ICF Student Residence Hall Part III
March 11th, 2010 | From the Field, Marketing, Project Showcase
Wrapping up this project highlight I wanted to give some special credit to the guys who actually put this thing together. As Reward is just the insulating concrete forms, some one has to know how to stack ICFs, align ICFs, and pour concrete as well…oh yeah and DESIGN using ICFs.
ICF Construction and Design Team
Owner: Pegasus Group/Carleton College
Architect: LHB
General Contractor: J.E. Dunn Construction
ICF Installer: Northland Concrete and Masonry
ICF Distributor: Cemstone
Some Cool ICF Pictures
The picture above shows a sunny, however frigid day in Minnesota. If you have been up there in the winter months you know it can get pretty serious. But with the dorms needing to be ready for fall semester they worked through the winter in sub freezing temperatures. Many days hit below zero, but luckily ICFs allow for concrete placement and curing with sub freezing temperatures.
This picture below is a meat thermometer(highly sophisticated measurement) stuck in an ICF and the concrete after placement. It shows what the curing temperature is of the concrete…100 degrees. The outside air temperature was under 20 degrees.
Finished Insulating Concrete Form School
Please enjoy the pictures of this awarding winning school.
As the year goes on and hopefully this projects racks up a couple more awards and we’ll post some updates on the continual energy use and any more ambitions from that campus.
ICF Student Residence Hall 2
February 23rd, 2010 | Marketing, Project Showcase
Last week we started highlighting the award-winning Carleton College, one of the top ICF construction projects of 2009. We were happy to be the ICF of choice for this project, as the school is nationally know for their sustainable practices. Here are a few quick facts of the Carleton College.
ICF Project Statistics
- Location: Northfield, Minn.
- Type: MultiFamily—Two Student Residence Halls
- Size: 91,536 sq. ft. (floor) 52,150 + 39,376
- ICF Use: 63,840 sq. ft. (walls)
- Height: 4 stories plus gables
- Cost: $26 million (budgeted)
Live Energy Use Data
One of the unique features of the project is that there are energy use monitors installed in the Residence Halls. This allows the school to track energy use per building, per floor, and for each individual dorm rooms as well. They can identify energy hogs, and maybe advise heavy energy offenders how to cut energy use as well. This is a huge advantage when educating responsible behaviors to students and getting them thinking about the cost of energy.
Along with energy use monitors, they also have the ability to track the energy creation through photo-voltaics and steam generation as well. Those systems were put in place to help heat the water and to offset energy use. Carleton understood the importance of securing the building envelope so it made sense to add P/V systems.
Energy creation is good…and seems to be the only thing to get the government’s attention…but won’t be a feasible source (cost wise) if buildings don’t start limiting their energy consumption. ICFs can limit a building’s energy use! See their live energy use data.
Beyond the Insulating Concrete Form
Carleton College has identified over 36 distinct green attributes to these buildings, other than the use of ICFs and fly ash in the concrete. From reflective roof tiles, to using local vegetation for landscaping, this college is on the leading edge of sustainability.
As you can see there are wonderful things going on in the ICF world up in Minnesota. Next week we’ll go over the star contributors to this project and show some great cold weather concreting pictures.
ICF Student Residence Hall
February 16th, 2010 | From the Field, Marketing, Project Showcase
Carleton College Student Residence Halls
This was one of our favorite projects for 2009. There were so many features to these buildings and Carleton College truly showed their commitment to a sustainable campus. In the next few posts I will attempt to give our due diligence to this project, show you different construction phases and the finished project as well. Carleton College Residence Halls also won an ICF Builder Award, which was announced at World of Concrete 2010.
Building Energy Modeling Analysis
A building energy modeling analysis (from The Weidt Group) was completed during design, and it was determined that total energy consumption would decrease a minimum of 28% compared to a standard baseline building performance. Carleton did not install ANY A/C as well due to the tight thermal envelope created by ICFs. I asked Maureen Ness, AIA, LEED AP, CDT, with LHB to explain how the modeling worked:
“It basically shows that by spending $54,941 more than a typical building on specific energy-saving strategies, the annual energy savings will be $29,476. There are a lot of factors in the modeling and one of them that we’ve seen on non-air conditioned housing projects is that you don’t really get credit for not air-conditioning, even though that is a lot of savings over a conventional building.”
