The Envelope Please
The Oscar goes to…
Social Media, Inbox?
As I try to break into…..or attempt to uti­lize or at least sign up…….on some of the new social media or medi­ums that con­tin­ue to grow in pop­u­lar­i­ty, I real­ize that I must be old! Very, very old! I thought that my col­league out west Mr. Siz­zle” was about my age, but he is def­i­nite­ly young when it comes to all of these tech­nolo­gies!
What is the R-Value?

The clear R‑Value of an Fox Blocks is R22, how­ev­er cur­rent Ener­gy codes rec­og­nize the lack of ther­mal bridg­ing in an ICF and the con­tri­bu­tion of the mass con­crete on the influ­ence of the ther­mal per­for­mance. Whole wall cal­cu­la­tions indi­cate a Fox blocks wall assem­bly pro­vides an R24 rat­ing.

The con­tin­u­ous dou­ble lay­er (inside and out­side) of insu­la­tion, the elim­i­na­tion of ther­mal bridg­ing and min­i­mal air infil­tra­tion through the mass con­crete wall assem­bly, allows Fox Blocks walls to per­for­mance in the high per­for­mance wall assem­bly cat­e­go­ry. Com­plet­ing the enve­lope with ener­gy effi­cient win­dows and doors and roof insu­la­tion, Fox Blocks homes can eas­i­ly meet and exceed ener­gy code require­ments and exceed the min­i­mum require­ments for Ener­gy Star and Ener­Guide. A Fox Blocks struc­ture requires 44% less ener­gy to heat and 32% less ener­gy to cool.

Industry Standard ICF’s: Feedback from Contractors
Jan­u­ary through April is when we plant our seeds for the year by dis­play­ing our prod­uct for the mar­ket in trade shows. I’ve par­tic­i­pat­ed in these trade shows for 17 years now in the ICF indus­try and it has always been the same old thing, but this year was notably dif­fer­ent.
Build to Resist Tornadoes: Storm Safe ICF Structures
Research by Texas Tech Wind Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing Research Cen­ter has demon­strat­ed that ICF walls bet­ter pro­tect occu­pants of hous­es from wind­blown debris, than frame walls. Being hit by wind­blown debris is the most com­mon cause of injury dur­ing tor­na­does.
International GreenBuild Trade Show in Toronto
Over the past few years devel­op­ers have observed that LEED reg­is­tered build­ings lease more quick­ly and with rent pre­mi­ums of up to 30%.
Las Vegas Goes Green with ICFs
Thanks to Randy and Bart, many Las Vegas fire sta­tions will be now be built using Fox Blocks core 6″ insu­lat­ed con­crete forms. An excit­ing exam­ple of excel­lent work between a region­al man­ag­er and a top flight local deal­er.
Tilt Up Construction and Insulated Concrete Forms
Last year Fox Blocks decid­ed we could add speed and val­ue to the Tilt Up indus­try and it took all of 2 weeks to get the Fox Tilt insert engi­neered, mold made, and pro­duc­tion start­ed. I can’t stop grin­ning about the capa­bil­i­ties of our par­ent Air­lite Plas­tics.
Three Key Areas give You the True Accurate Cost of the ICF you Choose
Is a vapor barrier required on the inside face of an ICF wall?
No. The char­ac­ter­is­tics of an ICF wall with the mass con­crete and the EPS insu­la­tion pro­vide the required vapor per­me­ance to meet build­ing code require­ments as a vapor bar­ri­er.