Competitors

compare american ingenuity’s

dome building kit

to other housing kits

American Ingenuity hopes that you will research other housing kits. When you research other kit contents and other kit pricing, we believe that you will find that Ai’s kit provides more but its price is about one half less.

Why can American Ingenuity’s building kit provide more than other kits? It is far more practical to build a dome with concrete than wood and applying concrete and wall board to blocks of rigid seven inch thick expanded bead polystyrene (E.P.S.) insulation produces a panel that provides the structure, most of the exterior finish, the insulation and the interior shell finish.

Why is the American Ingenuity building kit about one half less in price than other housing kits? The Ai building kit is such a good price mainly because of the component panel design and its materials. The component panel consists of all the R-28 insulation, most of the exterior steel reinforced concrete finish and all the interior shell wall board. In conventional houses you will likely have to purchase roof trusses, plywood, roofing, exterior walls, siding, insulation, and ceiling/exterior wall drywall plus pay for the installation of the trusses, exterior walls, insulation, roofing, siding and wall board.

The following are other reasons why Ai’s kits have a better price than other housing kits.

Ai’s business philosophy of each person paying for only what they need results in a lower kit price as American Ingenuity does not have an 800 number, its literature prices are based on their printing costs, only its clients who need an engineering seal pay for one, etc.
Ai maintains a lower advertising cost and concentrates more on improving the design than pushing sales.
None of our staff is on commission.
Due to lower labor costs in Florida, Ai can manufacture in Florida and ship to almost any other location cheaper than it would cost to manufacture there.

What is the advantage of building a house from concrete instead of wood? Building a conventional house out of wood is difficult enough to get all the wood pieces to fit. It is especially difficult to get all the wood pieces to fit for a geodesic dome due to the angles and dimension changes.

That is why the founder of American Ingenuity, Michael Busick, knew there had to be a better way to build a geodesic dome than with wood. He took the time to invent our component panel and receive a patent on it. Because of his choice of building materials, seven inch thick blocks of E.P.S. insulation, concrete, steel mesh and wall board, American Ingenuity has found its kit to be very forgiving. The E.P.S. insulation can be cut with a knife so some of the insulation can be removed easily if need be. During shipment if some of the insulation is broken, it can be glued back on with expanding foam or pieces of scrap foam can be used to fill the hole. Concrete can fill and cover whatever you need it to.

Can I assemble the panels myself? Ai’s kit was designed for do-it-yourselfers. So not only does American Ingenuity’s clients save money on the building kit they can also save money on the assembly of the panels by erecting the panels themselves. About 40% of our clients assembly their kit, many with no construction experience. The Component Panels, Building Plans and Assembly Manual come marked with numbers and letters. If you do not have the time or do not want to assemble the building kit, you can hire a local contractor to select and coordinate the subs for the typical jobs such as foundation, plumbing, electrical, framing, heating/air conditioning, installation of your locally purchased doors/windows, etc. For the shell assembly, you or your contractor/builder can hire a consultant who will supervise your laborers or your builder’s subs and get the dome shell kit erected and then the Consultant goes home. To learn more about this service click on Kit Assembly Consultant.

If you hire all the work out, the finished price per square foot on the dome will be about the same as a conventional house in your area. Mainly because all the doors, windows, plumbing, electrical, flooring, kitchen cabinets, kitchen appliances, bathroom fixtures, lighting fixtures, etc. are the same as is needed for a conventional house….but you end up with so much more. The American Ingenuity Dome provides super-energy efficiency, super-strength, no wood in the shell for termites to eat or to burn, no shingles to replace, etc.

ADVANTAGES OF THE AMERICAN INGENUITY DOME HOME

Superior Structural Strength and Integrity.
Energy Efficiency unmatched in homes costing 40% more.
Low Exterior Maintenance, all concrete.
A design that will not age with time. It will not become antiquated.
Fire resistant exterior.
Easier for a homeowner to build than conventional construction.
Low environmental impact. Less wood in construction. Less energy to maintain.

DOME COMPANIES TO RESEARCH

Concrete Domes:

American Ingenuity Domes: www.aidomes.com prefabricated component panels
Monolithic Domes www.monolithic.com http://www.monolithic.com/plan_design/mdconst/index.html
- Inflate a fabric airform
- Spray three inches of polyurethane foam insulation on the underside of the airform
- Attach steel reinforcing rebar to the foam using horizontal and vertical steel rebar
- Spray three inches of shotcrete concrete onto the interior surface of the dome covering the rebar