The total payback, of the additional costs, of making these ICF Dormitories energy efficient is 1.5 years!
(Do you want an energy analysis done on your current home being designed? We are offering a free energy analysis to show you the dramatic savings you can get with ICFs.)
Sustainable features of Carleton College
Overall, Carleton College has identified over 36 distinct aspects to these building that are considered sustainable features. From low flush toilets that will save 30% on water, to copper tiles on southern facing roofs to deflect heat gain, LED lighting, as well as natural foliage planted around campus that is sturdy and weather resistant. All of these features are contributing to their LEED Gold certification.
Next week, we will show you all the live energy data from the school as well as some more highlights of this project. In the meantime check out the rest of our highlighted ICF projects or our ICF gallery section on rewardwalls.com.
Distributor Spotlight: Betz Brothers Building Supply
November 17th, 2009 | Distributor Spotlight, From the Field
This is a new topic I think our customers, as well as our readers, will enjoy. From time to time we would like to showcase some of our distributors and loyal customers, projects they’ve done over the years, as our way of saying thanks and to strike up a conversation. These will be submitted by our Regional Sales managers. If you would like to be featured as well let us know and I’m sure we can work it out.
Betz Bros. Building Supply
Betz Brothers Building Supply, out of Celestine Indiana have been determined for the last 7 years to develop their local Reward Wall Systems ICF market and have been doing so with success.
Betz Brothers Building Supply is a unique operation. The company was founded by Edwin and Melvin Betz in 1976. They were originally General Contractors and over time their business focus shifted to providing products rather than constructing with them. Now they have a full service lumber yard and supply building products with a focus on pushing green building envelope solutions, like ICFs, whenever possible.
For the first couple of years that Betz Brothers was carrying Reward Wall Systems product lines they were forced to start building again because few contractors were interested in learning how to build with ICF’s. Betz Brothers then decided to hire a full time Reward Wall Systems sales person to appeal to contractors and architects to convince them that they must learn this relatively new building method. Their ICF Business has been growing ever since. From 1999 – 2001 Betz Brothers had been using several different ICF forming systems. John Marks, the ICF Sales Representative for Betz Brothers, said that “they realized after using all of these different forms that the Reward System was saving them time and waste on jobsites, that ultimately translated into significant cost saving.”
Betz Bros have always been a great client and fun to meet up with every year at World of Concrete. They have experiences in all categories of building services. Below are some photos of their headquarters and a few of their projects over the years.
Betz Brothers Building Supply, Inc
6385 E State Road 164
P.O. Box 117
Celestine, IN 47521
Phone: (812) 481-9400 Fax (812) 481-9402
Thermal Imaging of Insulated Concrete Forms
September 8th, 2009 | From the Field
It’s one thing to say that a house built with insulating concrete forms (ICFs) is energy efficient, but it’s quite another to be able to visually prove it.
Thermal imaging is a type of infrared imaging science. Thermographic cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (roughly 900–14,000 nanometers or 0.9–14 μm) and produce images of that radiation. Since all objects emit infrared radiation based on their temperatures, thermography makes it possible to “see” one’s environment with or without visible illumination. The amount of radiation emitted by an object increases with temperature, and thermography allows one to see these temperature variations (hence the name). When viewed by a thermographic camera, the presence of heat stands out against cooler backgrounds, day or night.
A reference point, ’R’, is a temperature point on the building determined by the thermal imaging that is considered normal at the given time and conditions the image was taken. Based on the laws of physics (heat loss/flow), the reference point is then assigned a color. The change in temperature and color from the reference point indicates a thermal loss. A thermal loss of < 2° is acceptable. A thermal loss greater than 2° is unacceptable and shows some anomaly causing excess thermal loss.
Thermal Imaging of ICF vs “Stick Built” in same neighborhood.
