Insulated concrete forms – or ICF’s – are a versatile and environmentally friendly construction material that can be used for residential and commercial properties. This innovative concrete wall system offers many advantages including the ability to self-regulate interior building temperatures, dramatically lower energy costs, and significantly reduce sound pollution.
In this blog post we take an in-depth look at what ICF’s are, their uses as well as the five (5) key advantages when using insulated concrete forms – such as ECO Block – for your next building and construction project.
What Are ICFs?
An insulated concrete form (ICF) is a hollow EPS formwork construction system, used to create concrete walls, floors and roofs quickly and efficiently. The result is a wall with a layer of construction-grade EPS on each side and steel-reinforced concrete in the middle.
When building a home, ICFs are 30% faster to build with than traditional construction schedules and allows the contractor to build the whole house from the basements to the roof.
If you are interested in building better walls, for now, and for generations, that outperforms current construction practices, you cannot go past Eco Block ICF. Below are a few pros that you should consider before building.
Uses of Insulated Concrete Forms
Eco Block ICF is incredibly versatile. It is used to build many different types of structures including:
- Residential dwellings
- Swimming pools
- Commercial buildings
- Retaining walls
- Sound Barriers
- Basements and Carparks
Advantages of Insulated Concrete Forms
- Strength and Durability
ICF has the primary advantage of strengthening a building’s walls. The poured concrete hardens inside the ICF formwork which in turn reinforces the wall and reduces its vulnerability to vertical and horizontal forces.
- Energy Efficient
The most appealing aspects of using Eco Block ICF is the potential to significantly reduce the heating and cooling costs of a house or building. ICFs can release heat in summer and store heat in the winter. The definitive thermal study conducted in 2016 (CLED Labs 12/08/2016) tested ICF wall assemblies with traditional walls (Insulated Timber and Steel frames) with the following outcomes. ICF wall assembly provided a 58% better R-Value and generated up to 60% of energy savings compared to the comparative insulated steel and timber and steel frame construction.
- Sound Reduction and Temperature Stability
ICFs do act as a sound barrier, protecting the interior of the house from outdoor noises. When a mass, such as concrete is combined with a light closed-cell material such as EPS, fluctuations in temperature, air filtration, and sound is dramatically reduced.
- Saves on Material Costs
Eco Block ICF, when delivered to the job site, is flat packed, which means less transport cost. Eco Block ICF reduces the building requirements of insulation, air barriers and moisture control.
- Environmentally friendly
With the increase in deforestation, ICFs save trees because the exterior wood frame is eliminated. Insulating concrete forms percentage of recycled materials. The concrete used can be made using supplementary cementing materials like fly ash or slag to replace a portion of the cement. From a sustainability viewpoint, the reduced operating energy, reduction of CO2, long service life, and use of local and recycled materials make ICF construction environmentally beneficial.
Why Build with Eco Block?
Eco Block Insulated Concrete Formwork Systems provide an extremely energy-efficient building envelope offering superior strength, sound, air quality and well-insulated walls. As an industry leader, we advocate the proven ability of Eco Block ICF to reduce construction time while improving quality, reducing energy costs and enhancing resilience against extreme weather events, creating occupant comfort (clean indoor air quality) and long term safety.
Eco Block costs are competitive with all other masonry systems and one of the strongest and most versatile wall systems in the world. It has been used successfully on housing, residential, multilevel and commercial projects.
ECO Block is a low tech, easy to use, energy efficient masonry building system. With ECO Block, your project will be completed faster and with 30%-60% more energy efficiency than other building methods.
Tony and the team at ECO Block Australia delight in offering a building alternative that has superior insulation and creates comfortable and healthy buildings.
If you would like to know how to make your next build stronger, more versatile, and eco-friendly, give ECO Block Australia a call today on 0400 301 411 or 1800 669 696 (Toll-Free from any state) or submit an enquiry here.