Building w ICF in Saratoga, NY

[michael11747]

Originally Posted by honeychrome

I'm interested in building techniques and hadn't heard of ICF before, but just did a little surfing on it. An interesting system, but initially I'd think it isn't ideal for the climate of upstate NY. Seems like most of the contractors/companies working in it are in places like FL or TX or other warmer places. There are two properties that are key to the energy efficiency of a building- insulation and thermal mass. I'm hugely oversimplifying here, but for the most part insulation is more important in a place like upstate NY (though if you're designing with passive solar thermal mass is quite important too), and concrete offers good thermal mass, but little in the way of insulation. I also suspect that the cycles of hot and cold along with high humidity might present problems for building with ICF in upstate NY. There aren't a lot of cement houses in upstate NY for a reason. Additionally, the natural disaster that one most often (and most lately) has to think about in upstate NY has been flooding. I don't know that ICF would fare much better in a flood than other building systems more common to upstate NY. But all this is just a somewhat-informed impression and I sure don't want to discourage investigation into new building techniques, and on the other hand ICF looks a little bit like an industrial/commercial version of strawbale construction, and I know there are strawbale houses doing quite well in climates like upstate NY. You also might want to look into SIPs (structural insulated panels), which is a fairly economical building method as an option.

ICF definitely has some problems with humidity, and will need proper ventiliation to not "sweat". we considered building a dome home out of SIP panels, just for the novelty of them, and we do plan on building one in upstate new york, maybe as a vacation cabin in the mountains or something.

we are actually going to try to start a business recycling styrofoam to make SIPs when we move back to new york.

the companies which sell ICFs and SIPs usually have their own team of installers which you can have build your house for you at a price. it will probably be more expensive, but when you deal with such specific building materials, it is best to leave it to the people who make them.

passive solar is a great idea as well. you can really save a lot of money just by orienting a structure a certain way, and adding earth walls to your unsunny side, and having a large patio with a vine covered pergola on your sunny side will regulate your home's temp quite nicely throughout the year. then throw in a geothermal exchange pump and you're in business. maybe a solar panel or two could then completely get you off grid, and structurally sound in any condition except for armageddon. plus, you can have a garden or patio on your roof as well.

i cannot wait to build my house.