The photos of the two houses above were taken in the same neighborhood within minutes of each other. The house on the left is wood framed, while the house on the right has exterior walls constructed with Reward ICFs. The ICF house shows less than < 2° temperature change. This indicates little to no heat loss. The yellow, orange and red colors indicate heat loss at >10° and up to 20° temperature change.
Thermographic photography provides us with visible thermal information, thus allowing us to identify distinguishing heat patterns. These heat patterns can then be measured to reveal building, equipment or environmental flaws (i.e. heat loss through the roof or windows). Ultimately, these thermal images show that an ICF structure delivers a significantly tighter enclosure than that of its wood framed counterpart.
The two photos below show the heating and cooling cost differences that can be directly attributed to the heat loss. The following pictures are merely a visual representation of heat loss. This is not scientific data
Further Thermal Imaging Comparison
| Stick Built Conventional Home | ICF Constructed Home |
|---|---|
| Shows heat loss through exterior walls | Shows NO heat loss through exterior walls |
| 800 sq ft ranch = Average heat bill $200 a month | 3,500 sq ft 2-story = Average heat bill $80 a month |
Even though the homes above are located in the same climactic region, the Reward built home (on the right), which is more than 4x bigger than the wood framed home (on the left), spends 60% less on an average heating bill.
“I have not seen any house that compares with the Reward ICF house for being thermally efficient as this one. Even the roof vents were cold when all other houses that we have inspected the roof vents were releasing heat from the attic, the ones on the ICF house were not.” ThermaScan Solutions photographer, Bryan Dring.
The New Standard of Sustainability. Tell the World.
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.
Sign up or log in to our product manual section to see our full array of research papers conducted for Reward ICF’s.
The New Standard of Sustainability. Tell the World.
Insulating Concrete Forms and Energy Tax Credits
July 21st, 2009 | From the Field
We field numerous questions everyday on the array of benefits by building an Insulating Concrete Form house or building. Besides the tangible benefits of the building owner- like the 50%- 80% energy savings, protection from natural disasters, etc -there are some other benefits to building green. There are a lot of misconceptions on the government’s ARRA program and how it applies to ICFs. We reference numerous documents and articles when responding to direct inquiries, also which has been determined by our Insulating Concrete Form Association and a lot has been written on it as well. aBlog will just highlight some key things we hear everyday and see if some of the confusion can be lifted. Feel free to stop me and ask questions.
There are different types of tax benefits for building green, including building with Insulating Concrete Forms. I’ll break them down for two sets of people: the owner (homeowner) and the builder. The key is to have a measurable green standard for your building, such as the Energy Star for Homes. Having that rating will open up the possibilities for discounts, rebates, and tax incentives.
- Reward Wall Systems can help your new home earn the ENERGY STAR rating by providing solid monolithic insulated concrete exterior walls that have a high steady state R-22 R-value, thermal mass that moderates the temperatures from the exterior and interior, and a virtually air tight wall that keeps hot and cold air from entering your home. Our insulating concrete form (ICF) walls will help contribute to significant reduction of heating and cooling loads leading to an energy efficient Energy Star home.
Builder: For an Energy Star rated home, the builder is eligible for $2,000 tax credit for building the home.
Homeowner: There isn’t a clear cut answer for the homeowner as some states will offer an incentive or tax credit for the homeowner, but generally there isn’t a large program in place to do so yet.
Also depending on where you live, look into your local utility company for programs to entice owners and builders to build green and more energy efficient buildings. It has been reported of rebates of $150- $1,500 to the homeowner and/or builder for hitting the energy savings requirement set in place by the utility company.
Trade associations also may have incentives to building green. An article from BuilderOnline.com states an example of the PCA giving $1,000 for one home and $20,000 for 10 homes built to a specific standard using concrete for your sustainable structure (Progressive Incentive Program).
Probably the most common question we receive is if insulating concrete forms can qualify for the energy tax credits from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Regretfully, the answer is no- for now. That primary focus is based on existing residential home with upgrades and additions to roofing and insulation, HVAC units, Geothermal Heat pumps, water heaters, photovoltaic (Solar power), wind turbines, and fuel cells. Those credits will be most common this year, filed under form 5695 with the IRS.
