The majority of homes today are built using wood frames, the traditional building material & the material of choice for many. However building a wood framed house requires a very carefully designed plan & a construction crew with much experience & skill.

Building a home with a wood frame will generally result in a reliable & secure structure, however it is also susceptible to premature failure when small details are left unchecked or is made with a poor quality wood product. Wood frames also have the ability to rot & attract infestation & construction costs associated with building such frames are also a detriment.

Today the home owner has the opportunity to select from alternative green building materials & make a difference.

Insulated Concrete Forms: These preformed blocks are made with expanded polystyrene (EPS) & metal rebar which can be stacked to build your frame. They are then filled with concrete to create an insulated & exceptionally strong wall!

The Benefits of Building a Home with Insulated Concrete Forms

• Ease of Use - These building blocks are very easy to use. They require much less crew & take significantly less time to build than a traditional home
• Energy Efficiency - The insulation properties of polystyrene & the high thermal mass of the concrete help to reduce the internal temperature fluctuations to create a more efficient & comfortable indoor environment.
• Noise Reduction - Insulated Concrete form walls make an enormous difference in the reduction of noise transmission.
• Fire-resistance - This product is highly rated for fire-resistance & has been proven in some products to have a four hour resistance rating!
• Strength - These walls are exceptionally strong & can be built to hurricane/seismic standards.
• Mildew/Rot - These walls will not support the growth of mildew & mold.

This alternative building material is an excellent home structural choice for all those living in areas where their homes are exposed to severe weather such as hurricanes & tornadoes.

These blocks are made using concrete which does raise some environmental concerns. Concrete depends on cement & the production of cement is an enormous environmental hazard! However there is now in existence cement substitutes which are being implemented into green build design.

If you are interested in building a home using these blocks insist that your builder uses a concrete with a high concentration of fly-ash.

Structural Insulated Panels

SIP's are high performance building panels that are used to form & build walls, floors & roofs both for commercial & residential purposes.

They are made by sandwiching foam insulation between Oriented Strand Board (OSB). OSB is an engineered wood product that is formed with wax & resins & compressed.

This building material has all the same benefits of ICF's however they do not compete with insulated concrete forms for fire resistance even though they do meet fire testing standards.

So if you are ready to take on the challenge of building your own home, attempt building green & consider your house framing options!