Feature Article
Insulated Concrete Form Construction


Gleaming in the afternoon sunshine, Arxx wallsystem blocks are stacked on the foundation of a new insulated form concrete home being built by Evans Construction Company in Sacramento. In the foreground, the blocks are beginning to be stacked into the wall forms, ready for concrete.

 


The Arxx wallsystem incorporates internal metal cross-members for strength. Rebar is easily attached to the cross members, making the walls extremely strong and earthquake and storm resistant.

 


The first floor of this home has been poured. The rebar rising from the first floor will be tied into the Arxx wallsystem as the polystyrene blocks are snapped into place for the second floor.

 


The ICF homes, when finished, looks like any modern, upscale California home.

By Steve Berlin

     One block away, cars, trucks and busses roar up and down always busy Sunrise Blvd. But, inside the partially built insulated form concrete home it was pleasantly quiet.
     “ Noise reduction is only one of the many features of these homes.” said Sacramento builder Michael Evans.     It was 2:00 in the afternoon, and Mike was reclining against a pile of lumber, eating his late lunch, looking tired but pleased. The rain had broken, finally, and he and his crews were busy making up for lost time.
“All the homes in this subdivision sold before the first roof went on.” he said, attesting to the viability of insulated concrete form construction in Sacramento.
     Mike noted that he had done three dozen custom homes before attempting this small subdivision. “It was a test” he said, “of the Sacramento market.” Proving that Sacramento home buyers know a great deal when offered one, the homes sold like the proverbial hotcakes.
     In addition to the amazing sound proofing, these homes boast huge electrical savings. As gas, oil and electrical prices continue their relentless climb up, the cost to heat and cool homes also rises. These homes offer energy reductions in the 40 to 60 percent range, depending on lifestyle says Andy Stephens, Manager of the Livingston’s Concrete division that sells the Arxx wallsystems and, of course, the concrete that completes the installation.
     Livingston’s Concrete is the official distributor of the Arxx wallsystem for the Sacramento area. Andy works closely with Mike Evans to make sure the project moves forward without problems.
     Andy notes that Livingston’s Concrete is bidding on several commercial projects and recommending the Arxx wallsystem in place of conventional construction. “Our bids are very competitive,” Andy states, “because the Arxx system is easy to use, and incorporates several different construction activities into one simple step.”
     And the benefits are tremendous. Sound proofing and energy savings are only the beginning. Concrete wall systems, in conjunction with proper HVAC/Air exchange can greatly reduce mold issues. Worries about termites and dry rot are also a problem of the past.
     Equally important is the fire safety of this type of construction. Concrete wall systems, combined with concrete shingle roofs, become extremely fire resistant.
     The walls use internal cross members to hold the polystyrene blocks in place. Rebar is attached to the cross members, and concrete poured into the wall frames in up to 4 foot lifts. The procedure allows Livingston’s to completely pour the walls in one sitting. They just go around the building at 4 foot lifts so as not to create to much pressure on the forms. Once the first 4 foot run around the building is completed, they immediately start the next 4 foot lift on top of the first.
     The strength of these walls was tested in Florida, where hurricane force winds were simulated. The walls sustained minimal damage, and proved to be highly wind and storm resistant.
     Among others beginning to take a serious look at this type of construction is the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Dave Bisbee, Project Manager of the SMUD Customer Advanced Technologies Program is working with Evans Construction Company.
     SMUD’s Customer Advanced Technologies works with SMUD customers to learn about new energy saving technologies using real world projects. Evans, and the people buying his homes, have entered into a two year agreement with SMUD to allow passive monitoring of the energy usage in the homes.
     Four energy saving technologies have been incorporated into these homes. First is the ICF system. The homes also boast a new evaporative condenser HVAC system that is twice as efficient as the customary HVAC system on 105 degree days.
     Also built into these homes is a new kitchen lighting system that is being tested to bring the homes into compliance with Title 24 regulations slated to begin in 2005. These new regulations will make it virtually impossible to use anything other then energy efficient fluorescent bulbs in home kitchens.
     SMUD will feature the new lighting system in a seminar on Thursday, January 22 at SMUD’s Energy & Technology Center. Those interested in attending should contact SMUD at (916) 732-6738.
     Finally, four of the homes are testing a new type of concrete shake roof. The tiles have been developed by the Oakridge National Laboratory and are tinted to reflect sunlight to help cool the home in Summer. They look like regular concrete roof tiles, but should significantly lower inside temperatures and lighten the load during peak electrical use times.
“SMUD, like most electrical utility companies, has a summer peaking issue,” said David Bisbee. “Our goal is to find cost-effective energy saving materials and technologies to shift or flatten the electrical load while providing added value to our customers.”
     Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of these concrete homes is that they do not look like what might be imagined a concrete house might look like. It is not a bunker, or a warehouse. To often people hear “concrete home” and have a mental picture of a house that looks like Home Depot or Walmart. Nothing could be further from the truth. These are modern, beautiful homes that look just like any other California home.
     For more information on the Arxx insulated wall system, visit www.arxxbuild.com  or contact Andy Stephens at Livingston’s Concrete, (916) 334-4313.
     For more information on SMUD’s programs, see www.smud.org/education/cat/index.html
Product features

