Benefits of building with Zipblocks. Page-01

A list of benefits that our blocks offer.

Add fibrous strength to large structures: Plywood derives its strength from wood, glue, and from the fact that the wood grain in each layer of veneer in a piece of plywood runs in opposing directions. You can add fibrous strength to Zipblock structures by simply weaving lengths of Zipblocks together in opposing directions. Zipblocks allow you to build things virtually any size and at the same time the entirety of whatever you build can exhibit the strength characteristics exhibited by plywood. Click here to find out how to take advantage of fibrous strength.
Adhesives not required: Use of adhesives with Zipblocks to enhance stability is optional.
Based on natural design (crystal lattices): It's kind of hard to explain. Just watch this brief movie to see how they are based on natural design. What really matters is that Zipblocks benefit greatly by mimicking natural design.
Bond any two different materials together: You can join Styrofoam Zipblocks to steel Zipblocks to wood Zipblocks to rubber Zipblocks with ease. Because Zipblocks mechanically interlock, they will always bond to each other regardless of the materials from which they are made.
Can be made virtually any length: While standard Zipblock studs made from wood measure 8 feet long and 2 inches square, they can actually be made just about any length.
Easy for robots to fabricate products with: Because of their cubic/interlocking properties it is easy to program CNC machines to fabricate products using Zipblocks. At Zipblocks we like to refer to this process as robolithography. Click here to learn more about robolithography.
Easy to determine building requirements: Let's say that you need to build a wall that will be 10 feet long, 3 feet high, and 4 inches wide and that you will use 4 inch Zipblock to build this wall? You immediately know that you will need 30 4 inch blocks to create a 10 foot length of wall and that you need stack 9 courses of 4 inch block to reach a height of 3 feet. The total number of blocks that you need will need is simply 30 x 9 or 270 blocks.
Extremely strong: It is extremely easy to reinforce Zipblocks via rebar and steel reinforcements.
Facing is easy to apply: You can create round columns simply by attaching facing to Zipblocks. Click here to see facing being applied to a column.
Fit, interlock, and line up perfectly: Because Ziplock sizes always measure in cubes or in lengths of cubes and mechanically interlock, everything that you build with them will always fit perfectly together, fully interlock. Zipblocks always line up perfectly on the x-y-z planes. Building with Zipblocks can be likened to building with a giant set of toy-construction bricks that simply interlock on placement. Click here to a playhouse being constructed out of Zipblocks.
Green: Zipblocks create zero waste during construction. When you cut a Zipblock in two you are only creating two smaller Zipblocks. Zipblocks can be manufactured from renewable resources or from recycled materials. Unless Zipblocks are glued together they are a re-usable building product. Click here to learn more about why Zipblocks are green.
Inexpensive to manufacture: Because Zipblocks are so simple, we estimate that manufacturing them would only cost 10% of the actual cost of the raw materials used to fabricate them. Click here to see why Zipblocks are so simple.
Interoperable: While there are many different kinds of Zipblocks. All Zipblocks having the same "cube size" will interlock together. Click here to see different kinds of Zipblocks interconnected together.
Limitless Application: What can you build with Zipblocks? Well you can build anything that you can build with toy-construction bricks.but on a much larger scale. You can build bridges, toys, landscape edging, tunnels, balconies, walls, etc. etc. Click here to see some real prototype products built using Zipblocks.
Never lose their value: Unless they are phsyically damaged or glued together...Zipblocks can be used forever.
No waste: When you cut Zipblocks in two.you do not create waste.you only create smaller Zipblocks.
Pre-tiled wall, floors, patios, and walkways: You can build instant tiled flooring with Zipblocks. Click here to see a picture of Zipblock that has tiles applied to it.
Reusable: Buildings constructed of Zipblocks (without adhesives) can be dismantled.
Save time: You can build life-size structures almost as quickly as you can put toy-construction brick kits together. Click here to see how fast a course of Zipblocks can be laid.
Scalable: Let us say that you were in the process of building an 8 inch wall and you just ran out of 8 inch Zipblock. No problem.just switch over to 4 inch Zipblock. Transitional Zipblocks allow you to scale sizes by half instantly. The perfect x-y-z planes formed by larger blocks align perfectly with the smaller blocks.it is just that the grid formed by the smaller blocks has twice the resolution. The nice thing about Zipblocks is that 8 inch, 4 inch, 2 inch, 1 inch, inch, and inch blocks can all interlock together quicker than you can blink your eye. Click here to find out more about Zipblock Scalability.
Screws and nails not required: Use of screws and nails to enhance stability is optional.
Simple: Zipblocks simply lock together on placement. Click here to see how basic blocks work.
Simplify existing modular construction methods: Building prefabricated walls and delivering them to sites is a big money saver. The use of Zipblock studs allows the fabrication process to occur on site and eliminates the need for the delivery of prefabricated walls.this saves you even more money. Click here to see how this is possible.
Skilled labor not required: If you can assemble a toy-construction brick kit.you have the skills necessary to build with Zipblocks.
Smaller block sizes add definition: In a nutshell the resolution of what you build doubles every time that you decrease your block size by half. Think of it like this, eight inch Zipblocks are suitable to build house walls (walls are flat.no need for any resolution at all) with whereas if you were building a sculpture of a life-sized person you would probably want to use inch Zipblocks. It's important to remember that these inch Zipblocks can come in any length.
Tools not required: No tools are required to build using Zipblocks.
Unit of measure is simplified (measured in cubes): Let's say that you are framing a home using 2 inch wooden Zipblock studs that are 48 cubes in length. If you needed a Zipblock stud that was 24 cubes in length (48 inches) you would simply cut the Zipblock stud in two at the intersection of the 24th and 25th cubes. When building with Zipblocks, all measurements are based on "cube lengths." If you were to cut something the wrong length you would be off by an entire cube and it would be obvious.
Wide variety: Zipblocks come in many flavors. There are basic Zipblocks, advanced Zipblocks, snake Zipblocks, Curve Zipblocks, and etc. They all have special characteristics that make them ideal for certain applications. Click here to see some of the different varieties of Zipblocks.
More Benefits: We could list many more benefits.but the above list should be fairly convincing.

