Green building is becoming increasingly popular. Current homeowners are looking in that direction during kitchen renovations and bathroom remodeling projects. But what about new construction? When planning a new home or building a home addition, it's a golden opportunity to build green and save on utility bills. That's where building with insulated concrete forms (ICFs) comes to the rescue.
Green Building Alternatives
Building with SIPs (Structural Integrated Panels) are a great way to build a structure that is nearly air-tight. This makes it extremely energy efficient – there is no air flow from the exterior to the interior through the walls. Also, the insulating materials that are sandwiched between the OSB (Oriented Strand Board) give superior insulating qualities.
Using a similar concept, ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms) render much the same energy saving. In fact, sustainable building with ICFs can contribute up to 26 points toward LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification on a home or commercial building.
LEED is closely tied with an Energy Star Certification. Not only does coming up to snuff in energy conservation make sense on reducing energy bills, it is an incredible investment in home equity.
How ICFs are Made
ICFs are just what the name implies: insulated concrete forms. A hollow foam block is made using Styrofoam (expanded polystyrene or EPS). The void between is meant to receive wet concrete and thereby form the building's walls.
The architect uses construction software to design the individual blocks. Using the blueprints, the design is so detailed that ideally, no job site cutting will have to be done. The blocks are generally 12”, 16”, or 24” tall. The foam sides can be from 2” to 2 3/4” thick, depending on the application.
Once the design is complete, the ICF manufacturer constructs them and ships them to the job site. The general contractor may or may not use construction project management software, depending on the scope of the building project.
Finishing Exterior Walls
There's a broad range of options for finishing the exterior walls. Many commercial buildings today are being finished with acrylic stucco. This finish is trowed on over Styrofoam. But using ICF blocks, the foam is already in place!
Think massive labor savings here. And once again, this is green building at its best, since no cutting means no scrap.
Wood and aluminum siding go on it easily, as does brick. The building is now extremely energy efficient since there is an encapsulated interior and exterior layer of foam.
Benefits of ICFs
- Very strong structurally, they are an ideal choice for areas that are prone to wildfires, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
- Excellent insulating qualities – they provide up to an R-25 rating.
- Easy to build radius walls, which are problematic with conventional wood framing.
- Virtually no worksite cutting, which minimizes waste. This saves money and is a green building practice.
- Quick and efficient to go up because of the linear and streamlined process, from design to finish.
Kelly Smith - Kelly has over 30 years experience as a journeyman carpenter and 20 as a freelance writer and photographer.
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