ICF TECHNOLOGY AND TRENDS - Kanda, Inc - Real Estate Broker and Commercial Builder/Contractor

ICF TECHNOLOGY AND TRENDS

This page is intended as a portal to information resources about ICFs (Insulating Concrete Forms). www.cement.org is a good starting point for users, designers, builders, and code officials who are interested in learning more about ICF technology, benefits and trends.

ICF BASICS
"ICFs are basically forms for poured concrete walls, that stay in place as a permanent part of the wall assembly. The forms, made of foam insulation or other insulating material, are either pre-formed interlocking blocks or separate panels connected with plastic ties. The left-in-place forms not only provide a continuous insulation and sound barrier, but also a backing for drywall on the inside, and stucco, lap siding, or brick on the outside."

"Within these two basic ICF types, individual systems can vary in their design. "Flat" systems yield a continuous thickness of concrete, like a conventionally poured wall. The wall produced by "grid" systems has a waffle pattern where the concrete is thicker at some points than others. "Post and beam" systems have just that - discrete horizontal and vertical columns of concrete that are completely encapsulated in foam insulation. Whatever their differences, all major ICF systems are engineer-designed, code-accepted, and field-proven."

While originally a European technology, there are now many national and regional manufacturers and distributors of ICFs in the United States.

The links below are some of the Manufacturers with detailed product information, including options, dimensions, design tables, and specifications.

Kanda Inc. has been very pleased with the ICF systems from LogixICF.com and especially pleased with thier engineering and consulting support.