Building the Future of Albania
A building technology the nation owns. SABS gives Albania a certified, earthquake-resilient structural system, and the training, the factories and the certifications stay in the country. Albanian workers build it, Albanian plants produce it, and Albanian instructors teach it.
A nation rebuilding, and keeping its builders
The November 2019 earthquake showed how much of Albania's housing was not built for the ground it stands on. At the same time, the country is losing the young people it needs to rebuild: hundreds of thousands have left in a decade, and construction sites now recruit labour from abroad. Albania needs a way to build safely, quickly and with its own people.
Figures: INSTAT Census 2023; 2019 Post-Disaster Needs Assessment as reported by bne IntelliNews; State Labour Inspectorate as reported by Albanian Daily News, 2025. See notes at the end of the page.
Conventional construction is getting harder, and it depends on someone else
Builders everywhere face the same pressures at once. In Albania they arrive on top of high seismic risk, an ageing building stock and a workforce that keeps leaving for jobs abroad.
Skilled labour leaving the countryTrained tradespeople move abroad for work, and sites now recruit foreign labour to fill the gap.
Rising labour and imported material costsCement, steel, timber and specialist labour keep getting more expensive.
Long schedulesUp to eleven trades for a conventional building means more coordination, more delays and more overruns.
Foreign contractors and imported know-howValue and skills leave the country when each contract ends.
High seismic riskAlbania lies in one of the most seismically active regions in Europe. In 2019, buildings not engineered for earthquakes failed.
Homes that have to be rebuiltSix years after the earthquake, some families are still waiting for their homes. Housing that does not last is paid for twice.
Xtrata, the company behind SABS
An advanced building technology that replaces wood and block framing with a foam-core and cementitious shell, designed to make construction safer, simpler and more affordable.
Developer of the patented Saebi Alternative Building SystemInvented by founder Dr. Nasser Saebi.
Projects completed at home and abroadResidential, commercial, hospitality, education, healthcare and government work.
A licensed builder network with structured training and certificationThe same programme that becomes the national academy in Part IV.
In-house design and engineeringPermitting support and ongoing technical field guidance on every project.
One shell. Three jobs.
SABS replaces framing, insulation and render with a single patented assembly. A core of Type II fire-retardant EPS foam, its panels fused into one piece by an 11 MPa PU foam panel lamination adhesive, is encapsulated in SABScrete, an extreme high-strength glass-fibre-reinforced cementitious coating. One assembly gives structure, insulation and a finish-ready surface.
Three stages, small crews, no heavy plant
Set the foam
Lightweight EPS panels are cut, placed and bonded into walls, floors and roof. No lumber, no steel studs.
Apply SABScrete
The reinforced cementitious shell is sprayed and trowelled over the foam, creating a monolithic structural envelope.
Finish directly
Paint, plaster, render or cladding go straight onto the shell. Structure, insulation and finish in one application.
Fewer TRADES. Faster skills. Faster homes.
A conventional building needs up to eleven separate trades. SABS needs four. That is the difference between a decade of vocational training and a programme that certifies a crew in weeks.
How it works
2026 SABS Start to Finish: foam set-up, adhesive, shoring and the SABScrete shell, filmed on a real build. Lamination seams in the film pull-tested at 1,350 to 1,600 lbs.
Watch the film on YouTube · 6:41 ↗
Shell complete in 67 days
Built for the worst day
Heat, storms, floods, fire and insects. The SABS shell is engineered for all of them, and for Albania's hot coastal summers and cold mountain winters.
Wind tested
≈ 250 mph
Storm-rated envelope, far beyond Adriatic winter storms.
Earthquake tests passed
Cyclic racking shear, in plane
Approved in California's seismic zones through the ESR-1638 supplements: a direct answer to 2019.
Thermal transmittance
W/m²·K · RSI 13.2–17.6 · ≈ R-75 to R-100
Continuous insulation with no thermal bridging: cooler coastal summers, warmer mountain winters.
Flame spread · Class A
ASTM E-84 · ASTM E-119 · UL 790
Non-combustible shell, Class A wall and roof. Safer homes, schools and clinics in wildfire season.
Sound transmission class
Loud speech inaudible through the wall
Quiet classrooms, clinics and homes.
Coating flexural strength
≈ 1,800 psi · shell 2,160 kg/m³ · EPS 24 kg/m³
Reinforced cementitious shell over the EPS core.
Six more reasons it suits Albania
Less mass, less seismic load
A light foam core in a monolithic shell. The building moves as one piece, with no heavy masonry infill to shake loose.
Coast to mountains
Passed 500-hour salt spray and freeze-thaw testing: from the Durrës and Vlorë seafront to Korçë winters.
Flood resilient
A waterproof core and cementitious skin stand up to the floods that reach Shkodër and the western lowlands.
Healthier homes
No organic material in the envelope, so no hidden damp or decay inside coastal walls.
Design freedom
Foam is cut and shaped on site: curves, arches and cantilevers, from Berat and Gjirokastër traditions to modern Tirana.
Engineered service life
Inspected on every project and built with less material, no lumber and lower carbon.
