Reward ICFs have become the building material of choice for families wishing to protect themselves from zombie attacks

You see Zombies everywhere- on TV, in magazines, in the news, online, walking the streets and in your home. It time to stand up and protect yourself from the imminent attack this season by fortifying your home with Reward insulating concrete forms. ICFs are the first line of defense separating you from the undead.

Many folks ask us, “How can foam blocks hold back thousands of hungry zombies, from tearing down the walls and dining on our flesh.”

Well it’s simple and very easy actually.

• ICFs are strong- If they can stand up to 200 MPH winds, they can withstand the incessant pounding of zombie fists. Also, with the superb blast resistance ratings, ICFs can limit the collateral damage, from say, your neighbor throwing a grenade in the street.

• ICFs are soundproof- Everybody knows zombies are attracted to loud noises. They have been conditioned to respond to noise as if there was food nearby- similar to how monkeys are conditioned to respond to the sound of a banana peeling. If the undead can’t hear you, they don’t know you’re there. Having a sound proof home allows for other benefits as well. Feel free to:
  • practice chainsaw wielding attack moves in the basement
  • sleep peacefully without the outdoor noises of moaning and gnashing teeth
  • blare Alan Parson’s Project “Sirius” to get pumped up to stay alive every morning

• ICFs are airtight- The solid wall of concrete and foam ensures no unwanted air comes in, and air won’t leak out. Why is that important? Part of that air is scent. Zombie’s smell horrible, obviously, so Zombies can smell the unrotten scent of humans, and especially so if their “prey” (you) is wounded. The ICF walls will prevent your natural human scent from escaping the walls and building.

• ICFs are Energy Efficient- You wouldn’t think this would matter, but with the added stress on the power grid and the possible zombie intrusion on the power supply as a whole, you need to make sure your safe house operates while using the least amount of energy as possible. Eventually power will run out and you want to be able to use a generator to supply the needed heating and cooling to keep you alive and comfortable. Let’s be serious here, you don’t want to hole up in a safe house with 5 other people and be sweating and splashing water to cool down or having to “hug it out” with the same folks to stay warm.

Bottom Line: Zombies Hate ICFs

Stay inside your ICF home and you should be in good shape for awhile… well at least until power, water, and sanity complete run out and you think its time to find the 8 hour away “safe-zone” that’s being reported over the emergency channel. Reward ICFs can’t do anything for you then.

As we all are very aware, this time of year and throughout the early summer, is prime weather conditions for severe weather to occur. Most notably, tornadoes are a huge concern, especially in the Midwest. Recently tornadoes have ravaged parts of the Midwest all the way down south. The tornadoes this year seem to be occurring more (over 800 in April), bigger in size (some over a mile wide!) and staying on the ground longer (MS/AL tornado traveled almost 200 miles!). This brings us to the important issue of having a shelter that can withstand the winds and debris of a tornado, hurricanes, and other high wind forces.

Notice the concentration in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina

Insulated Concrete Forms Builder Safer Homes

By using insulating concrete forms for homes across the country, the home becomes a safe haven from tornadoes and hurricanes. This is one of the huge benefits we have always talked about with our type of product. The steel reinforced concrete, which can cure stronger than normal concrete because of the foam insulation, can withstand winds of over 200 MPH, and projectile debris traveling over 100 MPH.

There have been lab studies done to prove its resilience to wind and there are stories and real world examples of homes, across the country, that have withstood natural disasters because of the unique attributes of ICF construction.

Stronger than Wood and Steel

We have done third party research on testing the strength of our ICF walls versus typical wall with wood and steel studs. The chart below shows the strength of ICFs (11″ form is the most popular size), so its easy to see why ICFs are left standing after a bout with mother nature.

Axial Capacity – pressure or force placed downward upon the wall from roofs, floors and walls

Wall Bending Stiffness – the strength of the wall structure to resist deflection

Lateral Capacity – sideways movement pushing against the wall due to soil, wind or earthquakes

Deflection – movement within a wall assembly

Below are a selection of photos taken over the years of Reward ICF homes withstanding hurricanes and tornadoes. In fact the Bay Waveland Housing Authority built with Reward ICFs for all of these reasons we mentioned above. Now they are witnessing all the other benefits of ICFs: energy efficiency, HUGE savings on wind and general insurance, and providing safe homes for the community.

F2 Celestine Indiana, Spring 2011

Tornado near Parkersburg, IA. Notice complete leveling of the home on the left side of picture.

Reward insulating concrete form home in Parkersburg, IA. Minimal structural damage

Reward ICF home took a direct hit from an EF4 Tornado. The entire neighborhood was devastated, the home left standing was still in construction and unoccupied at the time.

House ocean side after Hurricane Ike, and picture of the neighboring houses down the way.

Reward ICF home before(left) and after(right) Hurricane Katrina, and the bottom photo is a house in the same neighborhood.

If your looking to design or build your city or school district a new performance driven education facility, you face a unique set of challenges to incorporate the features needed by the occupants of the building.

Studies have shown energy consumption is the second largest expense item for schools, next to personnel. It remains as one of the few items you can truly control and reduce costs without reducing the quality of education.  One of the most important ways to reduce the energy needs of a building is to address the building envelope.

