Build Better With Surf Blocks Made From Recycled Surfboard Foam
A Maui architect has created an eco-friendly building material that uses surfboard Styrofoam waste in its composite concrete.
Construction materials aren’t usually the kinds of things we geek out over. After all, a brick is a brick, a cinder block is a cinder block, right? Except when they’re not, as in the case of Surf Blocks, the composite concrete forms made from, of all things, recycled surfboard foam.
Architect David Sellers dreamt up the material in 2023 as a more eco-friendly alternative to traditional cinder blocks. Consisting of around 85% Styrofoam waste sourced from local surfboard manufacturers, the Ha‘ikū-made blocks divert waste from Island landfills and reduce the amount of concrete used by 30%, thus lessening the need for imported materials.
For those of us without architecture degrees or contractor licenses, here’s how they work in layman’s terms. When building a steel-reinforced concrete wall, like those used to frame a home, the blocks are stacked into place, steel rods are inserted for reinforcement and then concrete is poured into the core.
The benefits are plentiful. Along with being extremely durable (they’re five times stronger than wood framing at a similar cost), Surf Blocks provide energy and acoustic insulation, and are resistant to fire, mold and pests. How rad is that?
surfblockmaui.com, @surf.block.maui
Brie Thalmann is the home and style editor of HONOLULU Magazine.
