Have you ever dreamed of leaving behind freezing winters, icy roads and months of cold weather?

Imagine waking up every morning to tropical sunshine, green surroundings, fresh air and beautiful beaches instead.

Imagine having breakfast on your terrace, opening your windows to enjoy the tropical breeze, and spending your retirement years outdoors instead of being trapped inside because of snow and freezing temperatures.

For many people from Canada, the United States, Europe and other colder countries, the Philippines offers an exciting alternative.

And among all the places you could choose, Cebu and the Visayas offer an especially attractive combination of tropical beauty, modern conveniences, beaches and a comfortable lifestyle.

But there is one question that often comes to mind:

“Can I really live comfortably in a tropical country?”

With the right home, absolutely.

At CBU.asia, we believe you shouldn’t have to choose between the tropical lifestyle you dream about and the indoor comfort you’ve become accustomed to.

That’s why we can build ICF insulated homes designed to provide greater thermal comfort, energy efficiency, durability and quieter living in the Philippine climate.

Leave the Cold Behind

For people from Canada, the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and other colder regions, moving to the Philippines can seem like stepping into another world.

No more scraping ice from your windshield.

No more shoveling snow.

No more freezing mornings.

No more spending months indoors because it is simply too cold to enjoy the outdoors.

Instead, imagine:

🌴 Tropical greenery
☀️ Warm sunshine
🌊 Beautiful beaches
🏖️ Outdoor living
🍍 Fresh tropical fruits
🌺 Beautiful landscapes
😊 Warm Filipino hospitality

But moving from a cold country to a tropical country is a major change.

Your body may love the warmth—but your house needs to be designed for it.

That’s where ICF construction can make a difference.

Your Strong Currency Can Go Much Further in the Philippines

There is another reason the Philippines is attracting retirees, expats and long-term foreign residents:

Purchasing power.

If you receive a pension, retirement income, investment income or savings in a strong foreign currency, your money can go considerably further in the Philippines than it does in many high-cost countries.

For example, as of August 20, 2026, US$1 is approximately ₱61.58. That means a US$2,000 monthly pension is roughly ₱123,000 before considering exchange fees and fluctuations.

The same principle applies to Canadians, Europeans, Australians and others whose income is earned in currencies that can provide substantial purchasing power when converted to Philippine pesos.

Of course, exchange rates change, and the actual purchasing power of your income depends on your lifestyle and where you live.

But for someone accustomed to the high cost of living in cities in North America or Europe, the difference can be significant.

Your retirement income may allow you to enjoy a lifestyle in the Philippines that would be considerably more expensive back home.

Instead of simply trying to survive on your retirement income, you may be able to enjoy a much more comfortable lifestyle.

A beautiful home.

A garden.

Regular dining out.

Domestic help where appropriate.

Travel around the Philippines.

Weekend trips to the beach.

And the ability to enjoy the outdoors throughout much of the year.

Imagine Living Like Royalty in Paradise

This is what makes the Philippines particularly interesting for people with savings or pensions from high-income countries.

You don’t necessarily need to be extremely wealthy.

A person with a reasonable retirement income in US dollars, Canadian dollars or euros may find that their money provides considerably more purchasing power here than it would in many expensive Western cities.

Imagine taking the money you would normally spend on a modest lifestyle back home and using it to create something much more comfortable in the Philippines.

Your dream could include:

🏡 A beautiful custom-built home

🌴 A tropical garden

🏖️ Easy access to beaches

🚗 Your own vehicle

🍽️ Regular meals at restaurants

✈️ Travel around the Philippines

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Space for visiting family and friends

☀️ Outdoor living

🔇 A quiet and comfortable bedroom

❄️ Efficient air-conditioning

And perhaps most importantly:

More freedom to enjoy your retirement.

Cebu and the Visayas: Tropical Living at Its Best

If you are considering the Philippines, don’t overlook the Visayas.

The Visayas offer an extraordinary combination of islands, beaches, mountains, diving destinations, resorts and communities.

And Cebu is an ideal base for exploring them.

From Cebu, you can easily reach spectacular destinations throughout the Visayas, including some of the country’s most famous beaches and island destinations.

