![]() They also worked with the Portland Cement Association to build awareness of this type of construction. ![]() By the mid-1990s, the Insulating Concrete Form Association (ICFA) was founded to do research and promotion of the products, working toward building code acceptance. In the 1980s and 1990s, some American companies got involved in the technology, manufacturing blocks and panels or planks. Europeans were developing similar products around the same time. In the 1940s and 1950s, chemical companies developed plastic foams, which by the 1960s allowed a Canadian inventor to develop a foam block that resembles today’s typical ICFs. Their history dates back to after World War II, when blocks of treated wood fibers held together by cement were used in Switzerland. Insulating concrete forms, or ICFs, are forms used to hold fresh concrete that remain in place permanently to provide insulation for the structure they enclose. ![]() Traditional finishes are applied to interior and exterior faces, so the buildings look similar to typical construction, although the walls are usually thicker. Common applications for this method of construction are low-rise buildings, with property uses ranging from residential to commercial to industrial. These systems are strong and energy efficient. Insulating concrete forms (ICFs) result in cast-in-place concrete walls that are sandwiched between two layers of insulation material. Having a safe room built for your home or small business can help provide “near-absolute protection” for you and your family or employees from injury or death caused by the dangerous forces of extreme winds.End view of typical preassembled flat wall ICF block Even so, more and more people build homes in tornado- and hurricane-prone areas, possibly putting themselves into the path of such storms. Integrating a safe room into your new home design, adding to an existing home, or retrofitting a current home are all affordable and straightforward.Įvery year, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme windstorms injure and kill people, and cause millions of dollars worth of property damage in the United States. ![]() Not only does it keep your family safe, but a closet Safe Room is also a fire-resistant storage area for your valuables and heirlooms. These safe rooms are created by building any room (such as the master bedroom closet) with ICF walls, pouring a concrete “lid” on top, and installing a steel door. If you live in an existing structure and are looking for the added protection that a safe room provides – BuildBlock and BuildDeck provide the perfect solution to disaster-proofing your existing home or business.Īn ICF Safe Room provides protection from winds as high as 250 mph. When building a new home or business using BuildBlock complete monolithic concrete wall, floor, and roof systems you will create an envelope of protection against natural disasters and turn your entire structure into a safe haven. As a result, homes built especially in disaster-prone areas need extra protection from such disastrous conditions. According to current building codes, most homes do not provide adequate protection from tornadoes, hurricanes, and other disastrous conditions. Complete the monolithic concrete envelope to achieve energy efficiency while protecting against natural disasters.
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