A company in Windsor, Calif. recently announced it has developed a structural wall system that uses a combination of bamboo-based engineered panels and metal to produce wall cavities that eliminate almost all of the studs.
According to residentialproductsonline.com, the system, named the Prime Wall System, incorporates top and bottom metal tracks with panels made from bamboo laminated with plywood veneer. The metal tracks are installed on a concrete slab or wood subfloor and are used to secure the bamboo panels in place.
According to the company, the Prime Wall System will speed framing, reduce waste, save money, and improve the thermal performance of the home. Additionally, an empty wall cavity means the installation of electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and media can be quickly completed since there aren’t any studs to drill through.
The panels are prefabricated and, by the time they reach the build site, a CNC router will have already cut out every door, window, light switch, electrical outlet, and plumbing access. Interior walls that will be painted are pre-sanded to a 180-grit finish, meaning there is no need for drywall, and if stucco, masonry, or a stone finish will be used, BamCore provides the additional wall blocking to decrease the chance of wall or ceiling deflection.
In total, the Prime Wall System manages to eliminate over 95% of floor-to-ceiling wood studs and posts.
Related Stories
| May 14, 2013
Easy net-zero energy buildings [infographic]
"Be a Zero Hero" infographic educates building industry professionals on ultra energy-efficient structural insulated panel construction
| Apr 23, 2013
Building material innovation: Concrete cloth simplifies difficult pours
Milliken recently debuted a flexible fabric that allows for concrete installations on slopes, in water, and in other hard to reach places—without the need for molds or mixing.
| Apr 16, 2013
5 projects that profited from insulated metal panels
From an orchid-shaped visitor center to California’s largest public works project, each of these projects benefited from IMP technology.
| Mar 29, 2013
Sheetrock Brand UltraLight Panels first and only ICC ES compliant panel for ceilings
USG Corporation, a leading building products company and the industry innovator in lightweight drywall, is pleased to announce that its award-winning SHEETROCK® UltraLight Panels are now ICC Evaluation Services compliant for installation on ceilings with the long edges parallel to the framing.
| Mar 20, 2013
Folding glass walls revitalize student center
Single-glazed storefronts in the student center at California’s West Valley College were replaced with aluminum-framed, thermally broken windows from NanaWall in a bronze finish that emulates the look of the original building.
| Feb 28, 2013
Lend Lease builds world's tallest timber apartment building
Construction giant Lend Lease recently put the finishing touches on Forté, a 10-story apartment complex in Melbourne, Australia's Victoria Harbour that was built entirely with cross laminated timber (CTL) technology.
| Sep 7, 2012
The keys to success in the K-12 school market
When educators and school administrators describe their vision for new K-12 school buildings as ‘21st-century learning spaces,’ they’re not exaggerating. Many new schools are truly different in concept from their counterparts of only a few years ago.