You can live in or around Cebu while enjoying access to:

🌊 Mactan’s beaches and resorts
🏝️ Bohol
🐋 Oslob
🤿 Moalboal
🌴 Camotes
🏖️ Bantayan
⛰️ Southern Cebu
🌊 Negros and other Visayan destinations

For someone dreaming about a tropical retirement, this isn’t simply a place to live.

It’s a gateway to an entire region of tropical islands.

But What About the Tropical Heat?

This is where your house becomes extremely important.

Traditional Philippine homes aren’t always designed with the same emphasis on insulation found in many homes in colder countries.

But you don’t have to build a conventional Philippine house.

You can build a home specifically designed around thermal comfort in a tropical climate.

ICF: Insulated Concrete Forms

ICF combines reinforced concrete and insulating foam forms to create a thick, insulated wall system.

Rather than simply building a conventional concrete wall and allowing the tropical heat to transfer through it, an ICF wall incorporates insulation directly into the wall assembly.

The result is a home designed to reduce heat transfer and provide a more stable indoor environment.

Combined with proper architectural design, roof insulation, shading, ventilation and appropriately sized air-conditioning, an ICF home can become a highly comfortable tropical residence.

You Can Enjoy the Tropical Climate Without Being Overwhelmed by It

One of the biggest concerns for someone moving from Canada, northern Europe or another cold region may be:

“What if the heat is too much for me?”

That’s precisely why your house should be designed for the climate.

An ICF building envelope can help reduce heat transfer through the walls.

During comfortable periods, you can enjoy natural ventilation.

When the tropical afternoon becomes hot, you can close the house and use your cooling system to maintain a comfortable indoor environment.

You get to enjoy the tropical climate when you want it—and escape the heat when you don’t.

That’s what a properly designed tropical home should do.

Open Your Windows and Let Cebu In

Imagine waking up in the morning and opening your windows.

Fresh tropical air.

Green surroundings.

Birds outside.

A gentle breeze.

Coffee on the terrace.

A home that allows you to connect with the environment instead of being permanently sealed away from it.

During hotter periods, simply close the windows and allow the home’s insulation and cooling system to do their job.

Your home should work with the Philippine climate—not against it.

Enjoy a Quieter Home

There’s another benefit that foreigners may appreciate enormously:

Noise reduction.

Many Philippine neighborhoods are lively.

Motorcycles, tricycles, cars, construction activities, barking dogs and other neighborhood sounds can be part of everyday life.

For someone accustomed to a quieter residential environment, this can require some adjustment.

The substantial concrete core and insulated construction of an ICF wall can help reduce the transmission of outside noise through the wall assembly.

That can be particularly valuable for bedrooms.

Imagine sleeping comfortably while much of the outside noise stays outside.

Your tropical home doesn’t have to sound like the street outside.

Strong. Solid. Designed for the Philippines.

The Philippines is a beautiful country, but it also experiences tropical storms, heavy rainfall and earthquakes.

Your home should therefore be designed for the environment in which it will actually live.

An ICF wall incorporates a reinforced concrete core and can form part of a robust structural system when properly engineered.

ICF does not automatically make a building typhoon-proof or earthquake-proof. The foundation, reinforcement, roof, connections and entire structural system must be properly designed according to applicable Philippine engineering and building requirements.

But ICF provides an opportunity to create a substantial and durable wall system as part of that properly engineered home.

Your Retirement Home Can Be Better Than the Home You Left Behind

Perhaps you’re approaching retirement.

Perhaps you’re already retired.

Perhaps you’re simply tired of spending half the year wearing a jacket.

You may have started looking at the Philippines because you want:

A warmer climate.

A more relaxed lifestyle.

Beautiful surroundings.

Friendly people.

More outdoor living.

A place where your retirement income can provide a comfortable lifestyle.

Why settle for simply renting a small apartment?

Why not create a home specifically designed around the way you want to live?

Build Your Home Around Your Lifestyle

At CBU.asia, we don’t believe your Philippine home should be a generic house.

Your home should be designed around you.

