Builder, Jim Balentine inspects an insulated concrete form.
Jim Balentine and Bill Cherry don't limit their efforts to building their homes of concrete and polystyrene on 129 residential lots in Harrisburg, Oregon. They have built projects in nearby Corvallis and in Portland, and even one in the parking lot of a Houston convention center for the National Home Builders Show. They'll take their craft indoors in September to build one under the 65-foot ceiling of the Oregon Convention Center in Portland for the Home Improvement and Remodeling Show.
These two showcase houses are torn down when the conventions are over. But the homes Balentine and Cherry build elsewhere are lasting and can even withstand earthquakes and fires.
That's because the houses use the steel-reinforced strength and fire resistance of concrete. Over the last several years, Balentine and Cherry have specialized in insulated concrete forms that stay in place to become insulation for walls. Insulated concrete form technology, relatively new to the U.S. country, has appealed to European builders for more than 30 years, Balentine says.
The construction method was used here initially for foundation stem walls with wood framing above. "A few of us builders said, 'If you can build a stem wall, why can't you take it all the way up?'" Balentine explains. He and Cherry tried it first in Florence, Ore. five years ago and completed 10 houses there before last summer's move to the Willamette Valley.
Advantages
The builders list several advantages to insulated concrete forms. The forms save labor and are easy to handle. "I'm not 17-years-old anymore," says Stu Oates, who supervises product selection and installation. "I can't lug heavy plywood around the site all day."
In cold climates, builders like the ability to pour concrete walls in below-zero weather. And, they offer an alternative to wood-framing.
"We use only forms made of expanded polystyrene," says Oates. "because they don't release harmful gases. Using the forms also cut the amount of waste from the job. After building the walls, we carried away three 30-gallon trash bags."
There are advantages for home buyers, too. "Some insurance companies are offering 10 percent discounts on premiums for the homes," Balentine reports.
Balentine says the walls are among the most soundproof ones he's ever built. He points out the bedroom window of a house nearing completion. "That train track is less than half a mile out there and you have to really listen to hear a train going by."
The walls also control summer heat and winter cold with the expanded-polystyrene-encased concrete structure offering R-18.3 to R-26 insulation.
That insulation value was one of the factors that helped earn Super Good Cents certification from Pacific Power for homes Balentine and Cherry are building in a 39-unit subdivision in Harrisburg.
The first 2,110-square-foot house was completed last winter and demonstrated the system's energy efficiency. It was used by the builders as an office with the zonal electric heat set at 65 to 70 degrees. Its meter was also used for construction power on another house. The December electric bill totaled $16.68.
Concrete Development
Homes in the subdivision range from 1,239 to 2,110 square feet and are priced between $109,900 and $169,900. Construction costs average $84 per square foot including lot.
The construction site is attracting a lot of interest. Good Cents magazine featured Balentine and Cherry in its May issue. Balentine recently traveled to Hawaii to conduct a seminar on the construction method. During the National Home Builders Convention in Houston, visitors came from Germany, Russia, Peru, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand and Canada. Balentine also hopes to offer college students on-site construction experience to learn the ins and outs of the building method.
Experience Pays
For Balentine, who's worked on and off in the construction industry since 1963, insulated concrete form construction has offered many lessons. "Once you get over the learning curve, it's like Lego blocks," he explains. "You just stack and build it. Well, it's not quite that easy."
But experience and testing different manufacturers' insulated form products have offered Balentine and Cherry many lessons. They currently use four or five different systems to ensure the most compatible system for each client's needs.
"We definitely learned that you must match the system to your house plans," Balentine says. "Each system has its own requirements," he adds.
Oates says that one or two design requirements often lead to a certain product. For example, one client wanted large windows, but also needed to qualify for the Super Good Cents program. Oates selected a product with high insulating value to partially offset the extra heat loss from larger windows. Another project had below-grade walls that required enough structural strength to withstand heavy soil loads. For that project, The home owner selected a product with a solid concrete core instead of another that used a post-and-beam arrangement.
For their subdivision, the builders selected the form system first. Then they developed house plans to take advantage of that systems strengths while avoiding its weaknesses.
To help promote the building technology, Balentine and Cherry formed partnerships with a number of local contractors to provide builder education and assistance to planners, inspectors and architects. They also assist other contractors with product selection and technical assistance.
"That was really helpful," Balentine explains. "It was one of the only ways we could get the industry going."
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Written by Nancy Varekamp, Pacific Power
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