Green Steel Homes

Sustainable Homes

 

Business Concept

GSH is a home building company for the 21st century, with a range of innovations that distinguish it from the many other players in the market:

  • Extensive use of software and the internet in all aspects of the company to streamline operations.
  • Fully sustainable homes incorporating environmentally-friendly materials, design practices and technology.
  • Smart housing concepts such as built-in internet and wireless networking.

 

Our homes will also offer the following important advantages:

  • Customers design their own floor plans using an online computer program.
  • Price comparable with a project or off-the-plan home.
  • Fast construction.
  • Virtually free electricity and water during the life of the home.

 

Design Features

A Green Steel Home is a few great homes rolled into one.  Features include:

  • Strong, steel frame (see Why Steel?)
  • Long-lasting; storm, earthquake, fire and termite resistant.
  • Spacious, comfortable and stylish.
  • Built using environmentally-friendly building materials.
  • Thermally efficient, designed to use passive heating and cooling.
  • Incorporating energy production technology such as solar panels and wind turbines.
  • Water tanks and water recycling system.
  • Energy-efficient hot water and cold water systems.
  • Energy and water-efficient appliances and fixtures.
  • A built-in wireless router and access point, providing internet all the time, anywhere in the house.
  • Integrated with the natural environment through outdoor spaces, and permaculture and native plant gardens.

 

Advanced Information Systems

Online design

Most new residences are one of two varieties.  The cheaper option is usually purchased off-the-plan or from a newly constructed estate or apartment complex, which means there will be many other residences with the same "average family" design.  The more expensive option is an architecturally designed home.

However, most people cannot afford an architect, and therefore must settle for a house which has probably been designed for a family different from theirs.

What we do is provide a happy compromise.  Users will be able to come to our website and design their own home online.  The software will be able to produce accurate quotes and 3d views in real time (I have written programs to do this before - please refer to the Management Team page for more information).

Our customers will receive the best of both worlds - a house they have designed themselves, for their own unique needs, yet without incurring the expense of an architect, building designer or engineer.

Another way that customers will be able to save money is to build their homes themselves.  The homes will be available in kit form, complete with customised assembly instructions generated by our software.  We will help owner/builders get the necessary licence through co-operation with training providers.

 

Automated integration with back office, warehouse, workshop, suppliers and builders.

Once a customer has purchased a home online, the software automatically produces parts lists and drawings, and integrates the project with the company's schedule.  Emails are sent automatically to all necessary stakeholders with a projected timetable for the project and all relevant information.

The company will maintain a warehouse of building materials and components, with an up-to-date inventory stored in the company database.  Our software will combine information from auto-generated parts lists with information from the warehouse inventory to produce purchase orders which are automatically emailed to suppliers such as Lysaght.  In this way we will always have sufficient quantities of materials to build homes on schedule.  There is no risk of a human forgetting to place an order, or making errors in calculating costs or quantities.

Our software will produce all the necessary drawings such as site plans and layouts for flooring, wall frames, roofing, cladding, electrical and plumbing.  The drawings are automatically emailed to all the necessary contractors along with any other relevant information.   Our software development team will liaise closely with our preferred contractors to determine the optimal format for drawings and other information.

Fabrication drawings will also be generated automatically and sent to the workshop.  In the first stage of the business these will be used by fabricators to assemble wall panels, trusses and other pre-fabricated components.  Within 5 years this will all be done by robots.

As each component of the project is completed, this triggers the project management system built into our software to send emails to all necessary people and update schedules.  Our customers will be automatically notified as each stage of their home is completed, which will relieve stress, increase excitement, and improve our relationship with the customer.

Our software will be integrated with Quickbooks, copying all online sales and auto-generated purchase orders into our accounting system.

 


 

Proceed to Building Design.