Now is the time to take precautionary steps towards the utmost security of your home and family in the event of extreme weather occurrences, say officials observing climate change. Recent survey findings show that most homeowners are worried about the ability to cope with the damage caused by severe storms, hurricanes, tornados, and flooding. Safety…Read more
The Building Science community continues to push for more stringent energy codes. Increases in insulation requirements and airtightness have become the primary mechanism to achieve higher performance. Buildings are required to use less overall energy, and where they require energy are asked to supply it themselves. Net-zero compliance is a hot topic in many North…Read more
As a reader of the ICFMA blog, you are likely drawn to the energy-efficiency of Insulated Concrete Forms or ICFs. As concerns about climate change continue to grow, so too has the interest in passive homes – homes that meet the most rigorous energy-efficiency standards. These are air-tight homes, have continuous insulation, triple-paned windows and…Read more
Do you think building with wood is both faster and less expensive than building with concrete (insulated concrete forms)? If so, you’re not alone. A lot of people think that this is true, especially when it comes to 4-6 story mid-rise buildings. However, it’s not actually the case. In fact, this blog post will show…Read more
This guide has been compiled by the Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association (ICFMA) which is a membership organization of ICF manufacturers and other stakeholders in concrete construction. The information presented herein has been collected from a cross-section of industry professionals who are dedicated to the construction of high-performance buildings that employ insulating concrete form (ICF) technology. This effort is only intended to pass along a pool of general knowledge that can assist in the design of ICF/Concrete buildings without endorsing any one ICF brand.
Information presented here is advisory in nature only, and is not meant to (replace, supplant) provisions contained in national or local building codes. In the event that information in this manual conflicts with any building code, the building code provision shall govern.
This is an architectural material selection design guide for the design and construction of multi-storey buildings utilizing insulating concrete forms. The framework of factors in the review and selection of building material involves specific categories, each with defining elements that create the advantages/disadvantages characteristics for inclusion in a project design.
This guide addresses each of these major categories and explains the characteristics and benefits of insulating concrete forms for each. We hope you will realize and appreciate after a review of this guide that insulating concrete forms are basically a simple concrete forming system that overachieves in any category, both as a building product and one of the main components of the building envelope.
