The costs of any given construction site can be high, what with the time spent on the project and the laborers that must be hired to complete it. The materials used, of course, will only add to the cost, something that can be considerably frustrating when you consider the amount of waste that is generated at your typical construction site here in the United States. Fortunately, there are methods of construction that can reduce the overall cost of the endeavor quite significantly at the end of the day and by the time that the construction project in question is completed.
This method is that of ICF construction, which can be used for home construction and commercial construction purposes alike. ICF construction has actually been in use for quite some time now, dating back to the 1950s, when it was first developed and put into usage more than 60 full years ago. And though ICF construction methods have become widely utilized here in the United States, in truly all parts of it, ICF construction methods can also be prominently found throughout many other parts of our world as well, something that is, of course, important to keep in mind.
But why exactly are ICF construction methods so ideal? For one thing, the use of insulated concrete building blocks (which are integral to ICF construction) help to cut down the cost of construction quite considerably, which is likely one of the main motivating factors for people to use this method of construction over other, perhaps more traditional methods seen commonly utilized here in the United States as well as in other parts of the world as well. In fact, you’ll even be able to save as much has 75 cents per square foot of construction and while this might not seem like that big of an amount, it is an amount that will certainly add up to be quite considerable at the end of the day.
Part of this is not just due to the materials that are used, but due to the overall simplicity of the construction process as well. The use of ICF construction methods reduces the amount of time and steps that are necessary in the construction process, which in turn lowers the costs considerably. In the construction of your average basement, for example, costs can often be lowered by as much as 40% when ICF methods of construction are put into use.
ICF construction methods are also ideal in the long term for the superior insulation that they are able to provide. When ICF construction materials are put into usage for the construction of any given home here in the United States, the overall energy bills (particularly the parts of them that are related to heating and cooling) are likely to drop quite dramatically. In fact, home owners with ICF construction in their homes can often save as much has 25% on their overall energy bills on a yearly basis – and typically no less than 20% at the very least. In the parts of the country where winters are long and brutal and summers are hot and scorching, this is nothing if not more than ideal for the vast majority of people living in such locations, both in terms of staying as comfortable as is possible as well as for saving as much money as is possible too.
And ICF construction methods and materials are more than ideal in places that are prone to common natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes. After all, homes that are built using ICF construction methods are actually typically as much has nine times stronger than buildings that have been built without them. Typically, such home will be no less than six times stronger than the homes that have not utilized ICF building methods as part of their overall construction. And as ICF construction can withstand winds that exceed 400 kilometers per hour, such a home is clearly a safe place to be should such a natural disaster take place near you.
