ZipBlocks Blog

Guestbook

54 Responses to “Guestbook”

Ray wrote:
24 February 2010 at 7:15 pm :

Dammike,
Unfortunately Zipblocks are not being manufactured yet…so I’m unable to provide any shipping/pricing information.
Thx,
RC
Dammike wrote:
24 February 2010 at 7:05 am :

I need prices of your products & from where you will ship it.
scott williams wrote:
16 February 2010 at 10:41 pm :

I REALLY LIKE YOUR BUILDING CONCEPTS IT IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I HAVE EVER SAW.I AM GLAD I FOUND YOUR WEB SITE,I REALLY BELIEVE THESE COULD BE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF OUR FUTURE.I REALLY LIKE THE PLYWOOD ZIPBLOCKS IT WOULD ALOW PEOPLE TO BUILD PERFECT HOUSING SEEING HOW LUMBER USED IN STICK BUILT CONSTRUCTION IS SO IMPURFECT WHEN LUMBER IS WORPED,BOWED,SPLIT AND FULL OF KNOTS IT MAKES CONSTRUCTION HARD TO MAKE THINGS PLUM,LEVEL AND SQUARE WITH THESE ZIPBLOCKS MADE OF PLYWOOD IT COULD BE BETTER IT SO MANY WAYS I AM SOLD ON THIS IDEA GREAT JOB GUYS!!!!!
ray wrote:
28 January 2010 at 3:33 pm :

Subba,
No Zipblock products are available yet. A company by the name of HealthyBuilt is working on developing Zipblock roofing panels (http://www.zipblocks.com/products/ridge-roofing-panels.htm) that have solar panels embedded into them. These panels were supposed to enter the market place this year but economic downturn in the US is delaying progress. If you want to chat with the person working on developing those panels just send me an email (ray.cables at Zipblocks.com) and I?ll be happy to provide you with contact information.
Thanks,
RC
Subba Raju wrote:
28 January 2010 at 4:19 am :

Are they any poducts/blocks avaiable in which the solar energy plates are embeded. is there any road map for this type blocks.

2> Any tests made to study the imapct of water/wetness

How to contatc you to discuss further on this.
ray wrote:
27 January 2010 at 6:26 pm :

Gabriela,
Sustainable Forest Management ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_forest_management ) is one solution to avoiding the depletion of resources like trees.
gabriela wrote:
27 January 2010 at 1:48 am :

You simply transformed the LEGO concept into lifesize models/variant. Mass production of wood zipblocks simply helps at depleting an already vanishing resource. I have yet to see your own house/home built out of your own “invention”.
Ray wrote:
15 January 2010 at 3:57 pm :

Kevin,
Thanks for the comments and have fun with your new CNC machine. One of these days I’m going to get me one.

Ray C
kevin goodwin wrote:
14 January 2010 at 11:27 pm :

Have done custom woodworking for 20 years and never seen anything like this before!
Amazing how it all works. I am purchasing a CNC machine to do something???? bookcases custom trim ect. who knows?? If there is a way I can figure this into a project I will be sure to contact you. GREAT work really impressive!
Kevin
John Fernald wrote:
18 December 2009 at 3:58 pm :

You guys have a great idea and I’m glad you have patented it. I’m sure it will take off. It looks like a practical way for building for many applications. Take it to market, it will sell.
God Bless,
John Fernald
Spokane, WA
paulo james wrote:
18 December 2009 at 10:50 am :

ol?!
creio ter encontrado a solu??o para muitos problemas em minha comunidade atrav?s do seu site…
em meu pa?s. Brazil, n?o existem consciencias ecol?gicas, estamos come?ando a abrir os olhos para o ecol?gico. fa?o parte de um grupo de reciclagem. que busca o sustento familiar atrav?s da arrecada??o de lixo reaproveit?vel, ex: alum?nio,pl?sticos, papel, metais ferrosos e outros… por?m existe muita madeira que n?o reciclamos.
tenho a id?ia de coletar esta madeira e transformar em Zipblock para fazer casas para meu povo que muito pobre.
encontrei um engenheiro que gostou de sua id?ia… ele nos ajudaria desenvolvendo as m?quinas para fazer zipblocks.
nossa pergunta ?:
– seu projeto ? patenteado?
– voc? cobra royalits de projeto?
– voc? repassa a tecnologia e projetos para ONG?
– voc? envia projeto com detalhes do zipblock b?sico… para eu ver medidas ideais

por favor, responda pois temos pressa em construir casas para pessoas sem renda e sem dolares para financiamento publico.

se possivel retorne….. plis.

paulo.
Logan wrote:
6 July 2009 at 4:14 pm :

This is really cool. I love the idea.
Ray (Website Admin) wrote:
15 June 2009 at 1:00 pm :

Max,
No houses have been built using Zipblocks yet. If you check back in about a month or two we should have some pictures of an 8 by 10 foot playhouse built from 2×4 Zipblocks.

