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.

Cost and Savings Using Insulated Concrete Forms

There were many upgrades given to these homes to perform better than a Building America Benchmark home. We can take a look at one of them to show you the energy savings as well as the increases in costs and how it all shakes out for the buyer of the homes, compared to the 2006 Washington state energy code and the benchmark home. All of the energy calculations were done by WSU Extension Energy.

The Devoted Builders Home saves better than 25% on energy compared to the Washington Energy Code and has a savings of over 43% compared to the benchmark home.

The home would save over $1,300 a year in energy costs alone, and the owner would will net $500 a year after the 30 years of a mortgage, when costs of upgrades were taken into account.

It goes to show even with the added expense of insulated concrete forms and other energy savings features, the performance outweighs the costs. Homeowners and building owners across the country are coming out ahead.

Project Summary on All Energy Efficient Features

• HERS Scores 54-68
• R-22 Insulated Concrete Form Wall
• R-49 blown in cellulose in attic
• 0.29 U-value windows
• Whole house air leakage below 2.0 ACH
• Duct leakage less than 6 cfm 50 Pa
• 8.5- HSPF, 14-SEER heat pump with backup gas furnace
• Energy reovery ventilator, 75% efficiency
• 3-Star Built Green Certified
• Energy Star Certified

Cost Vs Savings of Energy Efficient Measures

Mortgage payment is an estimate calculated by CARB and is based on a 30 year mortgage with a 7% fixed APR

The ICF Building Envelope

Each home is built with insulating concrete forms, built up to the roof line. Also, the ICF foundation goes down 30 inches to serve as the perfect frost wall. Stucco was used as the exterior finish of choice. (NO additional vapor or air barrier was used because insulating concrete form walls serve as a ARE a vapor retarder and air barrier! (See our ICF Moisture Research- login required)

Ducts in the attic are mastic sealed and the ceiling deck is insulated with over an inch of spray foam and then topped with a foot of blown cellulose to reach and R-49 value for the attic. The spray foam insulation in the attic coupled with the energy efficient ICF walls, Giacci has been able to achieve very low air leakages rates. He has all of the home blower door tested with some coming in as low as 0.8 ACH at 50 Pascals.

The tight envelope is a must to control the indoor environment and ultimately- the energy use. Tight enclosure gives the control back to the occupant for temperature, controlling outside air, and moisture. An energy-recovery ventilator is installed in the homes to redistribute tempered air though out the home

Commitment to Quality Sustainable Homes

All of Devoted Builders homes are 3^rd party tested and inspected, and since 2007 every single one of his homes built, exceeded savings of over 50% of the 2004 IECC code, and performs better than the Building America Benchmark by over 43%.

They are continuing to improve the technologies in the house and are looking forward to implementing photovoltaic’s, solar hot water, ductless heat pumps and many more green strategies- with the ultimate goal of achieving net zero energy homes utilizing Reward insulating concrete forms.

Check back in another week as we wrap up this Devoted Builders project highlight and discuss the costs and energy use of the townhouses.

Devoted Builders’ Fred Giacci, has been a long time customer of Reward Wall Systems and is a very experienced builder when it comes to building sustainable homes. He was the first builder in his area to start using insulating concrete forms in 2002, and since 2006 he made the commitment to build all of his homes to qualify for the Northwest Energy Star, using Reward ICFs.

Washington Insulated Concrete Form Community

Giacci is in the process of a 230 unit Mediterranean Villa community in Washington, with 206 already built. Each one of his homes has a HERS score of under 60 and achieves a minimum of 50% energy savings over the model energy code. He partnered with the Department of Energy’s Building America Program too for some demonstration projects as Devoted Builders was one of the few in the area taking advantage of an federal energy savings tax credit program.

Throughout the course of a year or so the DOE did a case study on the homes and all of their green features so they can measure the energy savings, air tightness, as well as costs of building and net cash flow for the home owners.

The next few blog posts will highlight the energy efficient features of his homes and we will walk you through the energy use and energy savings of a specific house.

ICF Concrete Villas Project Scope

Size of Development: 230 homes
Square Footage: 1, 1.5, 2 story, du/triplexes ranging in size of 1140 to 2100 ft2
Price Range: $145,000- $300,000
Sustainability resume:

• All homes have been Energy Star since 2006
• Started local Green Built program and has received 3 stars (highest level) on all of his homes since 2007
• Northwest ENERGY STAR builder of the year in 08-09

See more in depth analysis on the features and performance of the Mediterranean Villas.

When Dr. Waters, owner of Silverton Surgical in Silverton, Oregon planned their new 3-story, 13,020 square foot medical building, they wanted to lower operational costs to improve the profitability of their investment.

Over $10,000.00 per year in utility savings increased the profitability of the project starting the very first month.

The Waters’ specified Reward Wall Systems Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) for the exterior walls of the project. To complement the insulated concrete walls, the Waters’ upgraded the roof insulation, windows, and the HVAC equipment to create a high-performance building envelope. The conservation upgrades for the project increased the cost of construction of this $2,100,000.00 project by $112,000.00 compared to a 2 x 6 wood frame building that meets Oregon energy code. The Waters’ justified the investment by counting on lower utility expenses.

The Waters’ commissioned an independent energy audit to determine if the investment in the conservation upgrades would be cost effective, and the results were astonishing.

The utility expense of the building constructed of 2 x 6 wood frame to meet Oregon Code was calculated to be $1,151.00 per month. The building with the Insulated Concrete exterior walls, increased roof insulation, window and HVAC upgrades was calculated to be $312.00 per month for a savings of $10,068.00 in utilities per year.

