Make an Environmentally Friendly Choice, Choose an ICF Concrete Wall

Most people today are aware of the fact that we have a responsibility to protect and conserve the environment around us. The problem is most people enjoy the luxuries that do damage to the environment. If money were not an issue, which would you prefer for your four person family - a three bedroom, three bathroom, three car garage house or a one bedroom, one bathroom, no garage home? Most people in North America would choose the larger home because they are obliviously more comfortable. But, we all know by making this choice we choose to use a greater amount of energy and do more potential harm to the environment. Or do we? With advances in construction, contractors can build homes that are extremely well insulated and use a greater amount of recycled materials in the actual building process. Welcome to the world of insulated concrete forms.

Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) are an advancement in the construction industries that offers potential home builders the opportunity to create comfortable homes that are energy efficient and use mostly recycled materials. An ICF concrete wall is created by stacking foam blocks on top of one another and pouring cement into the middle of the blocks. The foam is then left attached to the wall itself. Two layers of foam with concrete sandwiched in the middle means a huge amount of insulation, and this of course means a home that uses less energy.

The ICF foam block is a huge advancement in using less energy. The block itself can be manufactured using recycled materials. The metal interior that holds the foam together can be a recycled alloy. The foam can be created using recycled materials. These two opportunities allow a home owner the peace of mind that the material used to create his or her home made a minimum impact on the environment.

Concrete is becoming more and more environmentally friendly. Today, cement that is poured into ICF forms is most often much better for the environment then cutting down trees in the forest, hauling them to the mill, having them wastefully milled into two by fours, and then delivered to job sites. Using concrete to build a home reduces that home's carbon footprint right from the start.