Ten years of testing. Multi-million-dollar investment.
Structural strengthAxial, bending and racking shear. Every specimen passed.
Earthquake resistanceCyclic racking shear, in plane.
FireASTM E-119 Type V-B · flame spread 0 (E-84) · UL 790 roof · UL 1715 room corner.
DurabilityAccelerated weathering, freeze-thaw, 500-hour salt spray, water penetration, absorption, bond.
MaterialsCoating flexural strength · EPS 24 kg/m³ Type II modified bead · shell 2,163 kg/m³.
Approved in the United States, ready for Albania
IRC
ICC-ES Evaluation Report ESR-1638 confirms compliance with the International Building Code and International Residential Code, covering structural integrity, fire resistance, durability and weather protection.
CRC
FBC
Supplements cover the California Building and Residential Codes, the City of Los Angeles and the Florida Building Code, the two most demanding jurisdictions in the United States for seismic and hurricane loads.
Engineered submittals are prepared for national authorities. For Albania, an independent study cross-references the ICC-ES testing to national requirements and to the Eurocodes that come with the country's EU path, so proven results are presented properly instead of repeated.
Lower cost to build, far lower cost to run
Albanian households pay to cool in summer and to heat in winter. SABS homes need far less energy for both, so families spend less every month and the grid carries less load.
HERS (Home Energy Rating System) data from a completed SABS build in Arizona, 2026. HERS is a US rating where lower is better and 0 is net-zero.
Lower structural shell costOne assembly replaces framing, insulation and render.
Fewer trades, smaller crewsFour trades instead of up to eleven. A four-person crew finished the Maui shell.
Less waste, no lumberPanels are cut to size on site and offcuts are minimal.
Lower energy billsENERGY STAR certified design that exceeds current IECC energy code requirements.
Smaller heating and cooling systemsReduced loads allow smaller, less expensive equipment.
Less maintenanceNo rot, no termites, no mould, and stable indoor temperatures all year.
See it for yourself
We have done this before
After the 2010 earthquake, Xtrata's founder Dr. Nasser Saebi authored The Rebuilding of Communities, a SABS programme for Haiti built on one principle: local hands would build it. Foreign experts trained and supervised. Haitians built their own homes.
● 100 local workers ● 1 foreign expert
The housing programme: from single homes to whole communities
Haiti proved the model. Albania scales it.
Technology that stays in the country
Haiti showed that local hands can build SABS. In Albania, the technology is transferred to the country, not rented to it. The programme is designed so that each year the country needs less from outside, and young Albanians find a construction career at home instead of abroad.
Certified Albanian builders
Local workers are trained and certified on the system. The best become instructors, so the knowledge multiplies inside the country.
Components made at home
EPS cores and SABScrete coating are produced in domestic facilities, creating a national supply chain instead of an import bill.
Albanian firms at the table
National contractors and institutions hold the delivery seat. The partnership is built with the state, around its own housing and reconstruction programmes.
Investing in Albania means investing in Albanians.
A national academy that multiplies itself
A SABS academy becomes Albania's centre of excellence for modern construction. Every graduate is a certified professional, and the most experienced become the instructors who train the next intake.
Classroom
System fundamentals, safety and quality standards.
Field training
Hands-on work on real SABS projects.
Certification
Examined and certified to a national standard.
Instructor
Graduates teach, and knowledge spreads across the country.
Career paths, not day labour
Certification gives workers transferable skills, higher productivity and a route to supervision, engineering support and teaching.
- iCertified installers
- iiCoating applicators
- iiiCrew leaders
- ivQuality inspectors
- vPlant operators
- viProject supervisors
- viiSite managers
- viiiCertified trainers
- ixMaintenance technicians
- xEngineering support
Housing as an economic engine
Certified workforceConstruction and installation jobs for young Albanians, and a reason to build a career at home.
Domestic industryPlants producing SABS components create manufacturing, logistics and supply jobs.
Housing, schools and clinicsDelivered faster, at lower structural shell cost, for the national programme.
Regional exportsAlbania becomes the SABS manufacturing and training hub for the Western Balkans, shipping from its Adriatic ports.
A phased path to national capacity
Each stage hands more of the work to Albanian people and firms, until the system runs entirely in country.
Prove it in Tirana and Durrës
- Pilot homes for families still waiting since 2019, built by the first local trainees
- SABS academy opens with its first certified class
- Code alignment study cross-referencing ICC-ES testing to Albanian requirements and the Eurocodes
Make it at home
- Domestic production of EPS cores and SABScrete
- First graduates become instructors
- Schools, clinics and homes across the earthquake zone
Run it nationwide
- Delivery led by Albanian contractors in Shkodër, Elbasan, Vlorë, Korçë and beyond
- Integration with national housing and reconstruction programmes
- Exports to Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and the wider region
Homes ready to build
Complete SABS home packages, from one-bedroom starter homes to a three-bedroom family unit planned as a full community. Tap any plan to enlarge it.
Swipe for more models →
Affordable today. Built for generations.
Xtrata invites the Government of the Republic of Albania to build a construction capacity that belongs to the nation: its workers, its industry and its future.