Even with the cost of construction increased by $112,000.00, this building is less expensive, and more profitable for the Waters’ starting the very first month of operation. The combined monthly mortgage and utility expense for the project is actually $175 less than the same building built with the less expensive 2 x 6 wood frame construction to meet code.

The Waters’ contracted a consulting firm to submit an application for the State of Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC). BETC was created to offer an incentive for investing in conservation upgrades. The incentive totals 35% of the $112,000.00 upgrades for a tax credit of $39,200.00 to be taken over five years.

Even with a higher cost of construction, the utility savings for this project result in a lower cost of ownership and increase profits for Silverton Medical Properties starting from the very first month of operation.

• 13,020 square feet

• CMU and brick exterior finish

• PVC sheet roofing over 3.5″ Polyisocyanurate R-22

• 5 AC units, total 25-ton inheat pump

• Energy Wise utility cost average, $312 per month

• Estimated $10,000 per year energy savings over wood

• Stairwells and elevator shaft built with Reward

• 11″ iForm for top two levels

• •13″ iForm for basement and crawl space

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

Program Overview:
Reward Wall Systems will give you a promotional code to give EnergyWise. They will perform an energy analysis at half the normal price on the home you will build, and will GUARANTEE you an energy savings (of heating and cooling costs) of 50-70% versus a conventional stick built home.  Just purchase the Energy Analysis from EnergyWise to get started and Reward Wall Systems will reimburse you for the out-of-pocket cost of the analysis upon delivery and payment of Reward Wall Systems forms to your home construction site.  EnergyWise will issue and manage the energy guarantee.  See energywisestructures.com for details and more information.

FAQ

Why should I do this?
This program is set up to give you information on saving energy and money, and is 100% guaranteed by EnergyWise, if program details are followed.  This is virtually risk-free, as you can reduce your carbon footprint at no cost to you!

Is this just for residential building?
Yes this is only for residential single family homes using Reward ICF’s

How much will it cost up front?
It will depend on the size of the home plan, but remember you will only pay 50% of the cost up front, and Reward will reimburse the cost to you if the Reward Energy Analysis Program rules are followed.  Listed below is the estimated pricing breakdowns for new houses:

*Please contact EnergyWise for final pricing
**Order must be placed, delivered and payment received

How do I let EnergyWise know I get the 50% discount?
You will need to call Reward Wall Systems and we will give you an exclusive code to give to EnergyWise.  By doing so they will knock 50% off the initial fee and that code usage will entitle you to full reimbursement upon placed order and payment

When will I be reimbursed?
Reward will issue a refund or a credit to your account upon delivery and payment of Reward forms to your jobsite, in the full amount paid to EnergyWise

Who administers the guarantee?
EnergyWise will issue and manage all guarantees based on their program rules.

I want 50-70% Guaranteed energy savings where do I start?
Call into Reward Wall Systems at 1-800-468-6344 to receive your promo code to get started!

Who Is EnergyWise?

In Summary EnergyWise has developed the MOST comprehensive, easy-to-understand construction plan review and modification program available anywhere. Their proprietary software was derived from the experience of NASA thermal consultants on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs. This unique tool allows them to create a detailed energy analysis report from each building plan they review. The report accurately projects the heating and cooling consumption, comparative savings, and the optimal heating and cooling system sizing for your unique home or building. Best of all, the energy usage calculations and incredible energy savings are GUARANTEED in writing!

Check them out at www.energywisestructures.com to see their program, their guarantee in writing and more information on their company.The Guaranteed energy savings is based on savings of heating and cooling costs only, which accounts for over 60% of a home’s entire energy use.

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

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.

Building the exterior walls with Reward ICFs contributes to this requirement and credit by providing superior air tightness, insulating value and thermal massing. Use of Reward Wall Systems will result in a better insulated, energy efficient exterior wall system.  The continuous solid insulated concrete wall created by Reward will reduce air infiltration and provide thermal mass benefits.
Green
Combined with other components like energy efficient glazing and window units, well insulated roof assemblies, and design strategies like effective solar orientation, Reward can contribute to a project qualifying for minimum energy performance under EA Prerequisite 2, and for additional credits for energy performance beyond the minimum ASHRAE energy code requirements, under the Optimized Energy Performance credit.

Optimized Energy Performance

EA Prerequisite 2: Reward can contribute to the required prerequisite compliance with meeting the minimum performance standards of ASHRAE 90.1-2007 energy code

Credit is obtained for performance improvements beyond the minimum ASRAE 90.1 energy code requirements (up to 19 points).

For Thursday: Materials and Resources (MR) LEED v3 ICF Summary

Here we will talk about the recycled content of our forms and their ties as well as showing you our Regional Materials Map.

The New Standard of Sustainability. Tell the World.

The owners were originally going to build their home out of structural steel and 2×6 framing with a poured wall foundation.  What they found when doing the cost analysis between the steel with wood frame and ICF construction, was that building with Reward ICF’s, all the way to the roof, significantly lowered their stucco and electrical installation costs.  They were also able to eliminate $25,000 of structural steel out of their budget.

They determined that it would be less expensive to build their home almost entirely out of concrete.  This was all determined before factoring in the energy savings for heating and cooling the interior of the house.  Ultimately it comes down to the fact that they are getting an extremely high quality home for less than if they had followed through with their original plans.

Keep checking back throughout this year as this enormous project gets completed.

The New Standard of Sustainability. Tell the World.