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ProudGreenHome.com publishes credible and useful online news and information that enables an audience of homebuilders, remodelers, architects, developers, product suppliers, homeowners and others to create more efficient, sustainable and enjoyable homes.
Homes built with ICF walls require about 44 percent less energy to heat and 32 percent less energy to cool than a comparable wood-frame house, based on a study of 58 single-family homes located throughout the United States and Canada. The energy savings come from the outstanding insulating values for ICF walls (as high as R-40, compared to wood-frame’s R-9 to R-15 values) and tighter construction. The high thermal mass of the concrete also buffers the home’s interior from extreme outdoor temperatures, while the continuous layer of foam insulation minimizes temperature fluctuations inside the home by eliminating the cold spots that can occur in frame walls along the studs or at gaps in the insulation. In fire-wall tests, ICF and concrete walls withstood continuous exposure to intense flames and temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit for as long as four hours without structural failure, compared with wood-frame walls that collapsed in an hour or less.