Now directly dealing with insulated concrete forms, there are some specifics we should pass along as there are benefits for owners and builders. Our ICFA was so kind to compile this info into a document for us, which we have published on our website. Feel free to read Energy Tax Provisions for ICFs in full, otherwise proceed reading for a super quick summary.
Residential contractors can earn a $2,000 tax credit for homes built to save 50% energy over code.
“Residential contractors may earn a federal tax credit of $2,000 for homes that reduce energy use for heating and cooling only (hot water excluded) by 50 percent compared to the stated national model energy code, the 2004 Supplement to the 2003 International Energy Conservation Code. A further stipulation is a minimum performance level for SEER-13 for air conditioners and heat pumps. Furthermore, improvements to the building envelope must account for at least 1/5 of such 50 percent, which is clearly achievable with ICF construction.”
Commercial property owners can earn a $1.80 / ft² tax deduction for a 50% energy cost reduction
“Business taxpayers (ie the building owner) can earn a deduction of $1.80 per square foot for commercial buildings that achieve a 50 percent reduction in annual energy costs, compared to a base building defined by the industry standard ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1-2001. Energy costs refer only to heating, cooling, lighting and water heating, since only these uses are within the control of the building designer.”
So this aspect of green building and tax credits etc is still in a development stage, as we would hope and expect that broader ranges of benefits will be able to be passed along to the owner and building of the superior building envelope.
Expect more on this topic in the near future as more benefits become available and be sure either as a builder or homeowner continue to do research on how building with Reward Insulating Concrete Forms can increase your bottom line.
The New Standard of Sustainability. Tell the World.
For more resources go to Energy Tax Incentives official Website
Energy Star Rated Parade of Homes
July 16th, 2009 | Project Showcase
In June Reward Wall Systems had a couple houses featured in the Lancaster County Parade of Homes, built by Providence Homes and Neighborhoods and supplied by Construction Supply Centers of New Holland. One of the homes was built for Mr. Gerhart, near Denver, PA. The house was built with a superior “envelope” by using Reward insulating concrete form walls and a closed attic system, using spray foam to complete the enclosure. What the owner, as well as the attendees of the Parade of Homes, got was an incredibly “tight”, energy efficient home which could easily become a model for all future custom homes built in the future. In fact the home won the Best in Show Prize for their Category, among other awards for the Parade as well.
Providence Homes was referred to Reward and our unique in-person training, from their spray-in insulation company, Foam-Tech who is an avid proponent of our Insulating Concrete Forms. Scott, seeing the knowledge and commitment our company dedicated to his project, he was able to present the idea to Mr. Gerhart, who is a professional contractor himself, and was instantly sold on the idea.
Over the next months of building and pouring concrete, what unfolded for the public to see was a custom home that was designed around the principle of securing the building envelope, and experiencing the efficiencies of doing so.
The house is 4,458 square foot ranch style sitting on a 3.5 acre lot, with a slope that affords a lower walkout level. The main floor is 2,548 sq ft of finished space and features a side load 3-car garage and a hexagonal shaped library as well. Windows on each floor are southern facing window groupings, which will absorb the sun in the winter months, and the thermal mass of the ICF walls and footings will keep the interior temperatures even through the year.
The rear covered deck has tile flooring and a handsome wood burning fireplace finished with Eldorado Stone. The lower level has 1,910 sq. ft. of finished space and is accessed by stairs and an elevator. It has in-law quarters with a full handicapped bath on one end and a kitchen in the middle living area, as well as an additional two bedrooms and a full bath on the other end of the basement. It also walks out onto a spacious patio.
Here’s the cool part of it. By now if you’ve read aBlog by Reward HOPEFULLY you’ve read a little on our product. One key measurement of the building envelope is the air change per hour, or ACH- the number of times the home’s air is replaced by outside air in an hour. Normally in the ICF industry you’ll see numbers from .04 to .09 advertised which is extremely good. By comparison from Wikipedia, the average ACH for an average American home is 1.0 and 2.0 per hour, and newly constructed “tight” homes are around .35 – .25 ACH.
