Precast concrete foundation system for residential construction

加拿大住宅市场持续增长；仅在2004年，新建住宅就达到233,431套。由于加拿大天气寒冷，建设季节太短，无法满足对新房的需求，延长了这些新居的建设工期。较长的建设工期会导致较高的建设成本，这些成本会转嫁给房主。目前地下室墙体“现浇”施工方法造价高，施工时间长。这也是不安全的：新鲜的混凝土不允许立即回填，迫使建筑工人和路人在大型开放的战壕周围行走数周。目前的现浇施工方法也给环境带来了大量的气体排放：它使用更多的混凝土，并且在施工期间需要大量的卡车将其部件运送到工地。预制混凝土地下室墙基础(PCF)为加拿大建筑业提供了一种极好的替代方案。PCF将房屋的地下室墙壁细分为嵌板，以便现场快速组装。这些面板使用高性能混凝土，内部嵌有绝缘材料，形成了防止热量和水分转移的连续屏障。这一功能使地下室更温暖、更干燥，为那些将地下室用作生活空间的人改善了室内空气质量和生活条件。低换热的地下室墙体也降低了房主的供暖成本，房屋的能效更高。研究小组正在设计、设计和开发一种适合加拿大气候的PCF系统。这为加拿大工业提供了一种更经济的住宅建设方法，施工时间更短，施工季节更长，冬季施工更容易，同时减少温室气体排放。这项研究将使住宅建设产业化，为加拿大住宅建设提供加拿大解决方案。

The Canadian residential dwelling market is continuously increasing; in 2004 alone, new housing construction reached 233,431 units. Due to Canada's cold weather, the construction season is too short to meet the demand for new houses, extending the construction duration of these new residences. Longer construction duration results in higher construction costs, which are transferred to homeowners. The current "cast-in-place" construction practice for basement walls is expensive and takes a long time to construct. It's also unsafe: the fresh concrete does not allow for instant backfilling, forcing construction workers and passersby to walk around large open trenches for weeks. Current cast-in-place construction methods also carry significant gas emissions to the environment: it uses more concrete and requires a large number of trucks to deliver its components to the site during construction. Precast concrete basement walls foundations (PCF) offer an excellent alternative for the Canadian construction industry. PCF subdivides the basement walls of a house into panels for quick on-site assembly. The panels use high-performance concrete with insulation embedded within to form a continuous barrier against heat and moisture transfer. This feature makes basements warmer and drier, enhancing the indoor air-quality and living conditions for those who use the basement as a living space. Low heat transfer basement walls also reduce heating costs for homeowners and the homes are more energy-efficient. The research team is designing, engineering and developing a PCF system suitable for Canadian climate. This provides Canadian industry with a more economical approach to residential construction with shorter construction times, extended construction seasons and easier winter construction, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This research will industrialize residential construction, making a Canadian solution for Canadian residential construction.