Perhaps you want:

🏡 A spacious two- or three-bedroom retirement home

🌴 A tropical garden

🌊 A sea-view property

☀️ Large shaded windows

🍃 Natural ventilation

🔇 Quiet bedrooms

❄️ Efficient air-conditioning

☀️ Solar-ready electrical systems

💧 Rainwater collection

🍳 A modern kitchen

🚿 Comfortable bathrooms

🌅 A large covered terrace

🛋️ A spacious living area for entertaining family and friends

We can combine modern ICF insulated construction with tropical architectural design to create a home that is designed specifically for the Philippine environment and your lifestyle.

You Don’t Have to Give Up the Comfort of Home

Moving to another country doesn’t mean abandoning everything you’re accustomed to.

You can bring your expectations for comfort with you.

The difference is that instead of designing a home for freezing winters, your new home is designed for tropical living.

An ICF home can help provide:

🌡️ Thermal Comfort

Insulation helps reduce heat transfer through the walls.

🔇 Acoustic Comfort

The substantial wall assembly can help reduce outside noise.

⚡ Energy Efficiency

A better-performing building envelope can reduce the amount of cooling required, depending on the complete design.

🏗️ Durability

The reinforced concrete core provides a substantial wall system when properly engineered.

🌴 Tropical Living

The home can incorporate natural ventilation, shaded outdoor spaces and other features appropriate for the Philippine climate.

From a Cold Country to a Warm Paradise

Imagine the contrast.

Winter back home:

❄️ Freezing temperatures
❄️ Dark mornings
❄️ Heavy coats
❄️ Heating bills
❄️ Snow and ice

Morning in your Cebu home:

☀️ Tropical sunshine
🌴 Green surroundings
🍃 Fresh air
☕ Coffee on your terrace
🌊 A beach or resort within easy reach

And when the tropical afternoon becomes hot?

You retreat into your insulated ICF home, close the windows, turn on efficient cooling and enjoy a comfortable interior.

Your Money. Your New Lifestyle. Your Philippine Home.

For many foreigners, moving to the Philippines isn’t simply about escaping winter.

It’s about getting more out of life.

Your savings and pension may have considerably greater purchasing power here than in many high-cost countries.

That can mean more opportunities to enjoy the things that matter:

A beautiful home.

More space.

More travel.

More dining out.

More time outdoors.

More experiences.

More freedom.

And perhaps most importantly:

More life for your retirement money.

Instead of spending your retirement years watching your savings disappear into expensive housing, heating, taxes and everyday living costs, you can explore whether the Philippines could give you a more comfortable lifestyle for your budget.

Cebu Is Waiting

If you are from a cold country and have ever dreamed of living somewhere warm, beautiful and affordable, perhaps it is time to look beyond the traditional retirement destinations.

Come and experience Cebu.

Explore the Visayas.

See the beaches.

Meet the people.

Experience the lifestyle.

And then imagine building your own home here.

A home designed for you.

A home designed for the tropics.

A home insulated with ICF.

A home built for comfort.

Don’t Just Move to the Philippines.

Build Your Life Here.

You don’t have to choose between the tropical paradise you’ve dreamed about and the comfort you’ve enjoyed back home.

You can have both.

Come to Cebu.

Come to the Philippines.

Bring your savings or pension.

Build a beautiful tropical home.

And let CBU.asia help you create an insulated ICF home designed for comfortable living in the Philippine climate.

Leave the cold behind.

Bring your dream home to the tropics.

CBU.asia

Your Tropical Home. Insulated for Comfort. Built for the Philippines.

Earthquakes are getting more frequent and stronger these times

Leave a reply

Some people think there’s more earthquakes happening these days and they are getting stronger. Whether that is true or not, we need to make our structures stronger, and maybe avoid living in tall buildings because even a weak earthquake will already give you a very scary experience if you live up there and your structure sways because of even just a weak earthquake. While some people are not easily scared by a swaying floor, some do.