However, they were able to test the home to certify through Energy Star, and Mr. Gerhart’s house came in at 0.04 and 0.03 ACH for heating and cooling respectively. That is TEN times more tight than the average “tight” American home.
What does this mean? It means we don’t lie.
It means:
Reward ICFs can get an ACH rating of .03
Less air infiltration gives you control on the outside air coming in, thus being able to reduce allergens
Comfortable even temperatures- there aren’t cold or hot spots in the house
Less Warm air leaks out when you want your house cozy, reducing energy use of your furnace
Less Warm air leaks in when you want your house cool, reducing energy use from your A/C
Energy Use
Speaking of less energy use, here’s the finale for Mr. Gerhart’s home. By using Reward Insulating Concrete Forms and partnering with Foam-Tech for the spray-in attic insulation and sealing window openings to secure a tight envelope the Gerhart house will:
1. Use 55 mmBTU/year vs. 204 mmBTU/year for the average American home
2. Cost an average of $53 a month on Heating and Cooling costs- that’s 1.2 cents a square foot!
3. Use 62% less energy for heating and 36% less energy for cooling than a similar home
4. Reduce CO2 consumption by a total of 55% LESS pounds per year than a similar home
These numbers are staggering.
We want to congratulate Mr. Gerhart, Providence Homes, Construction Supply Center of New Holland, and Foam-Tech on your Energy Star Rated home and being able to show Lancaster County Parade of Homes The New Standard of Sustainability.
BIM Design with Reward Insulated Concrete Forms
July 9th, 2009 | Unique Trends
From paper and pencil to AutoCAD to BIM, this is the evolution of building design community. BIM (Building Information Modeling) is quickly becoming the design tool of choice. The building is designed in 3D and is a virtual design. Not only is BIM useful for creating drawings of the building and its components, but also for embedding information, simulation and visualization of the building. That is the core difference: “I” stands for “Information.”
While there are a few different software packages that can design to BIM, Revit is by far the leading software available for designing parametric BIM objects. All the building components, from the steel supports to the windows units to the grain of the wood trim, are drawn using Revit software. Also you can place cranes and pumps in the drawing when coordinating work schedules etc. Once the BIM objects are created, building plans and drawings are quickly and efficiently drawn. And of COURSE our wall sections and insulating concrete forms are now part of the BIM world! (Product Manual Login required)
For walls designed with BIM, a wall segment is an object whose length, height, thickness, location, orientation, and material composition are included in the model, and have repeating details, so you can take and drag the wall the length you need, and will collate all the information automatically. It is also easy to conduct take-offs with BIM.
The companies that have embraced BIM have benefited in the design, construction and operation of the project. BIM is an integrated design solution. BIM integrates the building components in 3D along with associated data.
Each BIM object can have data attributed to it. By having the data for each building component at the finger tips of the designer, it saves them valuable research time. Examples of this may include R-value, CSI specifications, LEED information, costing data, and design notes.
The ideal situation is to have both the design (architect and structural engineer) and construction entities using BIM. If the companies are able to accurately control costs, quality and schedule, they can use their resources more effectively.
Some use the term designing to 4D with BIM. The 4D element is time –the length of time of construction process – including the sequence and timeliness of each element of the building. For example, if a building design had duct work designed in a certain location that would interfere with another building component, BIM would avoid the time and expense by having to re-construct something to make the duct-work work. Instead this issue could be found prior to construction.
Some jurisdictions are starting to require BIM design for their building projects. A couple examples include the state of Wisconsin and GSA.
BIM is new to us and our industry, which is why we were first in offering our products as. BIM models. We are continuing to learn about the technology and especially how it applies to making buildings energy efficient and more sustainable.
Take advantage of and access Reward’s free parametric ICF BIM objects
Reward Wall Systems has prepared and provided BIM objects in Revit. By providing the objects to the architect or designer, it saves them valuable design time as the wall sections and product details are already drawn. The designer can then just choose which wall section or product detail and begin creating plan, elevation and detail section drawings of the building.
Along with the objects, data associated with the Reward ICF wall is made available with each object…obviously or it wouldn’t be Building INFORMATION Modeling, it would be just Building Modeling.
The Reward BIM Revit objects can be found at the following locations.
