Amazon Forms Newsletter>July 2005 In This Issue   Creative Uses for Grid-WALL™   Amazon Forms Donation Makes Agua Viva Project a Reality   Grid-SCAPE™ Log Line to Start in July   Amazon Forms One, Inc's Show Home: Energy Usage Report   Creative Uses For Grid-WALL™ GRID-Wall™ is a strong and energy efficient innovative building material that lends itself nicely to versatility. It is finding even more uses as its popularity continues its logarithmic growth. It seems that projects are limited only by the imagination. Retaining Walls GRID-Wall™ is easily adaptable to use for building retaining walls, especially rounded walls made by mitering the blocks at the proper angles and gluing together, or using our new GRID-Miters™ to make the angles without having to cut. A special note: tall retaining walls holding back vast amounts of fill need "retrofitting." This type of retaining wall requires mass, so portions of the nodes should be removed so that more concrete can be poured inside the blocks. Game Coolers Hunters who are really into their sport can now build GRID-Wall™ game coolers for a fraction of the cost of commercially sold coolers. One 8' by 8' cooler was erected in three hours. The only concrete used in the project was to anchor the bucking around the door. Ground Styrofoam was poured into the voids of the blocks. Stem Walls For Manufactured Housing Contractors using GRID-Wall™ for stem walls of manufactured housing are reducing their labor time by about 50%, as compared to labor and costs for formed concrete. All this adds up to considerable savings. A concrete footing with rebar properly placed is completed the first day of construction. Mailbox This mailbox was fabricated out of GRID-Corner ™ blocks. A solar cell automatically powers on the mailbox at night, with light shining through the three glass blocks. Note the octagon shaped tile that can be used for newspapers and circulars. The mailbox was finished with two coats of plaster; the last coat was a smooth sand finish. Got other uses for GRID-Wall™? LET US KNOW!   . Amazon Forms Donation Makes Agua Viva Project a Reality This project is sponsored by the Southern Baptist and the Assembly of God churches. The drug/alcohol rehab program in Piedras Negras, Mexico, housed only five people, and a new facility to house up to fifty people was desperately needed. A five year project had been planned. Unfortunately, under-funding had essentially killed the project with no completion goal in the future. Amazon Forms opened the door of opportunity by donating the blocks for the project. Amazon Forms reinstated the timetable by donating the blocks and enticing others to invest in the project, enabling the new facility to be completed in 2005. GRID-Scape™ Log Line To Start In July According to Malcolm Beck, consultant for Garden-Ville Organic Products, the landscape timber business is huge, but has problems. Timbers rot, warp, burn, and are eaten by termites, which means a short life and costly replacement. Enter GRID-Scape™ Logs (patent approved)- a revolutionary improvement for landscaping and raised flower beds- made of recycled Styrofoam, recycled smooth ground glass, and recycled process water. The four foot long units weigh only 24 lbs. and are glued together with a soupy mixture of pre-mixed mortar. They don't rot or warp, are unpalatable to termites, and they help insulate the roots of plants during our brutally hot summers. GRID-Scape™ Logs offer the gardener an excellent alternative for landscaping. AMAZON FORMS ONE, INC. GRID-WALL™ SHOW HOME ENERGY USAGE, OUR MAY 2005 ELECTRIC BILL A $126 electric bill is remarkable for a 5,800 square foot structure with walls up to 20 feet high. 3,000 square foot houses in the same area typically had bills in the range of $300 to $400 for the same period.   Home Spared in Recent Austin Fire Huge Lightning Storm Hits Lake Travis- Lightning Hits GRID-Wall House And Wood Built Restaurant A Few Doors Down The Street... Which One Survived? The Oasis, a Lake Travis landmark restaurant, wood built, burned to the ground. The GRID-Wall house only had a small chip in the wall where the lightning hit. One more great reason to use GRID-Wall™! Concrete Tilt-Wall Fast, Not Energy Efficient; Enter GRID-Wall™ Imagine a NEW, FAST, REVOLUTIONARY process to build multi-story buildings that are not only strong, but extremely energy efficient. Current multi-story buildings built with poured-in-place concrete have a very low energy rating and generate huge energy bills. Amazon Forms One, Inc. has now devised a new system to erect highly energy efficient walls that are 8' high and 24' long. They would be built at the factory, shipped to the jobsite, and erected with minimal labor and time, cutting costs drastically as compared to current building methods.. Watch for this dynamic process in the future for your project!