Insulating Concrete Forms

ICFs create the optimal building envelope for a high-performance school, and can directly reduce the energy demands by up to 40% alone. Couple ICF technology with a properly designed roof and tightly sealed openings and schools have seen savings reaching over 80% compared to a similarly built school.

ICFs Go Beyond Energy Efficiency

Schools and dorms serve a need more than just to educate and to function with reduce costs. They serve communities as a safe haven for children and students. ICFs are the best choice to address any structural needs for high wind zones, seismic zones, and natural disaster areas with the strength to give owners and occupants peace of mind. Also, they provide the proper environment for student  and teachers to succeed.

Indoor Air Quality

These elements have a profound impact on the ability for teachers to each and for students to learn. Insulating concrete forms improve each one of these elements with the high insulation values and the thermal mass benefits of using concrete.

• Acoustics– Learning is directly affected by acoustical quality, as concentration levels and the ability to hear can be negatively effected by modest background noises. ICFs add to the enhanced acoustical qualities of the learning environment, with high STC ratings.
• Temperature & Humidity– Changes in the temperature negatively effects a student’s ability to perform basic mental tasks, especially memory, as well as effects the overall comfort level of the building occupants. ICFs create a tight, building envelope that can allow complete control of the interior environment.
• School Funding linked to attendance– If a school is susceptible to inadequate IAQ, high absenteeism can occur which not only costs the school millions with absent teachers, it also increases student absences, adversely reflecting future funding for the school.

The research is there on how the indoor environmental effects attendance, test scores, concentration levels, and public funding for  schools. This is why schools built with insulated concrete forms have SURGED to record levels in the recent years, even during a national recession. The benefits are blatantly apparent when it comes to children and students from k-12 through higher education– there have recently been numerous large-scale K-12 & higher education schools using Reward ICFs completed in the last few months, and there are currently a dozen more in construction or slated to start in the next year to prove it.

Finally school districts across the country are holding their public and private schools to a high level of accountability when it comes to cost reductions, maintenance control, safer buildings, and environmental stewardship. The question isn’t ARE you building or designing a school with ICFs now…its more of a when.

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A net zero building is a building that offsets all energy use by creating energy as well so by the end of it all there is an energy use of net zero. Now frequently at trade shows or talking with people in general about the future of green building and the new way to build homes, I always cringe at the people who jump right into wanting to create energy without taking the necessarily steps to use less in the first place.

Net Zero homes usually have a setup, through solar or wind, to create energy to offset any they use. However, the concept makes use of the most important part of creating energy.

YOU HAVE TO USE LESS ENERGY.
icf

I can’t imagine the size of a wind turbine, and cost of a solar panel (about 285 sq feet at $16-$30 thousand dollars) to generate the amount of electricity that is needed to power an average (14,400 watt-hours per day) home. That’s why ICFs are an ideal building system for net zero, they will reduce energy needs.

ICFs and Net Zero

That’s why insulated concrete forms have always been a great option when our customers want to built a net zero home. They reduce your energy so the owner can create a  surplus of it and actually sell it back to the energy company!

Here is our Hyde Park example below, one of the first net-zero homes in the country to use ICFs and a first in New York. General contractor Bill Reilly of Hyde Park, New York, became interested in ICFs in the early 1990′s, but he never went any further with it at that time. However, when he started planning to build an energy efficient home for himself, ICF construction came to mind again. As a contractor with 40 years of experience, Reilly wanted to build the house himself and make it extremely energy efficient.

New York Energy Efficiency

The result was the most energy efficient house in the state of New York. With a geothermal HVAC system and photovoltaic cells on the roof to generate electricity, Reilly pays nothing for electricity. Part of the reason is that he is able to re-sell the excess electricity he generates back to the utility company. But would never be able to do that had he not built with insulating concrete forms.

Quick Facts about the Hyde Park Net Zero home in New York

• One-story house with walkout basement
• 6,300 conditioned square feet
• 3,160 finished square feet
• HERS rating of 93.4 by Energy Star
• Highest Energy Star Rating to date in New York State
• Stone and vinyl exterior finish
• Asphalt shingle roof materials
• Climate Master Tranquility 27 geothermal heating and cooling system
• 70% smaller than it would have been with traditional construction
• Projected utility costs: Zero dollars
• 11″ iForm insulating concrete form

Reward’s product line includes an 11″ T-form that provides a 6 inch concrete core for both the intersecting wall and the longitudinal wall. This insulating concrete form configuration will make the construction of a T-wall more efficient by eliminating cutting and bracing in comparison to manually constructing a T-wall with only straight forms.

Save Time with ICFs

The T-forms are shipped with both long and short sizes so that the forms will continue to be overlapped creating a running bond pattern.

Also, the 11″ T-form has additional plastic ties and EPS foam support at the back side of the  wall intersection to reduce the bracing requirements.

When stacking forms, the T-form should be treated similarly to 90-degree corner forms. The corners and intersecting walls locations are defined by the plan design. The corners and T-forms should be placed at this location according to the plan. Then the forms are stacked to the middle between the corners and T-forms. Flip and alternate every other T-form course from long to short creating a running bond and eliminating a common seam at the T-intersection.