According to a quick google search, it is not true that there’s more earthquakes today. We are simply able to detect them more easily these days because our earthquake monitoring devices have gone more advanced and our communication systems have become more efficient, thus we are able to get the news fast.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake in General Santos city recently have made people rethink their ways of living and have actually thought of abandoning living in tall condominiums. Even standard 2 or 3 level residential structures have collapsed in the recent General Santos city earthquake. Well it was a really strong earthquake and most structures we see fail are those that have the over hang design where the second floor up to the higher floors overhang beyond the ground floor columns. This is to save space since the local building code dictates that you need to give a set back or easement space on the ground floor for pedestrians.

For those planning to build a standard 2 to 3 level home, it is now highly recommended that you reinforce your new structure with solid poured load bearing walls, not just rely on bricks. The traditional design is to have bricks on the walls and rely heavily on the columns and beams for structural integrity. These days where we see structures collapsing due to the recent earthquake, it’s about time to raise our budget for our homes and make our walls a shear wall that contributes in the load bearing – thus your upper floor are now supported not just by your columns but also by your load bearing solid walls and your upper floors’ weight is now evenly distributed thus your home will be stronger and able to resist the swaying during earthquakes. A solid poured wall will not be practical for tall buildings since it will make it more heavy and more costly, but you can easily increase the budget for your 2-3 level house to make it rock solid and earthquake-proof that you can hand down to your children all the way down to your grand children and great great grand children.

The ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) design is one of those home designs that utilizes a rock solid wall and is also heavily insulated on both sides making your new home not just rock solid but also thermally insulated from the high aircon bill due to the hot temperature outside.

You can also lower your budget by just having rock solid load bearing walls – not the thermally insulated walls. The ICF design or even the non insulated solid wall may cost more than the traditional column home design, but having absolute peaceful sleep at night is just priceless.

Solid reinforced concrete load-bearing walled home is your best protection from earthquakes since lateral displacement / lateral movement or swaying during earthquake will be minimized. The solid wall will be able to help absorb the destructive shear forces, and shield vulnerable beam-column joints from snapping during earthquakes.

You have seen it in television where the buildings easily collapse during earthquake when the column-beam joints break due to the repeated swaying of the structure.

When beams and columns flex in opposing directions, the beam-column joints experience extreme diagonal stress and compression – this is called shear stress. If the joints lack dense transverse reinforcement or closely spaced steel stirrups, the concrete cracks diagonally, causing the columns to break and fail entirely.

Solid load-bearing walls are reinforced concrete shear walls that effectively resist the lateral movements during earthquake. Solid walls are a lot stiffer than open beam-column design. They resist lateral swaying, keeping your structure within limits and protecting your building joints from breaking. Solid walls efficiently resist horizontal seismic shear forces and transfer them directly down into the foundation, bypassing the traditional framing of the columns and beams. A properly designed shear wall cracks and yields in predetermined zones called plastic hinges to safely dissipate earthquake energy and thus prevent your structure from collapsing.

[Show slideshow]

Anti flood farm house residence in Antequera Bohol has epoxy coated genuine Vigan Tile floor

Leave a reply

This residential farm house in Antequera Bohol is flood ready – which means the entire ground floor is empty and open in case a flood comes in – there’s just an open space in the ground. There are two rooms on the right side – the first room is used as storage for farm tools and the other room is a laundry room where the washing appliance is located. The rest of the ground floor is just elevated open space which can be used to place maybe seedlings and other farming implements. The living area, bedrooms, and kitchen are all located at the second floor through a covered side stairway.

The area is a forest type low level swampy area where water frequently pass through to the other lower areas especially during heavy rains so a one meter elevation for the ground floor slab is in order as the water could rise to half a meter during heavy rains but it also dries up during sunny days. Because it is naturally well irrigated, the couple owners are seriously planning to plant in the surrounding vacant areas as the house only sits on a quarter of their total lot area.

Since most of the neighboring lots are also mostly unused except for a few houses of the neighbors, this is a very idyllic place where you can plant and enjoy a forest type of living where you can be in a constant tranquility with nature always enjoying the chirping of the birds and occasionally the croaking of the frogs during rainy nights.

The walls at the second floor are made of insulated composite walls which is a mixture of cement and EPS pellets which makes light walls yet concrete solid. This makes its walls heat proof and sound proof. This is a more affordable version of a full ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) house.

