ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has made it to Texas and received help from Aggies. In an episode that aired in April, Allen Scarborough, class of 1989, and officials with EH Systems worked with the television show to build a home that could comfortably fit Larry and Melissa Beach and their 13 children.

“Out of the many applicants, this family in Kemah, Texas was selected, and they had been living in a couple of trailers for the past two years because Hurricane Ike destroyed their home,” said David Densford, sales and marketing coordinator for EH Systems. “They were a foster family and had fostered 85 children and most of them with medical handicaps. So they would keep the children for a while until someone adopted them, and if nobody did, then they would adopt them into their home. They had four children and nine foster children living in little trailers.”

EH Systems, and research and sales representative, Scarborough provided the Extreme Makeover team with custom-made structurally insulated panels and assistance in planning the house framework.

Structural insulated Panels are made of expanded polystyrene sandwiched between oriented strand board and can be used in walls, roofs and even floors.

“[Structural insulated panels] reduce about 40 to 50 percent of the lumber typically used in a conventionally framed house. That makes it a greener application, plus the materials that [structural insulated panels] are made from are green as well,” Scarborough said.

The panels installed in the 6,000-square-foot home were created at EH Systems in New Braunfels, Texas and then shipped to Kemah to help rebuild the Beach family home.

“Once we got the panels delivered, Ty [the show’s host] did the whole ‘Beach family come on out’ and the family comes screaming out of their trailers. The next day we bulldozed down the old house, and they worked through the night tearing down the old foundation and clearing everything away to make room,” Densford said. “The next morning they started pouring concrete, and that afternoon we started standing up the house. So in five days, we built a 6,000-square-foot house.”

Building onsite, EH Systems worked closely with Blu Shields Construction, as well as the largest group of volunteers recorded in the show’s history.

The environmentally friendly materials used in the home can reduce the air conditioning load by up to 50 percent, saving the family of 15 a considerable amount of money. Structurally, these panels also can support a heavier load and are more resistant to mold, mildew and fire.

In learning that an Aggie helped “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” by donating materials, other Aggies have garnered pride for the University.

“I think it is amazing that Aggies are able to help and to give their time and effort and materials to helping others,” said CJ Sustrina, class of 2009. “To be able to help in the national spotlight is cool, but to help a family and reach out to another community definitely makes me proud to be an Aggie.”