These 2×4 Zipblocks will be eight feet long…their material costs will be comperable to that of cinder blocks…the speed at which one will be able to produce structures using 2×4 Zipblocks will probably be at least 10 times faster.

Thanks for the post. =)
Maxwell (MaxTheITpro) wrote:
14 June 2009 at 10:32 am :

Wow, kool use of WordPress dudes!!
Is this ZipBlock “method” a cost effective way of building low-cost housing here in East Africa?? Do you have examples of such implementations??

Thanks!!

PS—> I REALLY dig the WP theme!
Ray (Website Admin) wrote:
26 May 2009 at 2:26 pm :

Suzanne,

Thanks for the post. Zipblocks can be made from just about any material. Their application would more than likely determine what they are made from as well as material costs.

Per making any/all the items you mentioned…depending what size the blocks are and/or what they are made out of…one could literally build/print anything.
suzanne wrote:
25 May 2009 at 5:04 pm :

This is really cool and so much potential for endless creations. how would you apply this to help one
- change out windows to doors (any possibility in using as frame to hang door?

- get rid of wood fencing and replace with some type of half stone wall (lower) wrought iron upper

- are the materials all wood ?

- make own recessed pull down wall bed?

Any possibilities here?

Thanks

Suzanne
zayed wrote:
24 May 2009 at 1:25 pm :

so nice…i looking to found invesment man to do this in GCC COUNTRY
thanks
TressiaL wrote:
2 May 2009 at 10:34 pm :

Dear Zipblocks team-

BRAVO!
Just browsing the site after Rachel told me about it and what a phenominal concept.
The design is so versitile and what a bonus that everything is environmentally friendly and so easily put together. Im very impressed with the demos and the website in general… Keep up the great work. Im proud to say I know you. (smile)
Wishing you all the best in your on going adventure…
Mark Hinrichs wrote:
23 March 2009 at 5:41 am :

Very interesting concept!
(our website is 6 years out of date at the moment. It’s in the process of being updated while work is slower)
Clair Schmidt wrote:
15 March 2009 at 9:45 am :

Wow this is a great concept,realy like the solar blocks.Im working with papercrete making blocks for homes and pipe insulation,just going into production this spring.
Good luck and i will be in touch.
Clair Schmidt Peace Country Eco Blocks Inc.
justin from malysia wrote:
15 February 2009 at 1:14 am :

wad a great concept!!!
i m juz a student.
finding my idea for the invention competition in skool.
urs idea were really enjoyed me!!!
i wish that i can know the designer.
hihi
Ray (Website Admin) wrote:
2 February 2009 at 11:33 am :

Pascal,

Thank you for the post and your interest!

I’ll send you an email in a few minutes.
pascal nji wrote:
1 February 2009 at 12:00 pm :

Dear sir,
I went through your website and saw the wonderful job you people are doing out there. I enjoy that so much and I wish I could be part of that great work. I am a builder by profession and I am interesting in working with you people . while hoping you will reply when need be, it is a pleasure coming across this great site. I will have many people look through it too to benefit of what is inside. Thanks.
Pascal Nji from west Africa
Subba Raju wrote:
24 January 2009 at 2:17 pm :

Very intresting concepts. I believe the future consutructions will be influnced by these thoughts. Wish you all success and looking forward for these availble commercially in near future.

Great things starts with Small initiations like this . HOPE and CONFIDENCE make them to succeed.

