American Ingenuity Dome Building Plans

are available three Ways: Stock, Modified or Custom

Save 50% on your Plans if you order prior to August 1, 2012

1. Stock Pre-Designed Plans
2. Modified Stock Plans Which Reflect Minor Changes To Ai’s Stock Plans
3. Custom Designed Plans Designed From Your Sketches

Besides manufacturing geodesic dome building kits, American Ingenuity designs the building plans that are used to obtain a building permit.  This file contains several pages of information, so please scroll down this page to view the info.

AMERICAN INGENUITY’S PHILOSOPHY:

One of the reasons American Ingenuity has been in business since 1976 and is very reputable, is that we try hard to treat all our customers the same. Our business philosophy and product is unique to the housing industry. Ai believes that each person should pay for only what they need. As a result, Ai's dome kit’s pricing is usually one-half less than other housing kits. Click on Pricing to learn more.

What causes American Ingenuity’s dome building kit to be so reasonable in price?

• Each client pays for their Building Plans instead of Ai increasing the price of the Building Kit.
• Ai does not make a profit on the Building Plans.
  
• None of Ai's staff is on commission.
• Unique panel contents allows for reduced manufacturing waste.
• Most of Ai's clients do not need engineer sealed building plans in order to obtain a building permit. As a result the engineer seal is a separate cost.
• Each person who wants to research American Ingenuity's building kit further can do so by purchasing the Planning Kit which includes DVD.  If Ai gave out a Planning Kit and DVD to 100 - 200 people a month, that cost would be paid by the Building Kit client also.

What is included in American Ingenuity’s Building Plans?

The building plans consist of two sets of blueprints that include the basic drawings for the dome that are needed when acquiring a building permit. The plans are composed using the AUTOCAD program on our computer aided drafting system as stock plans, or Ai can modify a stock plan or design a custom plan from your sketches for a reasonable fee.

Some of the pages in the Building Plans are a 3-D elevation and a 3-D perspective view. These plans include all the structural drawings, show the placement of the electrical outlets, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures; however, they do not have the electrical, plumbing, HVAC layouts. We have found if the layouts are included, then the inspectors require the subcontractors to follow the diagrams when usually the subs like to do their own layouts.  To view some of Ai's stock plans, please click on Plans. Once you are on the page, scroll down to find the hyperlinks to click on. 

How do I view American Ingenuity’s stock floor plans? There are four ways:

DXF Floor Plan Design Files

Now Available

Would you like to design your own Dome Floor Plan?  If you know how to use a Computer Aided Drafting Program (CAD) and if you do not see a stock plan in American Ingenuity’s Dome Stock Floor Plan Booklet that fits your needs, you can now order CDs of American Ingenuity’s Stock Floor Plans in DXF format and design your own floor plan.  By purchasing the CD, you can modify an Ai stock plan or produce sketches that American Ingenuity can use to design your custom Building Plans.

When you purchase a CD of DXF files we include a bonus item…..a DXF file of a six inch in diameter Mini-Dome.  Not only will this model be fun to put together, but that it will also serve as a reliable reference for building a life-size dome.  Once the Mini-Dome is assembled, you can see the dome geometry consisting of Hexagon, Pentagon and Riser panels. 

American Ingenuity designs the DXF files using the AUTOCAD program.  In order to manipulate or edit the DXF files you need the AUTOCAD program or a compatible drafting program.   If you do not have AUTOCAD, on the internet there is a free 30 day trial of Delta Cad which is compatible with AutoCAD. http://www.deltacad.com/.  Also you can read and edit the DXF files if you have a photo editor program like adobe or paint shop. And you can read the dxf files but not edit them using Microsoft word and power point. 

ORDER DXF FILES 

American Ingenuity’s Stock Floor Plans are now available on CDs in DXF format.  Each CD contains the DXF files for a particular dome diameter’s stock plans.  Each CD is $10 plus the mailing costs. 

To place your order, please call our office Monday – Friday 9 to 5 eastern time at 321-639-8777.  Let us know which CDs you want, along with your shipping info and your credit card info. 

The following CDs by Dome Diameter(s) are available.  The floor plans are for Residential Dome Home floor plans or basement plans or garage floor plans:

1. 27’ stock floor plans
2. 30’ stock floor plans
3. 36’ stock floor plans
4. 40’ stock floor plans
5. 45’ stock floor plans
6. 48’ stock floor plans
7.  22’, 27’, 30’, 34’ garage stock floor plans
8. 60’ Floor Planner and Furniture.  (No Sock Floor Plans are available; all 60’ plans are a Custom Design starting at $3,500.  Once our Plans Coordinator sees your 60’ sketches, he will quote you a  price for us to design your 60’ Custom Plans.) 

