Close up views of Bautex blocks, which are made from polystyrene foam, cement, fly ash and water at the company's factory in San Marcos, Texas. The blocks offer a cheaper and more energy efficient alternative to standard walls for both commercial and residential buildings.

Close up views of Bautex blocks, which are made from polystyrene foam, cement, fly ash and water at the company's factory in San Marcos, Texas. The blocks offer a cheaper and more energy efficient alternative to standard walls for both commercial and residential buildings.

Bautex CEO Paul Brown looks on as engineer Chris Leonard explains how polystyrene foam, cement, fly ash and water are used to make Bautex blocks at the company's factory in San Marcos, Texas.

Workers install Bautex blocks as part of construction of the RGV Credit Union in Harlingen, Texas. The blocks are made from cement, fly ash and water to create an affordable strong, lightweight and energy-efficient alternative to standard construction methods.

Workers install Bautex blocks as part of construction of the Cole Veterinary Hospital in Spring, Texas. The blocks are made from cement, fly ash and water to create an affordable strong, lightweight and energy-efficient alternative to standard construction methods.

Real estate customers of all stripes are demanding structures built to reduce energy costs, resist natural disasters and fit into tight budgets, but innovation comes hard to the construction industry.

Too often walls come in only two choices: concrete-filled masonry blocks or framed walls stuffed with insulation and clad with sheetrock. Neither method is especially efficient, in terms of labor or energy, but builders usually stick to what they know. Luckily, innovators are making new choices available.

A new concrete-and-foam wall system can better deaden sound, defend against fire, stand up to floodwater, insulate against Texas heat and, most importantly, costs about the same as conventional methods. Entrepreneur Paul Brown co-founded Bautex after failing to find better building materials for a construction project.

“Most contractors, most architects really have the same palette. It’s the same palette they’ve had over 100 years,” he said. “People were struggling just to meet code, and these buildings that were being released were barely legal. They were struggling to get those done within budget.”

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Unlike other industries where prices go down, construction costs have only gone up. Brown saw an opportunity if he could create high-performance products with lower costs, something he learned in the tech industry.

“They have to fundamentally simplify construction to the point that they save time, save money, save labor. At the end of the day, it’s all about dollars,” Brown said. “We absolutely want to see superior performance in every product.”

The Bautex block is based on a technology developed in Austria in the 1930s, improved upon in the 1970s and then brought to United States in the late 1990s. Each block is about the size of four cinder blocks and have similar channels for poured-concrete reinforcement.

Brown and his team developed a patented manufacturing process at Bautex’s San Marcos factory to mass produce the blocks at a low cost. Italian-made machines mold the blocks from a mix of cement, fly ash, foam pellets, water and a chemical additive. Three workers can produce enough blocks top build a big-box store in 16 hours.

Once at the building site, a group of workers stack the blocks, glue them together, thread rebar through the channels, and pour concrete in the channels to create walls that are stronger and more insulated than either framed or masonry walls. The process is quicker, cheaper and better insulated than competing systems.

Similar cement and polystyrene walls are commonplace in Europe and the Middle East, where lumber is either scarce or expensive and energy efficiency demands are high. The blocks exceed international building codes, and the owner treats them the same as a standard wall.

In the United States, Brown said the construction industry has resisted change, largely because convincing the architect, engineer, contractor and owner to all try a new technology is difficult. Bautex has used persistent marketing and white-glove customer service to win acceptance, he added.

“If we can walk them through step by step and get them comfortable that we can get them to the finish line, they’re absolutely onboard,” Brown said.

More customers are contacting Bautex as resiliency becomes the byword in residential and commercial construction. The blocks will resist fire for four hours and exceed standards for windstorms, flooding and mold. Post-disaster remediation is simpler than with conventional wall systems. The company has established a foothold with commercial contractors with some custom homebuilders.

Bautex blocks make up the walls of Sea Star Base Galveston, a LEED Platinum-certified youth center that city officials used as their command center during Hurricane Harvey. The company is currently working on a new structure at Brighton Center, a private school in San Antonio.

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The company has dozens of project across Texas and six other states. The founders chose San Marcos because nine of the 10 busiest construction markets are within 500 miles.

I reported in a recent column on how developers and builders believe only tougher building codes will lead to better, more innovative buildings. Bautex is just one example of suppliers trying to compete on price and quality until cities pass tougher codes. More power to them.

Companies like Bautex, and there are many, are trying to offer better ways of building that will make our lives easier. Too often, though, builders focus more on quantity and routine because profit margins are thin, and change is hard.

If you are involved in construction, take a moment to question whether the old ways are still the best. Open your mind to alternatives techniques that are better for the customer and the environment. Building owners and society will thank you.

Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.

Chris Tomlinson has written commentary on business, energy and economics for the Houston Chronicle since 2014. He's the author of two New York Times Bestsellers, "Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth" and "Tomlinson Hill: The Remarkable Story of Two Families Who Share the Tomlinson Name - One White, One Black." Before joining the Chronicle, he spent 20 years with The Associated Press reporting on politics, economics, conflicts and natural disasters from more than 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

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