allowed the homeowner the architectural freedom necessary to create the most optimized structure, maximizing the full range of our building panel components to assemble exterior walls, interior bearing walls, roof panels and a stair set.
Carmelo Structural Mortar Mix: This structural mortar mix has a high compression strength of 4000 psi following ASTM C-387. We frequently use it as a base coat after creating the initial structure using our System. It can be applied with mortar application machines over our Panels or any concrete substrate, and in this case provides additional support to additional features like a rooftop deck.

Maximizing our Panels to Create a Rooftop: The home also included one of the features that clients keep requesting: a rooftop deck! His 4,000 sqft GCT Panel roof will host a Jacuzzi, wet bar, and large sitting area with couches and kitchen/grill shaded by Solar Panels. The roof was designed from the beginning to be a future rooftop deck, utilizing our System to withstand the load over the main beam and our mortar to make it completely leakproof.

Technical Details About How the Homeowner Adapted the GCT System: The homeowner did all of the architectural design and most of the structural design himself using Chief Architect CAD software. He worked alongside two structural engineering firms in order to provide stamped plans for the city inspection. But impressively, he designed and built everything himself which helped him adapt our System to meet his home’s specific needs. In his case, he altered the steel framing callout material to reduce cost (while still meeting all design load requirements. He replaced all steel rebar that penetrated the building envelope with basalt rebar which is stronger and lighter than steel, yet thermally insulated. He also helped design and build the Geothermal heat pump for this home that provides his domestic hot water at minimal cost, offers radiant floor heating, conventional hot/cold forced air conditioning, and even heats and cools his indoor swimming pool! He has a large exterior glass door for the indoor pool to collect thermal energy from the sun during the winter and then transfer that energy through the heat pump back into the living space through radiant floor heating or forced-air systems!

Special Thanks!

Thank you again to our client for trusting us to bring this project to life and using our panels to create a home that will last for years to come! Stay tuned to our Architecture Showcase Blog posts to learn more about other projects that incorporate our GCT Structural Panels.

If you are based in Puerto Rico or the Caribbean and are interested in using our Structural Panels GCT System for your next project, please email Ismael Vázquez Ramos, Technical Support, Sales, and Engineering for GCT, at ivazquez@carmelo.com.

If you are based in the mainland United States and are interested in using our Structural Panels GCT System for your next project, please email Scott Miller (GCT Technical Advisor and Sales Lead) at smiller@gctm2.com.