Some disadvantages of building with Zipblocks

New product/technology: Zipblocks are so new that they are not yet even on the market. Most people feel more comfortable using existing proven technologies.
Building codes not established: No research has been done yet regarding Zipblocks and building codes.
No data regarding strength characteristics available: Currently no data is available regarding Zipblock strengths.
Not commercially available yet: To date only prototype Zipblocks have been constructed. We are actively soliciting the manufacture of Zipblocks.
Pricing data unavailable: Conclusive data regarding production costs of Zipblocks have not yet been established.
More disadvantages: There are of course more disadvantages to building with Zipblocks, but for the most part these disadvantages all stem from the fact that Zipblocks are simply new.

Robots can easily create products using Zipblocks.

Robolithography. Never heard of it before? That is because this is a brand new term brought into existence by Zipblocks LLC. Robolithography is the process of using robots to assemble standardized components into desired 3-d shapes. Zipblocks are the perfect building material for robolithography because their design is based on a perfect cube that has interlocking features. When you build something with Zipblocks using robots, the placement of each Zipblock correlates to precise regions on the X-Y-Z coordinate system. Simply translated robots can easily work with Zipblocks because they are based on cubes.

Inexpensive to manufacture.

Our basic blocks are incredibly easy to manufacture. In fact, they are so easy to manufacture that the cost of producing them is not much higher than the raw materials used to build them. Would you rather pay one hundred dollars for five sheets of plywood or would you rather pay one hundred and ten dollars for a pallet of basic Zipblocks made from those same five sheets of plywood? If you purchase our blocks you can instantly put stuff together in very little time without using tools. If you purchase the five sheets of plywood, then you will certainly have your work cut out for you. Watch this movie to find out just why they are so inexpensive to manufacture.

The material costs for Zipblocks is easy to calculate. Let's consider OSB (oriented strand board) and cabinet grade plywood. These are both materials that are readily available at home supply centers. The retail price for a 4' by 8' sheet of 23/32" OSB at our local home supply center is 12 dollars and the cabinet grade plywood is available for around 33 dollars. These materials are suitable for the fabrication of wooden 2" Zipblocks.

OSB is suitable for building projects that do not require highly finished surfaces. Cabinet grade plywood is excellent for building projects that require highly finished wood surfaces, like wall units and entertainment centers.

Each sheet of plywood is capable of producing 333 two inch Zipblocks, so the formula for calculating the cost per 2" Zipblock is:

Cost per two-inch Zipblock = Cost per sheet / 333

The cost per 2" Zipblock for OSB and cabinet grade plywood are:

4 cents per Zipblock using OSB at 12 dollars a sheet

10 cents per Zipblock using cabinet grade plywood at 33 dollars a sheet

The material cost for projects is easy to calculate:

Building cost = Cost per Zipblock x Number of Zipblocks needed

Cost Example: How much does a 10' by 10' wall that is 2" thick cost?

A 10 ft wide by 10 ft tall wall would have 3600 two-inch Zipblocks in it and would cost:

Building cost = Cost per Zipblock x 3600

The costs for OSB and plywood (cabinet grade) are:

144 dollars for an OSB wall

360 dollars for a highly finished wall made from cabinet grade plywood.

As you can see the material cost is very low and these are retail prices!

It is easy to conceive that a commercial manufacturer could actually produce block at costs even less than the material costs posted here. The bulk purchase of materials would dramatically lower the cost of raw materials. The manufacture of Zipblocks is simple and incurs very little expense.

Exhibit fibrous strength.

Plywood is one of the greatest inventions of our time. It is remarkable because it is simple, strong, and relatively easy to produce. It has enabled several generations to build strong economical housing from one of our most abundant natural resources. In itself wood is strong. When you transform wood into plywood, it becomes much stronger. Plywood derives its strength from wood, glue, and from the fact that the wood grain in each layer of veneer in a piece of plywood runs in opposing directions. When you build projects with Zipblocks, you immediately mimic the way plywood derives its fibrous strength. Watch this brief video to find out how plywood and Zipblocks are related.

Infinite block scalability.

Interoperable

Virtually every different type of Zipblock can attach to each other. Our patent pending modular construction system assures interoperable connectivity between all Zipblock of same-size. The object illustrated in this picture serves only to illustrate how just how interoperable different types of same-size are. No other modular construction system offers the inherent capacity to deliver seamless interoperability like ours.

Benefits of building with our blocks.