Best of Luck.
Per A. Nordby wrote:
20 January 2009 at 9:03 am :

Quite interesting idea! I can see some practical problems, but I am sure you will overcome them in time. Best Luck and Wishes!
Rod Collet wrote:
11 January 2009 at 1:49 am :

Nice concept. Put me on your email list. Cresco has a stacking lightweight concrete block that is a leggo concept. Expensive but user friendly. Keep up the good work.
johnny wrote:
10 January 2009 at 3:38 pm :

this is a good concept besides the fact that anything you build will be extremely heavy and thick. Deffinately not good for go-karts
Ray (Website Admin) wrote:
1 January 2009 at 10:45 am :

Richard,

Thanks for the post and we will be happy to partner with you if you and/or your org feel that we might be able to help.

As you probably already know, Zipblocks are not being manufactured yet. We did recently license to a biomass company that plans to make foam construction parts?but it may be awhile (a year or so) before these become available. These foam blocks can be made virtually any size, thickness, density, fireproof, bug proof, water proof, reinforced with fiberglass, etc.

Should you and/or your partners be interested in finding someone to manufacture any of the blocks illustrated on our website we will be glad to license our technology for almost nothing. When it comes to aid/disaster relief/charity we are not seeking to profit. It would be nice to receive some funding to support our operating costs. It costs quite a bit of money to secure patents, design new products, and pay other bills.

If you like the block designs that is great?but I think that perhaps some other stuff that we are working on might have more appeal to you. We are now working on what may become some of world?s simplest and lowest cost housing designs that are very high quality. We are designing segmented domes (just a bunch of simple foam triangles?nothing new in that respect) that can be assembled and made into weather proof & insulated storage/living facilities in literally an hour or two without using any tools.

What we have done is to meticulously study other dome designs and have focused heavily on simplifying the construction process as well as integrating and/or allowing for the integration of modern building components (wiring/plumbing/solar/lights/etc). The dome panels loosely follow some of the interlocking concepts of some of our blocks?just interlock into position with minimal effort. The triangle/panel sizes will probably be moderately sized?around 4 to 5 foot sections that will be about 4 to 5 inches thick. As well as forming a dome the panels will have other features integrated into them. *Note: These dome designs are still on our ?drawing board? and will need to be patented & prototyped.
kizito richard wrote:
31 December 2008 at 7:52 am :

I , thanks very much for your seriuos research in building technologies. your efforts in building industry can save lives of poor third world communities i asure you. Kindly let me know if its possible to patener with you in desseminating your technology here in Uganda. for the last 8yrs, i have been trying to come up with alternatives, due to no resources nothing had come out, i tried the interlocking, cementfiber, pannelframe, etc. I was implementig ‘RuralShelter’ programe with the catholic dioecese of Masaka as a programe maneger in 1997- 2001. Now working with East African EnergyTechnology Dev Network,as a community mobiliser implementing an EU funded programe ‘DEEP/EA. Promoting energy bussiness. Hope to hear from you soon.
Ornate Developers wrote:
20 December 2008 at 1:08 am :

pls send us information regarding green building as we r coming up new project aprox. 300000 sq.ft. at andheri(w), MUMBAI. Thanks.
Ray (Website Admin) wrote:
13 December 2008 at 4:30 pm :

Grindl,

I checked out the http://www.timbercrete.com site?they have some very nice products. Might be well worth spending a few extra coins for their products.

Per building Zipblocks on site. I don?t think it would be practical to make cement or wooden blocks on site. But, the company that we just licensed to says that making blocks out biomass foam materials is so simple that a portable machine could easily be setup on site to manufacture Zipblocks.

One could build ICF?s as shown in this illustration ( http://www.zipblocks.com/applications/applications-02.htm ) and then fill them with concrete.

Per earthquakes. We are working on some very interesting dome designs. One design features a dome made out of interlocking foam blocks that gets covered with rebar and concrete. The foam blocks that create the original foam dome would consist of only two different block types. We are still in the process of prototyping these foam blocks.

I wish that I could provide you with more information?but we are still only a startup company with two members.

Thanks for the post!
Grindl Dockery wrote:
12 December 2008 at 3:10 pm :

Hi I am interested in your concept as we are trying to build an eco house back in NZ and have been looking for a environmentally material which is strong and able to cope with the climate for our outside walls.

We have looked at Timbercrete which is also supposed to be good but it is expensive both in terms of money and carbon footprint due to transportation from where they are produced.

My querie is could these blocks be made easily for instance from cement and on site or close to e.g. local producer? My fear of using Plywood is that where we are building has heavy rains and strong winds in winter months and is about 360mts ASL.

