Experimental Investigation on the Durability of a Novel Lightweight Prefabricated Reinforced-EPS Based Construction System

This paper investigates the durability of a low-cost construction system named HOMEDONE developed to realize affordable and also temporary housing solutions. The system is based on the assembly of 3D-reinforced EPS panels externally topped off with a multi-layer rendering system. Similar technologies showed durability issues, especially in hot climates, due to the thermal and hygrometric stresses of the thin finishing layers when coupled to thick EPS panels and exposed to extreme events. For this reason, in this work freeze–thaw and wet/drying-UV aging tests on HOMEDONE panels with different finishing systems have been carried out, monitoring macroscopic, microscopic (ATR-FT-IR analysis) and bond strength variations due to aging. Results have pointed out good mechanical properties of the system and only small color variations of the finishing layer due to UV cycles. Then, HOMEDONE can be considered as a durable option for affordable and temporary housing solutions.