The House That "Bud" Built
May/June 1972
The Mother Earth News editors
The Atomic Energy Commission's National Accelerator Laboratory (of all places) has come up with an idea that might make it a little easier for you to have that strong but cheap and easy-to-build cabin or shed of your dreams. Robert Sheldon, an AEC engineer, was put about the task of finding a lightweight, translucent panel to use in the construction of a new laboratory. After seeing a gag sign that said, "Keep America beautiful—swallow a beer can," Sheldon decided to put together a sandwich worthy of Dagwood Bumstead's best efforts, beer cans on fiberglass, heavy on the glue.
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A 10'3" equilateral triangle of 100-mil-thick polyester-bonded fiberglass was roughened with an abrasive, spread with epoxy resin adhesive and covered with about 530 discarded aluminum beverage cans stood on end. The tops and bottoms had been removed from the containers so that light could pass through the finished panels. A second adhesive-backed triangle was then placed on top of the cans, weights were set on the sandwich and it was left to dry overnight. Next day the edges of the panel were bound with U-shaped aluminum channeling to prevent peeling of the fiberglass away from the cans. The red, blue, orange and yellow honeycomb-like units built in this fashion were then put together into a multi-colored geodesic dome, 40 feet high and 200 feet in circumference.
News of the idea spread rapidly, and soon some engineering students at The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio were building and testing more beer can panels. Rumor has it the ultimate goal is flooring the Professor Joseph Lestingi's new patio, but presently the project is part of classes taught by another professor, Robert Dubensky. So far the students have limited themselves to fiberglass-epoxy construction similar to NAL's, using varying thicknesses of sheeting to build arched panels that would be suitable for roofing, footbridges and the like. Their first arch, made from 40-mil fiberglass, withstood a center load of 2,450 pounds before buckling.