I fully support what you are doing and wish you well – but would appreciate it please if you could find some more examples of how ZipBlocks can be used for building an eco house which is structurally sound and meets strict earthquake standards. We would also be interested in insulation possibilities with the way they are constructed.

Thankyou
Zipblocks Admin wrote:
29 August 2008 at 10:57 pm :

Bob,
Sounds great!
Will be in touch…
Bob Rains wrote:
29 August 2008 at 2:45 pm :

Wow what a great concept, I interested in fabrication of parts for you. Could start out small and go from there. I am building my own cnc router. It is capable of producing products to start out with it would get em up and running and in business, from there I would invest in more equipment, I also have a contact that would easily produce products. His router. His machine is a full production model with auto tool changers. We both also have cnc machine shops that could use the work. let us know if you are interested. Thanks. Bob Rains
Zipblocks Admin wrote:
20 August 2008 at 3:23 pm :

Ralph,

Good catch. There are certain cases where block placement can be problematic

If one is building walls from scratch?no worries?this link shows walls being built. If one is building a wall between two existing walls, then one block simply needs to be slid into the wall in a different direction.

Per testing strength?we may be working with our local university in the near future on this. Some companies down in Texas have expressed interests in this as well.

Per the solar/battery blocks…it would probably be easier to make simply one or the other. This link does a better job of illustrating how Zipblocks could be used to create battery storage systems. An electrical engineer that reviewed this said that convection cooling might be an issue and that getting companies to standardize battery sizes might be an issue as well?other than that?very feasible.

Thanks for the post!
ralph wrote:
18 August 2008 at 7:20 pm :

maybe i’m not understanding this right – but it seems to me that, say you’re building a square room, as you come to the end of the second layer, you run out of room to slide the last block of that layer into place?
interesting idea though – you may want to consider solar hot water rather than pv – it would be less complex.
burying batteries inside your wall is bad for maintenence, since batteries often need topping up with distilled water, and can sometimes vent acid fumes – not something you want building up in your wall.
i really like the reusability aspect of these – and that different materials can be linked together. a useful addition would be a single block that meets building regs for insulation (for example) – i’m sure builders would like the idea of a wall that slots together and just needs rendering to be good to go.
i think you should concentrate on doing some real testing of them, to find their mechanical properties. then you can work out what applications different materials can be used for.
it will be hard to find a manufacturer without strength test data.
the hook component that locks the blocks together vertically in particular looks like it could break under pressure from the side.
sorry for the long post, just some thoughts i had while reading the intro.
hope this helps, and best of luck
ralph
dave wrote:
11 July 2008 at 12:56 pm :

Great idea I was especially interested in solarblocks. Working with thin film solar photovoltaics might be the way to go on that one. http://www.thinfilmsolar.com. Keep me informed I would be interested in looking at building with zipblocks in the future.

Dave
Zipblocks wrote:
18 June 2008 at 2:17 pm :

Zipblocks are not being manufactured yet. We are getting ready to license to a biomass company that wants to manufacture them out of foam. Perhaps next year foam Zipblocks will be available.
al wrote:
17 June 2008 at 10:50 pm :

were do u buy these 4rm
bonnie wrote:
20 March 2008 at 12:17 pm :

Great idea. Looking forward to more information when you have recycled materials available. Will be wonderful for adding temporary rooms to a house or apartment.
Charlie Vander Haar wrote:
10 December 2007 at 10:49 pm :

This is one of the most clever and interesting ideas I have ever seen! The possibilities are mindboggling.
Zipblocks Admin wrote:
17 September 2007 at 8:37 pm :

Brie,

Materials to manufacture Zipblocks from are easy enough to find…financing is the only thing holding things up.

Hopefully financing will not be an issue for much longer we are having discussions with a few manufacturers and investors. Nothing solid yet but things do look very promising.

Thanks for your interest!
Brie wrote:
16 September 2007 at 10:41 pm :

I like! I like!

Is the problem scarcity of material to build them or financing? If financing, couldn’t they be presold?

Let me know when they are available.
Zipblocks Admin wrote:
22 August 2007 at 6:25 pm :

Gary,

Manufacturing Zipblocks from lunar regolith sounds like an awesome idea and also a very feasible one at that.

For all intents and purposes…neither Zipblocks nor this site even exists…our web traffic is growing…but we are essentially a grain of sand on the beach as far as awareness of our products/concepts are concerned. We have sent a couple of emails to NASA…but never received a response…they probably got filtered by some sort of spam filter.

