The creator of Tesla’s latest innovation could revolutionize home construction
Elon Musk never fails to surprise, but his announcement on March 26 that the Boring Company would soon begin the production and sale life-size Lego-like bricks is still creating quite a stir. Musk and the Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company founded by Musk in 2016, plan to utilize leftover materials from proposed transportation tunnel projects in the construction of the blocks.
Waste not, want not
With Musk’s history of alternative energy sourcing, it seems fitting that his building materials would be sourced from the byproduct of the Boring Company’s tunnel projects. While details remain sketchy, Musk has said that the blocks will be “bored in the middle…so not so heavy” and “rated for California seismic loads”. Though Musk has indicated that the first kits will be available sometime in May, it is unclear exactly when mass production of the bricks for general building projects will begin or how much they will costs.
While the idea may not have seemed completely fleshed out when Musk initially made the announcement on Twitter, the Boring Company has long been addressing the subject of how to utilize the bedrock excavated from tunnel sites. The FAQ section of the Boring Company’s website notes that building materials from naturally occurring earth and rock have been used in construction for thousands of years and that the reusing the byproduct of the tunnel projects could lessen the environmental impact of the projects.
Revolutionizing Housing Solutions
Musk has publicly stated that with their relatively light weight that two people could construct the outer walls of a house in “a day or so” using the interlocking blocks. If true, the blocks could provide radically new housing solutions.
Many nonprofits and government organizations have long searched for inexpensive, low-cost means of constructing housing for homeless individuals. If the Boring Company’s bricks are cost-efficient, they could be used as one of the potential means of addressing homelessness, especially in larger cities.
Additionally, with a growing number of people looking to ‘get off the grid’, the bricks could prove a time and cost-saving means of constructing homestead housing. For those living in incorporated areas, it remains to be seen how local and state planning and zoning officials will respond to the use of this material and what, if any, restrictions might be placed on their usage.
Continuing a Spirit of Innovation
Elon Musk has long been a champion and pioneer of innovation. This inventive spirit has led to the formation of the Tesla car company and the SpaceX space exploration and rocket-building company. The Boring Company, which Musk has referred to as a hobby company of his, was originally created to help solve the massive traffic congestion problems in southern California, particularly Los Angeles. Never one to settle or to allow waste, Musk may have stumbled onto a creative, profitable, and earth-friendly solution to utilizing a previously disposable commodity.
What do you think of Elon Musk’s latest innovation? Will building block homes become the latest trend in home construction? Leave us a comment below and tell us all about it.
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