Simon Parrish, president of Waukesha-based Abersham Commercial Services LLC, believes the innovative Ambiente Housing System that he and his father, Malcolm, own and recently launched, will revolution…
Simon Parrish, president of Waukesha-based Abersham Commercial Services LLC, believes the innovative Ambiente Housing System that he and his father, Malcolm, own and recently launched, will revolutionize the home building industry. After about 20 years spent developing a building material that can stand up to just about anything: waste glass, Parrish says: It“s absolutely the best material to make a house from. The father-and-son materials engineering team patented a new technology to convert waste glass into glass beads, called Ambi-Cells. These are then mixed with resin to create a new composite building material that is stronger than wood and resistant to hurricanes, mould, insects, fire and earthquakes. We“ve patented both the product and our automated manufacturing process in virtually every country in the world, the younger Parrish says. And we“re now involved in joint ventures to set up manufacturing plants on a large scale to supply key markets that we“ve identified. Their first automated, high volume manufacturing plant is located in Waukesha. What we“ve done is combine high-tech composite materials, advanced engineering and superior architectural design to create an eco-friendly Ambiente Home. The house consists of modular panels that are reinforced with cables and anchored to a concrete slab foundation. We believe it will generate large sales volumes in locations such as northern Canada, where mould and rotting wood are a big problem, and places like Louisiana and Florida that are prone to hurricanes and flooding, Parrish says. The houses come with a 20-year warranty, and homeowner insurance premiums are expected to be about 40% lower because the houses will virtually be maintenance-free. Shipped out as kits to construction sites, Ambiente homes are also very environmentally friendly, recycling 13 tons of waste glass per house, without any need for wood or metal, since the company builds channels for plumbing and electrical wiring directly into its panels, with flexible rods reinforcing the overall structure. Weight for weight, their tensile strength is stronger than steel, Parrish said. Abersham produced its first glass house more than a decade ago, fine-tuning the manufacturing process ever since, increasing the use of automation to lower production costs. (The product) has just naturally evolved to where it is today, he said. Now, Abersham hopes to attract interest from the US military, which relies on dwellings that are resistant to small-arms fire.