- Reward BIM Object Library > Will have to register or sign in to view
- SmartBIM Library
- SmartBuilding Index
- Autodesk Seek
The New Standard of Sustainability. Tell the World.
Common Misconceptions of 1st Time ICF Builders
July 7th, 2009 | Common Troubleshooting
There are a lot of misconceptions that continue to float around about how “easy” ICFs are to build with. This creates the misconception that you don’t need any training or construction skill sets to build with ICFs.
Sounds simple, you just pick up these 5.5 lb giant “Legos”, stack them together, slap down some rebar, start filling them with concrete and Waa Laa…you have yourself the perfect structural wall for your building envelope, right?
WRONG!
This notion has caused more incorrect and costly mistakes during ICF installations than is necessary. Most if not all of these problems are avoidable if you have the necessary information and support from the ICF manufacturer, or are working with an ICF distributor that has a good reputation and support structure in place. Whether you are building a single family residential project or a large scale commercial building such as a theater or multistory building, when incorporating ICFs many of the same considerations need to be taken into account. Here are the main areas of consideration.
Capabilities and Skill Sets
As with any other construction trade, having the necessary skills such as carpentry skills, concrete forming skills and general overall knowledge of the construction process are critical to the success of the project. Do you need to be an expert..no. But one would need to have the understanding of the reasons for doing proper methods of things like bracing, alignment, rebar placements, windows and doors bucks, concrete slump etc.
Pre-Planning
Making sure the appropriate materials, equipment and crew size are coordinated and in place is one of the biggest factors in the successful completion of an ICF project. If you do a good job of pre-construction planning and anticipating the sequence and preparing for it, your project will go much smoother. Too often the advice of the ICF professional is ignored causing mistakes and inefficiency.
Some of the most common mistakes made in pre-planning are:
1. Not building rough opening bucks in advance
2. Not having the correct tools and equipment coordinated and available prior to the start of the project
a. Adequate Number of cordless drills
b. Glue, hooks, starter tracks
c. Rebar should be pre-ordered for proper lengths and fabricated for corners, etc OR Proper rebar cutting and bending tools should be on-site
d. Embed plates need to be determined and fabricated
e. Using the correct type of screw fasteners for bracing and temporary forming elements.
“It is best to use torx, star, or driver head screws-they don’t strip out like Phillips head. If the bracing system will attach to the slab you will need 3/16” x 1 ¾ tap con,” Darryl recommends…see below to meet Darryl
3. Not developing and implementing an efficient bracing strategy-Some of the first time installers will use lumber to brace with.
It should be noted many first time installers will use lumber to brace with. The amount of lumber and time to construct with lumber can and will take more time and material than expected and it is not recommended.
Using a Trained Installer or On-site Trainer
Darryl
While the perception is that this adds to the cost, in actuality the money spent for this support mechanism is well spent as a trainer help you to avoid costly mistakes. They will teach you a successful method for constructing high quality insulating concrete form walls helping you to avoid trial and error, which ultimately leads to a shorter learning curve. Once a qualified contractor has been trained they are usually very well positioned for future projects and will be much more efficient as they go forward without picking up bad habits from not knowing any better.
A combination of skill sets such as layout, carpentry and concrete forming/placement experience are ideal but not necessary if you take the advice and direction of a qualified ICF professional– we’ll bring Darryl U. to you (Short for Ulrich or University, whichever you prefer) Plus, once yo are flying solo on a project, you’re still not alone as our phone lines are always open for any questions.
So hopefully it’s apparent, building with insulated concrete forms is not for a hobbyist looking for something new to do. Nor the weekend builder wanting to expand their skill set. Sure the hobbyist and weekend warrior could both be trained into being a fine installer, however we are one of the few companies that will refuse selling direct to a customer, that has never had any experience before and is refusing training.
REMEMBER we are looking out for our customers’ best interests, as well as their clients, and we are trying to do our best to manage expectations of the customer. As in all other building products, the maximum benefits will not be realized if not installed properly. By working through the pre-planning we assure you every structure will meet your expectations of building a sustainable, green, energy-efficient residential or commercial structure.