Energy Performance of Homes Made of Insulated Concrete Forms

Five reports from the Portland Cement Association, 5420 Old Orchard Road, Skokie, IL 60077; 847-966-6200, 847-966-9781 (fax). Available at no charge for one year by contacting Natalie Holz at PCA.

EBN

Vol. 7, No. 4). Included are two reports by Bruce A. Wilcox, with output of computer simulations using both DOE-2 and BLAST software:

•Technical Analysis for Sizing HVAC Equipment for ICF Homes; and

•Technical Analysis for Using Energy Codes for ICF Homes;

two reports by Martha G. Van Geem, with detailed R-value estimates for a large number of proprietary insulated concrete form:

•Guidelines for Using ASHRAE 90.2-1993 with Insulating Concrete Forms; and

•Guidelines for Using the CABO Model Energy Code with Insulating Concrete forms;

and one by Van Geem, Wilcox, and John Gajda:

•Sizing Air-Conditioning and Heating Equipment for Residential Buildings with ICF Walls.

While these reports don’t claim to answer the difficult questions concerning thermal mass and energy performance, they offer a lot by way of good data and analysis, and are head-and-shoulders above the earlier data PCA had published on this topic.