If anyone reading this has any connections inside NASA perhaps they could introduce them to Zipblocks.

Thank you for your feedback!
Jon wrote:
22 August 2007 at 3:58 pm :

Excellent Idea. I will keep zip blocks in mind for any future building projects.
Gary wrote:
22 August 2007 at 12:40 pm :

If you create a device to manufacture zipblocks from lunaar regolith, I’m sure NASA would love to drop one of these on the moon and start a teleoperated construction site. How about it?
Zipblocks Admin wrote:
20 August 2007 at 7:36 pm :

Steven,

Glad to hear about your interests in our products for disaster relief efforts. We’ll be glad to assist where we can.

Per our home page when it comes to disaster relief and/or charitable causes we are not seeking profits…

Most of our core technologies are illustrated on the site we have a lot of things that are offline as well. We don’t have any special brochures or anything.

If yourself and/or others have special requests and/or requirements we would definitely like to hear about them.

Per building modular housing rapidly this presentation makes for good reading:
http://www.zipblocks.com/benefits_2_2_pdf.htm

If one wanted to build housing using only basic Zipblocks all one needs are wood sides and some lugs. Just snap them together to build blocks and then snap the blocks together to build houses. Here’s a very brief demo illustrating the two basic components required to snap together basic Zipblocks: http://www.zipblocks.com/how_they_work_1_6_s.htm
Steven Doyle wrote:
20 August 2007 at 3:45 pm :

I have connections to several non-profits that provide disaster relief. I’ll pass on this info. That may be one way to get things started for you. One NGO I work with has built thousands of houses in India after the tsunami and earthquakes. I’ll see if I can get this forwarded to the right person. This could save lives if it saves time. If you have any technical data or printed material that might help. email me for address. Thanks, Steven
Zipblocks Admin wrote:
5 August 2007 at 4:31 pm :

I found the invention that Willie was talking about. A gentleman by the name of Carlos Reid on American Inventor created a product/invention called Rebuilding Blocks.

This link is to a page that has a brief description of them.

I don’t know too much about Rebuilding Block…but I would like to wish Carlos the best of luck and I hope that he wins.
Zipblock Admin wrote:
5 August 2007 at 1:42 pm :

Willie,

Thank you for your comments and your support!

Zipblocks are going to do 1000 times over for manufacturing and consumers…what Bill Gates and Microsoft did for computers.

We are starting to be approached by some companies/people that have a vision for introducing Zipblocks to the world on a very large scale. I’d say that in two years time Zipblocks will start becoming available to consumers.

Say. I’m curious about what you saw on American Inventor. If you should read this post again and remember the name of what you saw it would be appreciated if you might simply post it here.

Thanks again!
Wille wrote:
5 August 2007 at 1:19 pm :

I saw something similar to this on the tv show “American Inventor”. If I wouldn’t have seen that episode, I wouldn’t have thought this idea was possible. But reading through the website, I found it fascinating and very useful for I would have many uses for it as a consumer. Please keep this dream alive for I would definitely buy it when it is available.
Terry Jennings wrote:
6 July 2007 at 11:41 am :

Hi,
A fellow inventor in Portugal told me about your site. As a retired builder and engineer this has captured my imagination. Have you looked into making your blocks from recycled materials? There is a wealth of cheap products that can be recycled and would be good for the environment. Some governments give large grants for using these materials I do not know about yours but it is worth a phone call to find out. Keep me informed of your progress because when you are ready I am sure that I can put you in touch with companies in this country that would be willing to take a license from you. A nice way to go if you have not got unlimited finance.
Best of luck with a product like you have I am sure you will suceed.
Terry Jennings
Chairman
East London Inventors Club.
Perry Godwin wrote:
22 June 2007 at 12:35 pm :

Zipblocks seem like a very useful product. I don’t have an immediate need for them, but should I be building anything in the near future, I will keep Zipblocks in mind.
Zipblock Admin wrote:
9 May 2007 at 12:34 pm :

Our guestbook is now open. Please feel free to leave comments here about our site.

Note: Your comment(s) will appear after approval. Once approved you can post as often as you wish. If we did not review comments for approval this entire blog would quickly be spammed with unwanted links.

=)

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54 Responses to “Guestbook”