[Show slideshow]

This unique house in Talisay city has heat resistant walls

Leave a reply

This house uses composite heat resistant walls to make the rooms cooler and thus save on the cost of air conditioning power consumption. This is the best next option if the full ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) house is outside your budget. With the rooms being heat resistant and thus cooler, you no longer need to always turn the air con ON all the time. With cooler rooms, most of the time, you just need to open your windows and let the natural breeze cool your rooms further and bring in the fresh mountain air.

Composite insulated heat resistant walls are made of a mixture of cement and EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) foam pellets with silica dry wall as its protective outer layer on both sides. The heat from direct sunlight outside and the hot air will have a hard time penetrating the silica drywall sheet and whatever heat that is left will be trapped in the EPS. The heat will be unable to penetrate your walls. This type of wall will make heat resistant and sound proof walls mostly due to the EPS. This type of wall is also lighter compared to traditional concrete walls and thus your house is lighter yet very strong due to the cement mix.

The composite walls are pre fabricated panels 2 by 8 feet wide, 4 to 6 inches in thickness depending on your budget. The panels are connected by rebars and the seams are sealed by non sagging epoxy. There is no need of plastering since the silica drywall is already very flat and smooth, thus you simply need to level and buff the joints and you can already proceed with the painting. Since silica dry wall or fiber cement has the attributes of a concrete surface, then be sure to use the appropriate paint type – epoxy type for the exteriors and elastomeric latex or acrylic for the interiors.

The wide 2 by 8 feet panel sizes of the composite walls also makes it faster to build since it is a lot wider than the common cinder blocks. The only drawback for the workers is that the panels are very heavy – will need 4 persons to pick up or mount each panel.

[Show slideshow]

Epoxy coated clay tiles

Leave a reply

Want a stunning rustic looking but eternally shiny floor? Try pure clay tiles but coat it with industrial epoxy.

Here you can see the epoxy coating gives it a stunning wet look that firmly holds your feet and your rubber slippers or shoes.

Pure clay tiles are not easy to find in most areas in the country, but just simply look to the places where clay is still widely used like in Vigan in Luzon – and this is exactly where you will find authentic clay tiles for floors or walls. The epoxy coating will give it its modern gloss finish.

When applying epoxy be sure to use a primer epoxy base then top it with another protective top epoxy coating as protective finishing touch – for this one – we use the island brand epoxy coating combination – other brands may have a different application procedure and ratios. Always read the fine print behind the can. The primer epoxy base will need at least 24 hours to cure before you can apply the top protective coat. Once the final protective coat is applied, be sure to give the whole thing 7 days before allowing walking feet on it, else the whole thing could go to waste.

Just a caution – epoxy chemicals are highly corrosive and destructive to the human respiration so be sure to protect your workers with the appropriate protective masks – do not compromise.

When applied correctly and cured appropriately, epoxy coating will give it a wet glass finish that is super sturdy and will require very sharp and very hard objects to give it a scratch. When scratched, simply apply another layer of top epoxy coating, preferably of the same brand, on the damaged area to restore it back to its stunning glory.

[Show slideshow]

Benefits of ICF walled home

Leave a reply

If you are looking for a well insulated home – the ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) home is your primary choice though it costs higher than standard concrete homes, it does come with some unique benefits highly sought by those who know what an ICF home can do.

Bullet Proof. Because the ICF wall is at least 10 inches thick due to the concrete core being at least 5 inches thick and the two layers of 2 inch thick EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) makes a total of 9 inches then the double outer layers of drywall silica which gives a total of at least 0.5 inch then the final patching and painting works on both sides another 0.5 inch; which then overall totals 10 inches of a wall – this makes a bullet proof wall to protect your home from accidental stray bullets which is sadly still a reality during New Year Celebrations when those with guns are tempted to fire at the sky and some of those can reach innocent homes.

Sound Proofed Walls. One of the benefits of EPS is good sound proofing. Due to its structure – micro air bubbles in dense construction grade tough EPS effectively breaks sound waves. This gives the ICF home total privacy. EPS layers are the usual material used to sound proof a wall.