Reinforcement of T-Form

Place horizontal reinforcement with a 2′-6″ bend on each end at each T-form course. These bars should alternate each direction in the longitudinal wall at every other course and have a proper lap splice with the horizontal rebar in the wall. Concrete flowing around the corners of the intersecting wall will create great concrete pressures on the intersecting T-form and therefore the amount of bracing at this location must be taken into consideration.

When placing concrete at the T intersection, aim the concrete flow down the longitudinal wall letting the concrete flow itself into the intersecting wall. Have the concrete in the T-form wall build up slowly. Do not have the concrete flow from the intersecting “T” to the longitudinal wall.

To see full Details of the T-Form and the other forms offered by reward please see our comprehensive online ICF Technical manual

Order a bundle or two of T-Forms and see how much faster you can build with Reward ICFs.

During the Waterside Towers project, Parks ICF participated in a study that helped scientifically prove that concrete curing times are greatly accelerated in cold weather when placed in ICF forms versus when left exposed.  The field tests showed the concrete reached the required 2,000 psi compressive strength in just 2 days versus 4-5 days with exposed concrete.  Mr. Petersburg of Shield Engineering worked hand-in-hand with us on the project as a third-party engineering representative as we continued with sample testing on each floor before the flooring system was placed.  Through this testing, Parks ICF was able to accelerate the project schedule by 10 to 15 days and help keep the other crews continuing with minimal down time.

“The incredible thing about working with ICF wall systems was its workability in cold temperatures and inclement weather.  Working through what turned out to be one of the coldest and wettest winters in recent memory, we’ve experienced minimal lost days versus a potential of several weeks or months with traditional construction methods.”  -Ted Kuerschen, Project Manager, Waterside Condos

“One of the great benefits we found working with ICF, especially in the winter, is that weather does not slow down construction as it does on standard job sites. Rain and snow did not affect placement of ICF block or of concrete. Being insulated with the foam, the concrete was able to retain its temperature even on the coldest of days of placement. Both laboratory and field cured cylinders were cast during the construction process. It was found that standard field cured cylinders broke considerably lower than core samples obtained from the poured wall. The strength of ICF cured test cylinders, giving a more realistic indication of on-site conditions, were more closely correlated to the laboratory cured specimens.”  -Nathan Petersburg, Shield Engineering

They were used for a foundation on a side of a steep hill. The engineer called for this size of ICF due to the large size of walls, the amount of back fill and the expansive soil type surrounding the building. The walls are 14 feet high and the concrete was placed in 3 lifts. Nick, the builder, said that he was “very impressed with the strength and stability of the block.”

Thanks Nick, we’ve done our research to make sure our forms remain an industry leading ICF!

We were lucky enough to meet this builder after he expressed his displeasure with a different brand of ICFs. He praised the pre-formed block and noted it was much easier in the field to work with as he did not have to assemble the forms. On a side note: Nick, had no trouble moving the forms about 50 yards from where the truck dropped them off, and the banding made them easier to move as well. Did you see the video of an ICF crew unloading a truck?

Thanks for the pictures and your feedback Nick! Would also like to thank Pat Tobin with Building Smart, LLC on his involvement with our inaugural 17″ residential project!

Currently the 17″ iForm has been a HUGE hit (pun WAS intended on that one) and we look forward to sharing more stories.

The New Standard for Sustainability. Tell the World.

- Story submitted by Pete H West/Pacific Regional Sales Manager

I will be posting information from our corporate offices from our President, CEO, VP, Technical Specialists, Regional Sales Managers, and Marketing to showcase a little bit of everything we are doing, talk about some trends in the Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) industry and pass along some information and things we learn everyday while visiting our customers and greening North America  5.33 sq feet at a time.

My goal for this blog is to try to connect with people on another platform and maybe start a discussion, teach something new, or even be taught something new in the process. Our tone is casual, and my jokes are horrible, however we have to keep the flavor light or this endeavor won’t be as FUN as anticipated. This is not a discussion forum, with freedom to post abusive language or spam, as all comments will be moderated. And for the legal jargon: Reward Wall Systems Inc reserves the right to control and edit all postings. Furthermore all content written by Reward is all rights reserved 2009. By posting pictures, words, or content, you are verifying that you have permission to do so.

Also if you need in depth questions immediately answered, the best way to reach us is through our customer service department, not through aBlog. 1-800-468-6344

On to the topics.

There will be 6 major topics we will try to schedule routinely in order to cover as wide of a range as possible. Don’t see something that you think we should focus on more? Tell me please, just add a smiley face at the end of your sentence.  :-)

From the Field

Common Trouble Shooting

Let’s get Technical!

Project Showcase

Unique Trends and Applications

Other

So we hope you find aBlog by Reward useful and informative and just a smidge bit entertaining. Feel free to comment, post follow-ups or even additional resources on a topic. There may be aBlog related contests and EXCLUSIVE information given out first to the community via aBlog throughout the year so be sure to come back often. We’ll talk to you soon.

Thanks and tell the world