Open Source Ecology Forums

noahharris

If one were to replicate the CEB press, how would one go about marketing the machine, or in some way generating income using the machine. I am assuming (and do not claim to know whether this is true) that the generation of capital is still essential within the open sourced economy.

Matt_Maier

If by "marketing" you mean becoming a distributor of the machines I think you're going to have a difficult time. I can't imagine all that many people needing or wanting one. Sort of the point of the machine is that it pumps out bricks really fast, and it's portable, so it should be able to fulfill a lot of demand.

If you want to be the person using the machine then by "marketing" you must mean convincing people to build their structures out of CEBs. That might not be all that difficult because in areas where CEBS are practical and legal the builders should already have at least heard of the concept. It will mostly be a matter of showing them that they can do something better, faster or cheaper with the CEBs your machine produces. I suspect a lot of builders are going to be reluctant to use CEBs that don't have reinforcement in the middle (cement and/or rebar).

Yeah, money exists for a very good reason and it's not going anywhere. You still have to pull your own weight. We'll see how OSE's HabLab holds up over time. If the walls are still looking good in a year or two that will be a strong recommendation for the CEBs. It will be easier to talk people into using them. Probably best to start with sheds, little walls (decorative/retaining/etc), BBQ pits, and that sort of thing. Work up to extensions and then full dwellings. Housing is a conservative marketplace; it doesn't change quickly because there's such a huge capital investment.

Danial

A couple years ago I was in the process of getting a small CEB and SCEB business going. But I hit a wall when I found out that this type of building material is not legal here in Ontario. In theory it could be used with the approval of an architect, but it is not in the building code. Adding it to the building code is a lengthy and expensive process that I was simply not able to do. Assuming you are in an area where CEB/SCEB is well known and is legal then there could be great potential to generate cash by making blocks, but that's about it. There would be little money in making the machines for sale unless the process is greatly streamlined and you have a good demand.

Until there is a demand for the machines or the blocks making money from the technology is not likely to be in abundance. Although with the right marketing it could be promising in the future.

NavSy

I think what is more important is open sourcing videos on how a house is built using CEB's. Then the machines would market themselves. The ideal thing to do would be to have distributors in all parts of the country. Rather then selling the machines or blocks you could rent them out for about 1500 dollars a month. This would give a person enough time to make the blocks they need for the project.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Open Source Ecology Forums