Fire Resistant: UL/ULC listing of Fire Resistance Ratings in accordance with ASTM E119 and CAN/UKC-S101. A fire retardant is added to the Arxx forms during manufacturing. The system exceeds Classification A as tested. Flash Ignition Temperature of 698 degrees fahrenheit.

Energy Efficient: Thermal resistance of R22 (6” form unit), however, due to the moderating effect of the thermal mass of concrete, thermal performance of the Arxx wall can exceed that of a wood-framed wall insulated up to R50.

Sound Resistant: Sound Transmission Classifications (STC) of 50 or higher are easily obtainable.

Water Vapor Resistant: Water vapor permeance rating of 3.50 perms-in (200 ng/Pa-s-m2).

 

 

Livingston’s Concrete

Livingston’s Concrete is the official distributor of the Arxx wallsystem

At right, Livingston's Concrete CEO, Mike Livingston

Begun on Folsom Boulevard in East Sacramento in 1946 as a ready mix truck rental company, Livingston’s first ready mix plant was constructed in 1953, in North Sacramento, and expanded in 1974 when the main plant and corporate headquarters were moved to Roseville Road in North Highlands.

A second plant opened in Rancho Cordova in 1987, and with the purchase of Gold Rush Ready-Mix in 1998, two more plants were added, in Lincoln and Marysville. These four, strategically located, plants provide the company its ability to deliver concrete to a large area in Greater Sacramento.

Operations are maintained with a large, modern fleet of ready-mix trucks, including several of the largest such trucks in California -- important when large pours must be completed in limited timeframes. These are complemented by bottom dumps, bulk cement carries, and transfer rigs, allowing operations to be fully self-contained from base product delivery to onsite placement of aggregate materials.

Ready-mix products from Livingston’s Concrete are backed by top quality and service, including batch plant certification from the National Ready Mix Concrete Association. All concrete is computer-monitored to guarantee adherence to design specifications. With these capabilities, Livingston’s has transitioned into all types of concrete construction projects; whether a customer needs one load or one hundred.

Locally owned and operated, Livingston’s Concrete Service is a third-generation family team, committed to the best in Sacramento-area service. Not just faceless voices on the phone, all of their staff are neighbors and friends to folks in the communities where they live and serve. Many are professionally certified or accredited -- from management to drivers-and all are dedicated to maintain the highest possible level of customer satisfaction.

As good corporate neighbors, Livingston’s has received industry awards and recognition for their clean and well-designed equipment, state of the art recycling and pollution control measures from national and local organizations.

