Oceansafe brings experience to Sandy recovery efforts

Oceansafe, a L.I.-based manufacturer of hurricane resistant high performance building systems and materials, recently hosted a demonstration of its disaster response and recovery solutions, building materials and building systems for government leaders and builders. Oceansafe's management shared their expertise and experiences in disaster response and recovery construction, which they gained as part of the extensive rebuilding of U.S. Gulf Coast and New Orleans areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Oceansafe's team members shared their experiences and introduced its building solutions, a method that utilizes durable building systems and materials to construct homes and other structures. The New York region is in need of a significant number of short-term recovery housing and long term construction solutions. Short-term housing and structures can be very quickly designed and building materials can be delivered to the areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy to enable rapid construction. Oceansafe has partnered with Waggoner Engineering, Triad Emergency Response, Whipple Construction/Greenstreet, Sterling Global Operations Inc. former EOBT, North Carolina Global Transpark, Woodward Design Build, Grey Stone, Performance Path Solutions and Finn Construction to provide a wide array of immediate response products and services to areas impacted by natural disasters. The demonstration event was held at a Brentwood home constructed with United Way Youth Build, which survived Hurricane Sandy and was built with an Oceansafe Structural Insulated Panel building system. Tours of the building and demonstrations were given. "We experienced an epic storm that has impacted millions of lives and destroyed homes and infrastructure. It will take years to recover but much needs to be done quickly. As New Yorkers and Long Islanders many of our families and friends have seen the devastation and loss first hand. It is important to us to bring our expertise to our home region and do our part to help with the recovery today and into the future. Reconstruction must be done smartly and we must build better to protect us from future severe weather events. The materials and solutions that we have developed over the past several years will be part of the solution," said Dr. Vincent Basilice, CEO of Oceansafe. Attendees of the program were shown structural insulated panel building systems for homes that can be easily and rapidly built for any kind of structure. Hurricane resistant and durable qualities of materials were presented and a fire test of Oceansafe's magnesium that can sustain a 2,000 degree fire was highlighted. Oceansafe partner SAFE Hut provided information and solutions for rapidly deployable short-term housing. The materials and designs presented by Oceansafe are not only durable but also extremely energy efficient and possess insurability unmatched by other building products.