Each CD of DXF files for American Ingenuity’s 22’ through 48’ diameter domes  includes:

1.     First floor and second floor room arrangements with the second floor having headroom height lines.

2.     Optional stock basement plans, if available for that particular stock plan.

3.     An elevation view showing a cross sectional view of the dome revealing the center heights of each floor and a Pictorial/Elevation view which details many of the building options available for that diameter dome.

4.     A Blank Floor Planner.

5.     A furniture DXF file that you can use to cut and paste the furniture into the stock plan.

6.     A bonus Mini-Dome DXF file.

Origins and terminology of CAD

 per Wikipedia “The Free Encyclopedia”

CAD  originally meant Computer Aided Drafting because in the early days CAD was really a replacement for the traditional drafting board. Now, CAD usually means Computer Aided Design to reflect the fact that modern CAD tools do much more than just drafting.

CAD is sometimes translated as "computer-assisted", "computer-aided drafting, or a similar phrase. Related acronyms are CADD, which stands for "computer-aided design and drafting", CAID for Computer-aided Industrial Design and CADD for "computer-aided architectural design". All these terms are essentially synonymous, but there are a few subtle differences in meaning and application. CAM  (Computer aided manufacturing) is often used in a similar way, or as a combination (CAD/CAM).

What do Ai’s Building Plans cost? Just to clarify, because most of Ai's clients do not need an engineer seal or energy calculations to obtain a building permit, our Plans pricing does not include the cost for an engineer seal or the cost for energy calculations. Click on Plans FAQ to learn more.  To view Plans Pricing, click on Stock Plans.

Prior to purchasing Building Plans you need to assure you have answers to the following questions:

1. Does your land’s deed have any restrictions on domes?
2. Inquire whether there is a Home Owners’ Association governing your land, if there is you will need to check with them and make sure you can build a dome.
3. You can ask your building department, “What are the requirements for a residential building permit? Are there any additional requirements to build a geodesic dome? Is an Architect’s or Engineer’s seal required on the plans?”
4. Is your financing secured?

Can Ai modify any of the stock plans in the Stock Floor Plan Booklet?

Yes. Modifying a stock plan that is close to your dream dome allows you to adapt one of our stock plans to meet your needs. While it does incur a charge, it is much less than the expenditure of custom design work. Any of the Stock Plans may be modified to provide for such structural changes as:

1. Building a Mirror image.
2. Rearranging rooms, moving walls, or adding closets.
3. Combining the first floor from one plan with the second floor of another.
4. Adding or subtracting entryways, door and window dormers, or balconies.
5. Adding bathrooms.
6. Adding a full or partial basement.
7. Fortifying a floor structure to accommodate special furnishings such as a waterbed, hot tub, or weight room.

What is the easiest way to determine room dimensions based on square footage?

In the Stock Floor Plan Booklet that is included in the Planning Kit, Ai puts the square footage of each room. Look in the back of the booklet for the to-scale ruler (on tan paper). Cut this ruler out and use it to measure the length and width of the rooms. Compare the dome room sizes to the room sizes in your current home. You know whether you want the rooms larger or smaller than the current home you are in now. The room sizes will determine what size dome will fit your needs. The scale is 1/10" equals one foot. To learn more click on Square Footages.

Can American Ingenuity provide custom design building plans based on my sketches?

Yes. What Ai has found works best is for you to sketch out your ideas on a stock plan or on the blue floor planner pages in the Stock Floor Plan Booklet and email them to us by clicking on Contact Us or fax them to us at 321-639-8778.  If you fax, please call our office at 321-639-8777 to assure that Ai received all your pages and that they were legible.  Please include your name, address, telephone number and best time(s) to contact you.

One of our office staff will:

• review your sketch
• possibly call you with questions
• email your plan's price quote to you

Once we receive payment in full for the Building Plans and receive the price quote signed, Ai schedules your plans for production.

How long does it take to receive the stock plans?

It can take about two weeks depending on the time of the year. Ai does not keep the stock plans printed out for a couple of reasons:

1. Ai is constantly making improvements to the building plans. So before we print out a stock plan, we review the plan and make all the improvements.
2. Blueprints change color over time…Ai wants your prints to be fresh and bright.

How long does it take to receive modified or custom designed plans?

Stock plans are delivered in 2 weeks.  Allow at least 5 weeks for modified plans and 8 weeks for custom plans.  Once we start the design of your plans, Ai will fax or email you two rough drafts that you review and make changes on and fax or email them back to us. After you approve the final draft, Ai designs your structural blue prints and complete your plans....usually most of the time is taken up between when Ai sends you the draft and when you return it to us. 

How do I send my drawings or sketches to American Ingenuity?

You can fax (321-639-8778) the drawings to us or you can email them if they are in the following format:

• pdf
• or if you are using AutoCAD we can accept the documents in dxf format or dwg format.