 

SMUD invests
in real world projects

SMUD’s Customer Advanced Technologies (C.A.T.) is a research and development (R & D) program designed to encourage customers to use and evaluate new or underutilized technologies. Unlike many R & D programs, research is accomplished through implementing real-world demonstration projects (instead of laboratory testing). C.A.T. provides funding for customers in exchange for a two-year monitoring agreement. Completed demonstration projects include lighting technologies, light emitting diodes (LEDs), residential building shell construction, geothermal heat pumps, evaporative cooling, non-chemical water treatment and a wide variety of other technologies.

For more information, or to download technology evaluation reports, please visit: www.smud.org/education/cat/index.html

2004 International Builders’ Show
Official Showcase home
built of Arxx insulated concrete form (ICF) system

The New American Home is also slated to be an Energy Star Plus® house,
so Arxx helped them get the qualifying R-value almost instantly.

 
The International Builders Show’s “The New American Home® 2004” (TNAH) will be constructed of the Arxx High Performance Wallsystem. TNAH serves as the official showcase house of the annual show, which attracts 70-80,000 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) members. The Arxx system is an Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) system resulting in stronger, safer and more energy efficient walls. The show will take place January 19 to 22, 2004 in Las Vegas. The showcase home is located in the community of The Lakes at West Sahara and will sell for approximately $1.5 million. Arxx Building Products and its U.S. manufacturer Tuscarora donated the forms for the project.

“When our architect, who is Dutch, found out that we’d selected concrete as the building material for this year’s home, he was thrilled because concrete is the building material of choice in the Netherlands,” explains Stephen Jones, founder of Merlin Contracting and Developing. “The house is coincidentally built along a canal and has obvious Dutch influences that give it a unique façade.”
According to Jones, the idea of building the home of concrete was proposed by The Portland Cement Association, one of the Builders Show sponsors. The architect and builder researched every type of ICF system before selecting Arxx.

TNAH is intended to show new architectural and design ideas that builders can incorporate into their home building experiences across the country. Arxx represents an easy-to-install building material that incorporates the wallsystem, vapor barrier and insulating layer in one. Its R-22 walls are higher than recommended by Las Vegas area code but the moisture resistance of the material is perfectly suited to the environment where when it rains, it pours.

Dale Beck, superintendent on TNAH for Merlin Contracting and Developing, is familiar with ICFs, though this was his first experience working with Arxx forms. “We found out that the Arxx people take care of us, their tech support is fantastic and the block goes together very well. It’s a much better product, I believe, than the other ICFs out there.” According to him, “The alignment systems keep walls straight, where we have problems with the other ICFs. I’m proud to be involved with the Arxx organization and the show home.”

TNAH is a roughly 5,000 square foot home, three stories tall in the contemporary loft style. It will be obvious that this is a unique home standing among the traditional Mediterranean style homes of Las Vegas. Some of the walls are 14-feet tall, such as in the living room where there is a clear span to the second floor. It will feature a copper roof and louvers; will have a stone exterior; and the wood windows will all be clad in vinyl to provide a cohesive look with modern style.

Unusual for Las Vegas, the home also has a basement. According to Jones, the insulating properties of the Arxx are already tangible in the basement area.

“When the contractors are working in what is now 115 to 120-degree heat, they take breaks in the basement to cool off. The insulation value of the material is fantastic and is key because of the extreme heat,” he says. The New American Home is also slated to be an Energy Star Plus® house, so Arxx helped them get the qualifying R-value almost instantly.

An average crew of four people has been working on the Arxx portion of the house. Beck attended the Arxx training class with additional on-site support and then the remainder of the crew was trained as well.
“This is such a wonderful opportunity for this area because before the IBS Show and TNAH, the architect was talking to people about building homes here using concrete and it was just logistically unheard of because we’re presumed not to have the labor force to do it. With Arxx, the labor is easily trained and enjoys working with the material,” says Jones. “We believe in the product so much that Merlin has become the distributor for Arxx in Las Vegas.”

For more information about the Arxx wallsystem, call 1-800-293-3210 or visit www.arxxbuild.com.

 

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