Benefits

Benefits of Building An Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) Home

Concrete walls built with ICFs give a house superior comfort, solidity, durability, resistance to natural disasters, quietness, and energy efficiency.  They offer both home buyers and home builders a superior alternative to wood frame walls. This page illustrates just some of the benefits of your ICF home.  For more information on building your ICF home contact us at info@fortresshomesicf.com or call (920)427-2029.

Concrete Homes Save Energy

Building an ICF home saves energy and money.  The greater insulation, tighter construction, and temperature-smoothing mass of the walls conserve heating and cooling energy much better than conventional wood-framed walls/  This reduces monthly fuel bills.  It also allows use of smaller heating and cooling equipment, saving money in construction.

Houses built with ICF exterior walls require an estimated 44% less energy to heat and 32% less energy to cool than comparable frame houses.  A typical 2000 square foot home in the center of the U.S. will save approximately $400 in heating costs and $250 in air conditioning costs each year.

The smaller heating and cooling equipment needed for such an energy-efficient house can cut construction costs by an estimated $500 to $2000.

Sound Reduction Compared to a typical wood frame wall, only about one-quarter to one-eighth as much sound penetrates through an ICF wall.  Scientists would describe loud speech on the opposite side of a frame wall as "audible, but not intelligible."  On the opposite side of an ICF wall, a listener would "strain to hear" loud speach.  It would be virtually "inaudible" ICF Homeowners Appreciate These Benefits More Than They Ever Imagined In a 1997 survey, interviewers asked owners of 74 new ICF houses and 73 new frame houses what they liked about them.  Over 80 percent of the ICF owners mention the great comfort compared with 22 percent of the frame owners.  Typical comments were: "It's the most comfortable house I've ever lived in." "I didn't know what I was missing until we were in it for a while."   Over 60 percent of ICF homeowners mentioned the quietness of their houses, versus only 2 per­cent of the frame homeowners.  The ICF owners told two common stories over and over again:   "/ looked out the window and saw the traffic on the road, but I couldn't hear it." "While talking with my neighbor one morning, he asked if the thunderstorm the night before woke me up, too.  But until that moment I never even realized we'd had one."   When planning a new house, consider the greater well-being that could come from living with a more even temperature, sharply reduced drafts, and noticeably greater quiet.  These things are available with concrete walls built with ICFs.  They effectively shelter the interior environment from the harshness of the outdoors.  ICFs will provide a quiet, comfortable home year round.   For more information on building your ICF home contact us at info@fortresshomesicf.com or call (920)427-2029.

Publications on the above topics can be obtained from the Portland Cement Association.  www.concretehomes.com