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What Today’s Empty Nesters Want for Their New Homes
Emp­ty nesters can sim­pli­fy their lives, save mon­ey, and help the envi­ron­ment by down­siz­ing to a sin­gle-sto­ry, ener­gy-effi­cient, low-main­te­nance, and durable home.
What Additional Insulation Do You Need for an ICF Home
What Additional Insulation Do You Need for an ICF Home?
Easy-to-install ICF wall sys­tems help cre­ate ener­gy-effi­cient, durable, dis­as­ter-resis­tant, and healthy homes. But do you need addi­tion­al wall insu­la­tion for ICF homes?
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.

Exterior Wall Thickness How Thick Should Your Walls Be
Exterior Wall Thickness: How Thick Should Your Walls Be?
The exte­ri­or wall thick­ness of a home sig­nif­i­cant­ly impacts the house’s ener­gy effi­cien­cy, dis­as­ter resis­tance, and IEQ. Learn how thick exte­ri­or walls should be.
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Effective Strategies to Insulate Block Walls
Improv­ing the insu­la­tion of block walls sig­nif­i­cant­ly enhances ener­gy effi­cien­cy, com­fort, and dura­bil­i­ty in both res­i­den­tial and com­mer­cial spaces. Block walls, often made of con­crete mason­ry units (CMUs), are stur­dy but noto­ri­ous­ly poor at retain­ing heat with­out prop­er insu­la­tion.
What R Value Do You Need for Basement Walls
What R-Value Do You Need for Basement Walls?
The prop­er R‑value of base­ment walls will pro­duce ener­gy-effi­cient, durable, healthy, and com­fort­able homes. Learn what R‑value your base­ment walls should have.
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Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) Vs. Wood-Frame Construction
Insu­lat­ed con­crete forms (ICF) cre­ate a more ener­gy-effi­cient, qui­et, and healthy build­ing than one built with wood-frame con­struc­tion. ICF build­ings are also more resis­tant to dis­as­ter, fire, insect, and mois­ture intru­sion than wood-frame struc­tures.
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The Advantages of ICF over CMU Construction
Con­crete mason­ry units (CMU) and insu­lat­ed con­crete form (ICF) walls have sev­er­al fea­tures in com­mon: ener­gy-effi­cien­cy, dura­bil­i­ty, and good indoor envi­ron­men­tal qual­i­ty (IEQ). How­ev­er, ICF is quick­er and eas­i­er to install com­pared to CMU, which saves time and mon­ey.