I would like to suggest that metal products are the best choice for structural material for the construction of Sola Roof Structures. Our collaboration will focus on DIY Methods? that will make metal structures more accessible including both Steel Frame and Aluminum Frame construction systems. Lightweight metal structures will have a strong appeal for home construction and this market has strong purchasing power while at the same time families need to derive greater benefits from the single largest expenditure they will ever make.

We know that forest resources have not been managed in a manner that creates a sustainable supply of wood for home construction and that steel has the potential to compete as a "green" and sustainable resource. Galvanized steel is easily recycled and has a very long life. Furthermore these metal construction materials are the most recycled of any building products; steel being over 50% and aluminum more than 95%. Even more important, these components can be disassembled for easy relocation or the parts can be reused in other buildings.

I am certain that I do not have to sell you on the many Advantages Of Metal Structures? for Tropical Climates. However, I would like to emphasize that there is a special advantage to using cold rolled Steel Frame or extruded Aluminum Frame components for framing light structures in a "Column & Joist" style (similar to the old style: a "Post and Beam" construction but lighter). The numbers of parts and quantities of each of these parts in the frame assembly are reduced. A "Wide Span" structure or “Tunnel Greenhouse” and “Double Tunnel Greenhouse” structures that are assembled quickly using bolts. Low cost wire mesh "curtain wall" construction can be used to build opaque, insulated wall construction, while the roof cover makes use of inexpensive (but advanced scrim & laminate coated) Sola Fabric. Thus, the cost of load bearing wall construction is eliminated, since the structure is supported by columns. The joists are bolted to columns that may be formed from laminated steel channels or hollow square tubing. The columns are set on 3 M spacing (in the column row) by 10 to 20 M grid (the typical span across the building bay). These open web joists are the strong elements carry the lightweight free-span floor and roof systems. The Floor Structures? carry conventional loads but the design utilizes the great economy of wire mesh to create the floor deck. Cross Bracing? makes this all-metal frame rigid and the footing requirements are minimized. Excellent wind tie down is afforded by running the wire mesh into the ground and/or making an earth berm onto the trailing edge of the mesh wall. There are several low-cost methods for finishing the curtain wall construction - including the "Sola Wall Garden?", which is similar in purpose to the Sola Roof Garden.

Key components of the Sola Roof structural system are:

A speculative possibility is a ferrocement rib structure. This may give a low - cost solution that will be more acceptable in less advantaged areas. In many tropical areas, concrete is customarily used in construction. It is too heavy for the airy structures need for Sola Roof. By teaching the slightly more sophisticated technigues for building ferrocement ribs, cost could be contained and long term structural intergrity could be perserved. Columns, supports, and foundations could continue to be built in conventional masonry. Since all the masonry is inside the Sola Roof, thermal storage in the masonry should not be a major component of daytime solar gain.

CAUTION - This is a speculative suggestion. The author is aware of no ferrocement Sola Roof.

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