Precast concrete foundation system for residential construction

加拿大住宅市场持续增长；仅2004年一年，新建住房就达到233,431套。由于加拿大天气寒冷，施工季节太短，无法满足新住宅的需求，延长了这些新住宅的施工时间。建筑工期越长，建筑成本就越高，而这些成本又会转嫁给业主。目前地下室墙体的“现浇”施工方法造价昂贵，施工时间长。它也不安全：新混凝土不允许立即回填，迫使建筑工人和路人在大型露天沟渠周围行走数周。目前的现浇施工方法也会向环境排放大量气体：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组件运送到现场。预制混凝土地下室墙壁基础（PCF）为加拿大建筑业提供了一个很好的选择。PCF将房子的地下室墙壁细分为面板，以便快速现场组装。面板使用高性能混凝土，内部嵌入绝缘材料，形成连续的屏障，防止热量和水分传递。这一特点使地下室更加温暖和干燥，提高了室内空气质量和生活条件，为那些使用地下室作为生活空间的人。低传热的地下室墙壁也降低了房主的供暖成本，房屋更加节能。研究小组正在设计、制造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更经济的住宅建设方法，缩短了施工时间，延长了施工季节，更容易冬季施工，同时减少了温室气体排放。本研究将住宅建设产业化，为加拿大住宅建设提供一个加拿大的解决方案。

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.