Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association

ICF benefits

ICF Construction: An Introductory Guide to ICFs for Designers and Architects

For architects who need to design energy-efficient structures without changing their typical design processes, insulated concrete forms (ICFs) offer the ideal combination of insulating power, design and aesthetic versatility, and ease of installation. An insulated concrete form is comprised of two layers of EPS filled with concrete and supported with rebar, and it is used for foundations and structural walls. These forms provide thick, continuously insulated walls that come with many additional benefits. ICFs help architects, designers and contractors stay on schedule, build durable, beautiful projects and meet or exceed increasingly strict energy codes for insulation. Constructing with ICFs reduces the building’s carbon footprint and saves money on energy bills and reduced maintenance and repairs when compared to traditional building methods, such as wood frame construction. According to ICF studies, ICF construction generated up to 60% energy savings and provided 58% better effective R-Value/RSI. Plus, you can build year-round with ICFs, even in below-freezing temperatures, so you never have to slow operations. With traditional wood framing, you have to constantly clear the materials, such as the subfloor and bottom wall plate locations, of any snow or ice before you can start working for the day. There’s also a constant threat of moisture [...]

By |2022-04-20T07:59:50-05:00June 14, 2022|Design, Featured|
Read More

ICF vs Wood: 6 Reasons to Choose ICF

Over the past several years, dramatic increases in lumber costs have left the construction industry looking to other building material alternatives, such as insulated concrete forms (ICFs), in place of traditional wood-frame construction. ICFs are a building system that uses Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam blocks that stack together to act as a hollow wall with ready-mix concrete poured in between to build reinforced concrete walls. (Go back to the basics in this blog post "ICF Construction: An Introductory Guide to ICFs for Designers and Architects") This level of air-tight construction gives ICFs their reputation as an ideal alternative to traditional stick-built or wood-frame construction, but there are also many other benefits that outshine wood framing and insulation. Let’s take a look at the differences between insulated concrete forms and wood-frames to learn how ICFs offer a higher level of comfort, health, safety, energy efficiency and eco-friendly benefits. How ICFs Outperform Wood There are a growing number of business owners and journeyman carpenters who are avid supporters of using alternative building methods like ICF over wood framing. My company, Up To Kode — a full-service carpentry, contracting and consulting company — prefer ICFs to all other framing alternatives. Our team specializes in building custom [...]

By |2022-04-20T07:42:06-05:00May 11, 2022|Design, Featured|
Read More

Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association © 2023

Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top