Energy Efficient Homes

Concrete walls emerging as green trend in new construction

With today’s mandate of building tighter, more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly homes, builders are constantly looking for durable and energy-efficient materials for the construction of their new building projects.The combination of these rising energy requirements and fuel costs mean that they need to make the most of the latest advances in building technology.With the continuous decline in the quality of framing lumber and unpredictable price fluctuations, Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) building systems have emerged as an innovative building material in the construction industry over the past decade. What are Insulating Concrete Forms? “Insulated Concrete Forms are made of two panels of EPS (expanded polystyrene) joined together by plastic webs. During construction, they are assembled to form the foundations and walls of a building,” explained KevenRector at NUDURA, a leading name in building with insulated concrete forms. “Concrete is then poured inside the gap between the foam panels to form a solid, continuous insulated structure. ICFs are an efficient alternative to conventional wood framing techniques that is solving energy costs, storm security and interior air quality as well as occupant conservation priorities all at the same time.” ICFs can withstand extreme weather conditions ICFs are designed to stay in place as [...]

Looking to save on high energy costs? Build a new concrete home

The latest home-building technology is finally putting a major dent in the high cost of heating and cooling. If you are in the market to build the most energy efficient new home possible, experts recommend you should consider the many benefits of concrete. Concrete houses made using the latest advanced system of pre-fabricated, interlocking insulated concrete forms (ICFs) can help you save on energy consumption and cut your energy bills by more than half. “Our ICF system creates an envelope of superior strength, continuous insulation, conservation and energy efficiency,” explained Keven Rector at NUDURA, a leading name in building with insulated concrete forms. “They provide tighter construction and stronger insulation as the walls conserve heating and cooling energy in a muchmore efficient manner than traditional wooden-frame walls. Subsequently, monthly energy consumption bills are considerably reduced.” Concrete houses lead to an array of savings The Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association (ICFMA) recently conducted third-party testing from CLEB Laboratories which highlights the energy savings of ICF when compared to conventional wood framing. The thermal study proves an ICF wall can achieve up to 60% energy savings and 58% greater R-value for home and building owners. How does it work? At the building [...]