ICF Buildings & The Environment

Trees Spared
Some pundits say an ICF home saves 50 trees, and some say ten. The fact is that it all depends on the tree harvested to produce the lumber. The average new home requires 3,000 board feet of lumber. No matter where the lumber came from, it is equal to several trees that could have been saved had the home been built with insulated concrete forms.

Reduced Fossil Fuel Consumption
Comparatively little fossil fuel is required to heat and cool a concrete home compared to that required by a traditional wood structure. It is estimated that if 12% of new homes built were concrete homes, the GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions will be reduced by roughly 7 to 11 megatons. This is equivalent to the emissions generated in one year by 1.4 million cars.

Lowered Waste Factor
In traditional wood construction 5% to 10% of materials end up as waste. A house was built in Cheyenne, Wyoming entirely from lumber waste from construction job sites. ICF forms are recyclable. Furthermore, because they can be cut to fit, and the cut off portion can often be used elsewhere, an ICF wall system produces little waste to begin with. Total waste from ICF construction is thought to be 1 to 2 percent.