Developer thinks outside the wooden box

By Phoebe Sweet

Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007 | 1:14 a.m.

Strong enough to withstand a hurricane. Sturdy enough to last through a wildfire. And energy efficient enough to cut your electric bill by 80 percent.

It's no super-hero. It's a new 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom Henderson condo made of concrete.

"It looks like a normal house," developer John Petchel said.

Building with concrete isn't new , Petchel says - and it's not just for high-rises, prisons or garages - but it could cause an energy-efficiency revolution if it gains popularity in homes in the desert Southwest.

He has constructed 12 townhouses on Henderson's Hunter Street, in a rundown neighborhood where homes leak cooled air through holes in windows or walls. He plans to build another 36 units on Jefferson Street, around the corner, on vacant lots.

Although one of Petchel's concrete townhouses costs about $3,000 more than a traditional wood frame home, he says the houses make up the difference with the savings in air conditioning bills within two years.

Petchel uses insulating foam forms reinforced with rebar and surrounded by concrete on each side. The 8-to-15-inch thick walls are covered with stucco, shingles or wood on the outside and traditional drywall on the inside. Interior walls are usually also concrete, and roofs are traditional tile.

Using thick, insulating walls to keep Southwestern homes cool isn't a new concept - it recalls the history of Native American adobe homes made with a clay mixture. But unlike adobe, concrete is water-tight.

The Southern Nevada Home Builders Association says the percentage of homes in the valley built with concrete is "minuscule." Most members of the National Home Builders Association still build with stick framing, 2-by- 4 or 2-by- 6 lumber.

Monica Caruso, the Southern Nevada association's spokeswoman, said wood frame homes can be built to be just as energy efficient as concrete homes.

Petchel said constructing a 1,400-square-foot concrete home would cost about $125,000, compared with about $122,000 for the same wood-frame unit . He said he sells three-bedroom units for $249,000, which reflects costs in addition to construction, such as land.

Donn Thompson, residential technology manager for the Portland Cement Association, said about 18 percent of single-family new construction starts in the U.S. used some form of concrete frame in 2005.

"It 's a much stronger, much more durable, much more long-lasting way to build a house," he said.

It's unclear exactly how many homes in the valley are built of concrete, but there are developments in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas.

Henderson is thrilled with Petchel's development. Brock Gregerson, utility plans examiner with the city, said not only are the units energy efficient, but they also satisfy a need for affordable housing and are improving a blighted neighborhood.

But concrete isn't just for affordable housing. Contractor Steve Vaughn, who built Petchel's development, builds luxurious custom homes featuring cement for everything from counter tops to pool decks to decorative flooring.

"So why does everybody build with stick and stucco?" Petchel said. "They just don't think outside the box."