. . . ECOLIEBHABITAT . . . is the creation of Dan Liebermann, teacher and extraordinary organic architect. A friend worked for him on a house, and when it didn't win easy approval for permit, Dan's approach was to fight the building officials. But consider the outstanding results and the dedication to teaching and pro bono service, and the picture is so positive the combativeness must be worth it.

Suspended ceilings were a great mystery. Are. So several searches later came up with a Salt Lake City resource, and contacted Armstrong.

A potential ceiling or wall finish material turns out to be more than the budget a current project can stand. Panels for the ceiling would be $51,000. A four by eight foot panel of the least costly material would be a little over $400, and 32 panels would be needed to make up a $13,000 minimum order of 1000 sq. ft. Wall facing for the total project is approximately 7000 sq. ft., $91,000.

A digression is DSA Architects straw bale with research into stressed skin. Alusion is a quirky aluminum foam product that is mainly used decoratively, not structurally. Green Home Building has a good page on manufactured systems such as SIPS.

Results of "curved building panel modular foam" are not very good. This page gives some general ideas of curved architectural panels, and this page, Galileo, specifically calls for sandwich panels for this, but unfortunately it is European. Loxley provides many related solutions, but it is very difficult to find a real product for a low-budget project since the company is offshore. ThermaSpan residential has a metal and foam profile that matches imaginative ideas of colleagues of what a panel should be, but there is no picture of a curved panel, and the supplier is offshore. If the project were huge, then Radome might be the answer. Kalwall is a product that might be the answer, a real product that offers curves and light transmission. It has a person where the project is located, a spec, and systems applicable to walls and roofs. Todco can do almost anything in a curved panel, but apparently on a high budget. One of the approaches in mind at the outset of search was corrugated or honeycomb kraft.

Search for "building panel modular foam" casts a wide net. Here are some of the results. An Australian firm offers panels for structural concrete applications, Unibuild, with US application. The National Park Service uses modular construction for collection storage inside historic buildings or in separate outside structures and offers many pointers in this Conserve-O-Gram. Sustainable Building Sourcebook provides an overview of structural wall panels and green considerations such as molded expanded polystyrene (MEPS) are "acceptable insulation or an alternative that has no ozone-depleting chemicals must be used. Additionally, waferboard, OSB [oriented strand board], sheetrock and/or siding need to be used as facings....COST: $1.75 to $2.75 per square foot or higher (material only). This can be slightly higher than conventional framing costs." Vesta Builders, Inc., a residential contractor serving a specific local area provides solid guidelines for details and allowances. Structall is a typical panel manufacturer of a patented insulated panel. None of these systems lend themselves to curved walls, so try a different search.