FAQ: Does Monolithic have certifications or endorsements?

1) A LEED certified “stock plan” dome?

There is no such thing as a stock LEED plan. Each building must be evaluated for each piece of land. For instance, the land’s prior use is part of the evaluation.

2) A FEMA letter that said they approve domes for disaster proof shelters?

A FEMA letter of approval is not possible because each Monolithic Dome must be designed for a specific use. But as proof, we have built several domes designed and built as tornado shelters, in various states, for which FEMA provided up to 90% of the funding.

3) An earthquake testing lab putting a dome through vibration /shaking tests?

When I asked the professor in charge of the Earthquake Lab at University of Nevada, Reno if he would like to test one of our sample domes, he said that that would be a waste of time because, by definition, Monolithic Domes are as “earthquake-proof”/topics/benefits-survivability as a building can be. Any structural engineer will tell you that. There are no moment connections. And we have had several domes tested by actual earthquakes, including a direct hit on one in Taiwan, where the buildings on both sides of the dome came down. Photos of the Haiti Royal Palace after the earthquakes show that the two domes on the roof came down in one piece, and they were nowhere as strong as a Monolithic Dome.

4) A university or lab hurricane/tornado wind tunnel test of a dome and by shooting a 2X4 into it (and maybe a few different caliber bullets) at various angles?

There have been hundreds of tests with 2X4s shot into flat vertical walls made of concrete. The 4-inch reinforced wall passes, so what’s to be gained by shooting a 2X4 at a 4-inch curved wall that is obviously far stronger? On our website, you can see where we have shot the domes. You can see where one was bombed in Iraq and another was shot at many times.

5) An independent verification of the insulating capability of the MD shell vs a wood wall with pink batting inside (3rd party analysis on the R value paper from DS)?

Thirty-five years ago the R test may have done something. But we have too many buildings showing our savings to get in a battle over R Values. If you really care, it’s easy to find many proofs of what we say. And they are from independent labs. The proof is in the pudding and any of our customers will tell you that our buildings will do what we say. Go to our website and look at the Thermographs.

6) Third party fire rating of a MD shell inside and out?

There are hundreds of third-party fire ratings of concrete. Why would we want to even consider another?

7) Health expert recommendations on moisture control in a MD?

Moisture control is a function of the HVAC engineer. We have it under control. We also are making real advances by using Energy Recovery Ventilators that every builder should be using on most buildings.

8) Sound lab verification of sound proofing and interior reflection issues?

Sound labs cannot help much. It is the Acoustic Engineer’s job, and many are doing well. Some are better than others and cost enters in. The big problem is that some facilities do not have the budget to take care of acoustics properly, even though it’s not a huge problem.

9) Consumer Reports article on dome value claims vs other construction techniques?

I do not know how to get better consumer reports than what we are doing. If you have an answer, we would like to hear it. We have been on several national TV shows with positive results.