Thermal signature blocking. Another great benefit of EPS is the cancellation of the thermal signature of the people inside the ICF home for another added privacy. If you are wary of those criminal minded people who have access to a thermal signature scanner on concrete walls such as the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) device which can view the profiles of the people behind concrete walls. These devices trace the thermal signatures of the people behind concrete walls as they project on the concrete surface. The EPS effectively cancels the thermal signatures of the people inside the home in an ICF wall as they get projected on the painted silica outer surface of an ICF wall and will not be able to get through the concrete core due to the thick EPS that separates the silica drywall and the concrete core – remember there are two layers of 2 inch EPS wrapping around the 5 inch concrete core wall.

Heat insulation. Because heat from outside cannot penetrate the wall in an ICF wall, then your rooms stay cool and if you need to cool it further with an air conditioner then your electric bill will be lower since your aircon will not be overworked due to lowered room temperature since only the heat of the people inside the room will be present and none of those heat coming from outside.

Stronger home. The ICF home is way way stronger compared to the standard concrete home since the ICF walls have solid concrete core walls then your home do not rely only on the concrete columns for strength but also on the walls since solid concrete walls are load bearing walls thus the weight of the second floor and the walls itself will now be evenly distributed along the surrounding walls and not just on the corner columns.

[Show slideshow]

ICF Home design and build

2 Replies

ICF or insulated concrete form is a method of construction where the walls are fortified with EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) insulation on both sides to isolate the inside temperature of the home from the outside temperature.

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is that same material used to insulate the walls of a freezer or refrigerator – the same material used in ice buckets.

In a tropical setting like the Philippines, this is type of home design is ideal if you want to save on your air conditioning electrical consumption to cool the rooms.

By preventing the external heat from penetrating your rooms, your air conditioner will be on a relaxed state of operation as you will be able to maintain the cold climate inside your rooms.

To achieve a perfect union of the concrete core and the EPS insulation, you need to pour solid concrete mix between two EPS layers of usually two inch thick EPS. You cannot use concrete hollow blocks for your concrete middle core since the gap between the EPS and the concrete will become breeding grounds for mold. The two EPS layers have to sandwich the concrete middle core through tight bonding that can only be achieved by pouring fresh liquid concrete in between the two layers of EPS and allowing it to cure fully so that there will be a solid bond between the EPS and the concrete core. What you will have is a solid concrete wall usually 5-6 inches thick that is cured unto two layers of sandwiching EPS layers. This ICF wall which now total nine inches (5 inches solid concrete plus two layers of two inch EPS on both sides) will be topped by a half inch dry wall on both sides bringing your wall total thickness to 10 inches – now that’s a really thick wall and very strong one at that since it is made of solid poured concrete, is now your barrier between the hot tropical air outside and the cooled air inside your room which is cooled by your air conditioner. The drywall surface topping will adhere to the EPS using special solvents to prevent mold and make sure also to use brands that do not allow mold such as the hardiflex brand – a bit pricey but very beneficial in the long run. And since your the ICF wall will perfectly seal in your cold air inside then your air conditioner will be in a relaxed state of operation – cooling only the air when it gets warm again by the warm bodies of the people living inside and not from the hot air outside – this is the success principle behind the ICF home – saving the environment by lessening the air conditioner electrical bills by making your rooms cooler than the regular rooms. This ICF type of home is what you need if you decide to live in a tropical climate but want to have a cool environment when relaxing inside the home.

Please see our recently finished ICF home in Negros Oriental. Please do contact us if you plan to build an ICF home.

[Show slideshow]

Chill blocks ICF Insulated Concrete Forms

6 Replies

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) are also referred to as Insulating Concrete Forms.

This method of building walls and roof decks started in Canada by the contractor Werner Gregori and then it spread around the western world, and is now also in demand in tropical countries to keep the interior of the house cool.

The main benefit of ICF is its thermal insulating properties where it insulates the interior temperature of the house from the outdoor temperature. So in cold climate areas, the cold from outside will be isolated by the foam and you can keep warm inside as the warmth produced by your heater will also not escape to the outside. The inner core of the ICF block will be filled with concrete so when you stack the ICF blocks like lego blocks you will form a hollow wall which you will then fill with poured concrete to form your solid concrete wall. When the concrete dries or cures, what you have is a solid concrete wall that is double insulated from inside and outside by a thick usually 2 inch thick foam from inside and outside of the house. ICF walls usually come in 6, 8, and 11 inch thick inner core, though some will request even thicker cores.

