New guide to Insulating Concrete Formwork

The use of insulating concrete formwork is growing amongst the self build and social housing sectors and a new guide is set to further increase popularity and demand.

A new use and applications guide, 'Insulating Concrete Formwork' (ICF), from The Concrete Centre should encourage greater use amongst architects and private house builders.

Used extensively in the United States and throughout continental Europe, ICF is a flexible construction system that allows sustainable and affordable build of high levels of performance and visual specification.

In essence it comprises either lightweight twin-walled expanded polystyrene (EPS) or extruded polystyrene panels (XPS) or blocks that are built up on site to create formwork walls.

Concrete is then used to fill the cavity.

The formwork stays in place providing complete thermal insulation that is ready to take most forms of direct internal finishes or external cladding systems.

The simplicity of the system is underlined by its ease and speed of construction - walls one storey high can be completed in just one day.

ICF also offers a full range of inherent benefits that include an energy efficiency performance that meets the Code for Sustainable Homes levels 5 and 6, high levels of sound insulation, fire resistance and flood resilience, plus a low level of air leakage.

Due to the high level of inherent insulation, ICF buildings cost less to heat, this leads to reduced bills and reduced CO2 emissions.

In addition to outlining the performance benefits, the new guide demonstrates the considerable design potential of ICF.

Both innovative contemporary and traditional designs are possible.

Any form of external finish such as masonry, brick slips, render, tiles, curtain walling and weatherboarding can be affixed.

Internally, plaster or dry lining can be applied directly to the formwork.

The number of storeys is limited only by the structural design, although in the UK up to seven storeys is the norm.

"With the exception of some forward thinking self-builders and social housing providers, ICF has been slow to catch on in the UK", said Guy Thompson head of architecture at The Concrete Centre.

"The provision of this application guide and further technical guidance from The Concrete Centre should provide the information and understanding necessary for its greater use".

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