My one experience with ICF's was not good. The stacking and aligning of these styrofoam blocks to create a hollow wall, the bracing of it to hold it in place until the concrete was poured and then the placement of the concrete was all much slower than using masonry bearing walls which is a very time consuming way to "structure" a building. All this to get half of the insulation on either side of the concrete and THEN the brick and sheet rock got applied. It just seemed to be a system with so many architectural gymnastics required and its only benefit was to the subcontractor who, around here, has little competition for ICF work.
Nothing against concrete, but my next client who wants concrete somewhere inside of his exterior walls will be much better served, I think, by using tilt up concrete bearing walls with insulation board on the exterior behind the brick and gyp bd on furring channels on the inside IF the concrete won't do for the interior finish.
JMVHO
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Darrel Odom AIA, LEED AP
President
Odom Peckham Architecture, Inc.
Little Rock AR
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-30-2013 18:50
From: Steven Hawkins
Subject: ICF
Gentlemen,
The value in ICF, during construction, is in labor savings - not materials. The net result is a far more resilient structure and substantial whole-life energy efficiency. Unfortunately, there is no industry association for ICF producers so information beyond proprietary system providers is more difficult to find. We are seeing growth in the use of this system in recent years and the emerging energy code will undoubtedly amplify that growth. Information on all reinforced concrete systems, including ICF, Tilt-Up, Voided Slab and more traditional systems is available from any of CRSI's regional offices across the country or form our website at crsi.org
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Steven Hawkins
Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute
Sebastian FL
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