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Recently, I had an opportunity to speak with Dan Fenton of Fenton Builders in Ellsworth, ME about an exciting new building technology known as Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF).
Fans of ABC’s hit television series Extreme Makeover Home Edition may have seen Dan and his father Bill as they volunteered their expertise in the construction of an ICF home for the Vitale family in Athen’s, VT last fall.
After several lengthy discussions with Dan regarding the advantages of constructing a home with Insulated Concrete Forms, it comes as no surprise the Dan has chosen the technology for his own home in Cherryfield, ME.
What Are Insulated Concrete Forms:
Unlike traditional stick built or modular frame construction, ICF homes are constructed with hollow “blocks” or “panels” made of plastic foam that construction crews stack into the shape of the building’s walls.
Once the blocks are in place, the contractor fills the airspace between the two foam panels with reinforced concrete to create the structure. There are a variety of different ICF products on the market today, each with their own unique differences. Fenton Builders has been using BuildBlock for the last 3 years and has been very pleased with its performance.
ICF construction sandwiches a heavy, high-strength material (reinforced concrete) between two layers of a light, high-insulation one (foam). This combination creates a wall with the perfect combination of desirable properties: air tightness, strength, resistence to molding, sound deadening (your home will be incredibly quiet), and amazing energy efficiency.
The Benefits of Insulated Concrete Forms:
Comfort: Houses built with ICF walls have a much more even temperature throughout the day and night. They have virtually no “cold spots”, and sharply fewer drafts.
Strength: The rigidity of concrete construction reduces the flex in floors and cuts shifting and vibration from the force of the wind or the slamming of a door. Concrete houses survive high-force winds like hurricanes far better than wood homes. And when properly reinforced, they should also withstand earthquakes well.
Quietness: About one-sixth as much sound gets through an ICF wall compared with an ordinary frame wall. This sharply cuts the intrusion of noise from outside. These feature alone makes them an ideal choice for construction in noisy neighborhoods near highways, train tracks, and airports.
Energy Efficiency: The superior insulation, air tightness, and mass of the walls cut the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling by as much as 50% or more over conventional 2X6 wood construction. For homes that use expensive home heating oil, this can amount to savings of $1500 or more during the winter heating season. In addition, it allows the installation of smaller heating and cooling equipment saving you money in construction costs.
Look at the difference in heat loss between these two homes taken with an infrared camera. One home is constructed with Insulated Concrete Forms, the other is a traditional stick built home. Notice that on the stick built home you can see outline of the 2×6 frame construction where the wall insulation is the weakest. Which home would you rather heat in the winter, or cool in the summer?
Design Flexibility: ICF houses can be completed with almost any interior and exterior finishes and can take any shape as easily as wood frame. In fact, some interesting effects, such as curved walls and frequent corners, can be less expensive to build into an ICF home. An experienced insulated concrete form (ICF) contractor can construct an ICF home for about the same price as a similar “stick built” home and the advantages can be huge.
Don’t Make the Same Mistake I Did:
If you are considering the construction of a new home, I urge you to consider the advantage of a home utilizing insulated concrete forms as well as a geothermal heat pump heating and cooling system.
The initial construction cost will quickly be recuperated in the form of lower energy and maintenance costs. My biggest regret in the construction of our current home is that I didn’t take the time to research different building materials and systems before we began to build, and I don’t want you to make a similar mistake.
Related Articles:
An Explanation of how Geothermal Heat Pump Systems Work
Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF): Green Building Technology
Do It Yourself (DIY) Geothermal Cooling System
Should You Pre-Buy Your Home Heating Oil This Year?
Do It Yourself Home Energy Audits
36 Ways to Reduce Your Home’s Energy Use
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The information which you have given is absolutely marvelous.
Thank you for the kind words!
Insulated Concrete Forms are a truly amazing product and I we can get the word out to people how great ICF and other green technologies are!
This is a building technology and strategy that I would like to see implemented in Taiwan where everything is built using concrete. Especially in the north of this sub-tropical island with such high humidity and stuck between warm air fronts rising from out of the Philippines sector of the planet and cold ones dropping down out of Heilongjiang and the Korean Peninsula, if it reaches just 10 degrees C, it’s brutally, bone-aching cold, and the heat in the summer is unbearably sweat drenching if you sit perfectly still. Hmmm, who should I be talking to here, the government, the gangsters, or the building industry sector. The government has been taking great strides to go green. Yeah, maybe the government.
Insulated concrete forms would be ideal for tropical and sub tropical locations.
Their incredible durability, coupled with superior insulating factor is unbeatable for protection from hurricanes, typhoons, and hot temperatures.
They are also virtually impervious to insect infestations
Thanks for the information, I’ve heard about all kinds of green buildings (cob, rammed earth, adobe, earthship), but somehow hadn’t heard of this. I’m going to look into using insulated concrete for my future house.
Also, they have light-transmitting concrete now:
http://www.ecojoes.com/litracon-light-transmitting-concrete/
It doesn’t let through a TON of light, but a pretty good amount.
My husband and I are collecting information to build with ICF within the next few years. We were wondering about exterior waterproofing issues. If you’re using ICF for your basement foundation walls – do you use waterproofing?
This is the problem in the Philippines;
commercial buildings are made to make money; ICF is more expensive and what are the advantages? Heat insulation? We are used here to open windows… and we do not complain if the temperature is a little high, when we go outside the heat is there always so we are used to it…
Residential houses? People here are happy with a roof over their head; thats all they ask for;
no fancy or expensive extras. Philippines is 90% poor people.
ICF is good against the cold in western countries; but against heat is a totally different story,
EXCEPT for those who can afford!
So there will always be foreigners who want to build with ICF and nothing else; THOSE can be our clients.
I get some inquiries regularly from foreigners who want to build a ICF house.
Also the advantage of SOUND insulation can be a sales-pitch; foreigners do not like the street-noise here.
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