Have Fast Can You Unload a Truck?

September 22nd, 2009 | From the Field

Unloading your building in 20 minutes.

We recently visited a jobsite last week in Michigan and was able to catch on video the ICF install crew, of ICF Building Solutions, accepting a truckload of Reward ICFs on the jobsite. We thought it would be interesting to share to help conceptualize with people who have never worked with our ICF, how lightweight they are. It surprises some people because of the strength and all of the benefits of ICFs, they expect something that must weigh a ton.

That was the old way to build. This is the smarter way, the sustainable way. Why risk injury lifting CMU or spending more money bringing in extra unloading equipment? There’s no more need struggling to carry large pieces of lumber in order to erect the walls.

Reward’s insulating concrete forms weigh approximately 5.5 pounds a piece. That’s about as much as a full grown Chihuahua. So when the crew is unloading and stacking, it’s like lifting chihuahuas all day long, only without the barking and biting of the ankles! The square footage of one of our forms is equal to 6 CMU blocks, so really that’s 5.5 pounds versus 120 pounds for the same amount of wall area.

Are you starting to see some efficiencies of ICFs?

So here is the video we took. The ICF install crew unloaded 50 cubes of our 17″ iForm, enough for 3,000 square feet of wall. Each cube weighs around 60 pounds. To put that in perspective you would need over 3,400 CMU blocks weighing in at over 20 pounds a piece, to put up that same amount of wall. All this was done in 20 minutes as well.

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5 in 1 Construction- Why Reward Insulating Concrete Forms Can Be Built so Efficiently

July 28th, 2009 | From the Field

5-in-1 Wall Assembly

Sounds like a sale as it sounds too good to be true. Sorry we are not running a buy 5 get 1 free or anything like that. Instead, we are trying to get out to the world the efficiencies of building with insulated concrete forms. Usually we talk about the owner benefits of green building, energy efficiency, added strength, etc. However, the inherent 5-in-1 properties of ICFs can really affect the builder or general contractor or trades involved in erecting a building, which ultimately will trickle down to the building owner by saving construction time, labor, or by affecting the bottom line of the building by reducing extra steps and materials!

The inherent five properties of a Reward ICF wall is that it encapsulates 5 different trades or processes or functions of a wall, all into one product – the Insulating Concrete Form. By building with an ICF you are completing the 1) Structural Wall, 2) Insulation, 3) Air Barrier, 4) Vapor Retarder, and 5) Furring – all in one step.

Structural Wall

This is the main core component of ICF walls. By stacking the forms, placing rebar to code, and filling with concrete, it serves as the Structural Wall and can be designed for any structural wall as needed.

Insulation

This is the Main “glamor” feature of Reward Insulating Concrete Forms. This is where it’s easiest to see the benefits of the insulated properties by energy savings alone. But as far as construction steps, NO ADDITIONAL insulation is needed for the wall, this is included as part of the formwork and stays in place. This also reduces labor steps by not having to take away any of the formwork. There is plenty of info out there on this – “Insulate” is in the name of our product!

Vapor Barrier

Let’s be clear here as some folks ignore this inherent benefit of building with insulating concrete forms, yet this can save you substantial amounts of costs- both on product and on labor. In fact, I’m going to bold it, center it, slap a different color on it, and put it on its own line.

NO VAPOR RETARDER IS NEEDED

The building codes require a vapor retarder if the permeance rating is 1.0 or greater, to prevent condensation within the walls. The water vapor permeance of the Reward iForm wall system with 1/2-in. gypsum wallboard varies from 0.2 to 0.3 perms depending on the wall thickness, substantially below the 1.0 requirement. This eliminates the need of applying another layer of material after the ICF wall is constructed.

See our research done on the permeance of Reward’s ICFs (product manual login required). FYI this info is owned and copyrighted by Reward Wall Systems, conducted by a third party research group.

Air Barrier

The solid monolithic concrete wall is the air barrier. By eliminating the need for an air barrier, again you eliminate extra materials, more layers and further costs. Once again we tested the air leakage by a third party, and it showed Reward ICF or solid concrete wall has no measurable leakage of air. (login required)

Now you see why in our R-Value discussion we stressed the importance of caulking and sealing, as you don’t have to worry about the wall itself to achieve an excellent air changes an hour rating. Did you get to read the post on the Reward house in the Parade of Homes in Lancaster County? Measured and recorded .03 ACH.

Furring

: Look at all that wood…poor trees

Furring is long thin strips of material (usually wood or metal) used to make backing surfaces to support the finished surfaces in a room. Furring refers to the backing surface, the process of installing it, and may also refer to the strips themselves. This is where saving our trees comes into play, as 2×4’s won’t be needed!

Reward Insulating Concrete Forms have embedded 1-1/4″ furring strips 1/2″ recessed in the foam every 6″, PLUS our double bridging H-corner bracket allows for tighter finish connections all the way to the edge of the corner and in more places for better attachment. Screw drywall or attach any exterior finishes directly to the ICF

: Notice furring strips embedded 1/2″ deep- 6 in on center

Smarter Way to Build

Hopefully I was able to elaborate enough to see how the 5-in-1 assembly will save you time and money. It makes the most (dollars) and sense to build with insulating concrete forms. It will increase your bottom line and the long term benefit of any building. Any of these claims Reward can prove. WE have done the research which is why we are the leading Insulating Concrete Form Manufacturer.