The inner supports of the ICF blocks allows for you to tie your horizontal and vertical rebars depending on the structural design of the house.

In hotter climate areas such as in tropical countries like the Philippines, ICF is in demand as it also does the reverse which is to keep the heat from outside from getting inside the house. So when you cool down your house interior, your ICF wall will keep it cool by isolating the heat from outside, so your air conditioner do not need to over work and so you don’t have to pay astronomical electricity costs. So when you build your roof and ceiling, you also need to place sufficient amount of foam insulation between your roof and ceiling to isolate the heat from outside and to keep your interior cool.

For now, we prefer that we only supply ICF blocks for projects that we get to build or at least we have to supervise the build of projects that use our own ICF blocks locally manufactured which we call Chill Blocks ICF blocks.

To make our ICF blocks interlock, there is a 1 inch unitary groove cut on the edges cut in opposing locations to meet the next block on the sides, bottom, and above of each block – please see uploaded pictures on this article. And then on those edges where the blocks interlock – when they meet and connect on those interlocking unitary grooves, the blocks connection points will be screwed to strengthen the connection and to make to prevent poured cement from leaking out. And then for added strength during pouring, to avoid a blow out, necessary bracing ply woods will be added to support the blocks during pour.

[Show slideshow]

White contrast modern exteriors

Leave a reply

White is beautiful and becomes even more beautiful when combined with other color contrasts such as brown, cream, beige, wood, black, grey – heck white is the universal contrast – it is great with almost all colors. You can tell white is the universal favorite – it is the most in-demand color, at the paint stores, than any other colors.

We are attracted to white because it means calmness and serenity – it is the purest of all colors. It evokes freshness, simplicity, and order.

It is the color that is more often associated with perfection, goodness, honesty, cleanliness, and neutrality. No wonder it is mostly used as a theme by almost all religions in the world.

In designing white is often a favorite background contrast color because it blends well with almost all colors giving the designer’s canvass a natural setting, a clean canvass that helps to focus attention on specific elements.

White is also a favorite of interior designers because it makes the room look bigger by reflecting all lights – it maximizes the natural colors. So in exterior designing, the house can look bigger with white, makes it glow by enhancing all the other color elements of the exterior design.

[Show slideshow]

Have your own water purification system

Leave a reply

Since we all get drinking water from a water refilling station, then why not have one for our own.

The water refilling station supplies the whole neighborhood, and having your own water purification system assures you have the best purified water since you can always make sure your filters are properly maintained on time. The water refilling station nearby can attempt to extend the replacement schedule of their filters to make more profit or thru simple negligence, you on the other hand can laser focus on your own filters thus you can make sure your filters are replaced on time – that is the big convenience of having your own water purification system.

You can have a full industrial scale size capable of even supplying your neighbors with just a 3 by 5 meter space – just enough to fit 2-3 1000 liter tanks or your can have smaller tanks if you have a smaller space. The reverse osmosis filters and the rest of the equipment only require a square meter space.

Having your own water treatment system for your drinking needs is also very low maintenance since the system will be equipped with automatic shut off valves and sensors then you can be assured that it only uses electricity when it needs to fill back your tanks, and this is also the time when it actively treats the water – only when it tries to fill back the tanks – which is when it detects a certain drop in the available reserve after a certain amount of use which you can set ahead.

We all get our drinking water from the water refilling stations these days since we can no longer trust the water supply system since it is hard for them to maintain their pipes – some can be near sewers – and they also add chlorine and flouride to the water. Chlorine and flouride are the oldest additives that community water suppliers add to the water from the tap system. Chlorine kills germs and pathogens while flouride helps to prevent rapid oxidation of the metal pipes. These two strong chemicals will be absent in your water if you drink water from reverse osmosis systems – your nearby water refilling station. When you install your own reverse osmosis treatment system, the filter system is designed to remove chlorine flouride and other water additives and the microbes and pathogens.

[Show slideshow]