After Cataclysmic Lahaina Wildfire, Discarded Surfboards Are Being Used To Rebuild Maui

In due time, Sellers managed to design and build Insulated Composite Concrete Form (ICCF) blocks from the surfboard blank scraps just lingering behind his office and eventually making their way into landfills, and Surf Block Maui was born.

The concept of ICCF isn’t new; other firms make very similar, cinderblock-like structures with a similar model, but using virgin or otherwise recycled styrofoam. However the foam comes into being, these blocks carry droves of virtues, not least of which, where Maui is concerned in light of recent tragic events? They’re fire resistant.

Apart from being lightweight and cost effective, ICCFs also happen to be exponentially stronger than wood-stick frame construction, they’re earthquake resistant, energy efficient (as insulation), mold and mildew resistant, and termite resistant. They also take to siding better than stick-framed and traditionally insulated walls. The list goes on.

So far, Sellers and co. at HIOG have built two homes with Surf Blocks and currently have three more in the permitting phase, all of which are to be rebuilds on the site of the August 2023 fire that razed much of Lahaina.

There seems to be no shortage of ways to upcycle your spent boards, from simple and spartan kitsch like outdoor shower decor right on up to building your next off-grid dream home. But the meta message here? You never know when or where a perfect symbiotic relationship might form with a neighbor, a friend, or a distant associate and help make a slightly better world for us all. Here’s to keeping our eyes peeled and fewer surfboards getting buried in the ground.