(CNN) -- An eco-friendly building material might have saved some of the 80 homes destroyed in a recent wildfire in Southern California. But it can't be used there. Rajesh Kanwar built his Alpine, California, house out of AAC after his previous house burned down. The masonry material, called autoclaved aerated concrete or AAC, can withstand a 2,000-degree fire for four hours, according to Underwriters Laboratories' test results. "I just think the material's awesome. There's nothing like it," said Doug Edwards, an architect whose Edwards Design Group designs and builds green homes in the Scottsdale, Arizona, area. "It's the best building material in the world."
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An eco-friendly masonry material can withstand a 2,000-degree fire for four hours
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Advocates say it may have saved some of the 80 homes destroyed in a recent wildfire
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But the product is banned in California because it hasn't passed seismic tests
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The material also is impervious to termites and is bulletproof and waterproof
Southern California
California
California
But even under those somewhat relaxed standards, most of @placeholder would not qualify, he added.
Southern California
California
California
Advocates for the product say @placeholder's qualms are baseless -- and political.
Southern California
California
California
"It has not been approved by @placeholder not because it can't perform, but because they have not done a thorough review of the testing data and are not convinced that it performs."
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AAC
The @placeholder industry hasn't been around long enough yet to earn its place in the code, he said.
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AAC
"I do not know why @placeholder has not had wider acceptance in California," he wrote.
Rajesh Kanwar
"When our home burned down, I looked into materials that were less likely to burn down," said @placeholder, who runs a small business.