It was Amvic’s night at the biggest award celebration for ICFs (insulated concrete forms) held recently at the World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas. Amvic won in an impressive four of the six category awards.

Construction of the Learning Village at St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia is progressing well despite weather challenges.

Congratulations go out to Daniel Day Studio of Dallas, Texas for capturing one of the top prizes in the recently concluded Chain of Eco-Homes Competition in Greensburg, Kansas.  Daniel Day Studio was among 230 entrants and captured a third place win for its Linear Villa, a 1,492-sq-ft. two-bedroom, two-bath home to be built using Amvic ICFs. 

To learn more about the contest and how Green Building is top of mind for the people of Greensburg, click here.

Amvic ICF recently obtained a third party assessment of their eligibility for points in the various LEED rating systems. Mindscape Innovations of Kitchener, Ontario is one of Canada’s leading professional services firms in the LEED market, and has played a key role in founding the LEED-Canada for Homes program. They determined that Amvic ICF products are a significant contributor in energy efficient and environmentally responsible design, and form part of many of the industry’s best structures. ICF has an earned reputation of excellence, and is recognized by the US and Canada Green Building Council’s in their LEED programs by being eligible for points in several LEED rating systems.

There are two distinct types of Carbon Credits: Carbon Offset Credits (COC's) and Carbon Reduction Credits (CRC's). Carbon Offset Credits consist of clean forms of energy production, wind, solar, hydro and biofuels. Carbon Reduction Credits consists of the collection and storage of Carbon from our atmosphere through reforestation, forestation, ocean and soil collection and storage efforts. Both approaches are recognized as effective ways to reduce the Global Carbon Emissions crises.

Recently Amvic presented “Designing with Insulating Concrete Forms” (ICF) to the majority of Architects located in the Minneapolis area. This event was sponsored by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and was hosted at the Canadian Consulate with the intention of promoting excellent Canadian companies and products.

Amvic exhibited at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) on June 25-27 in San Francisco, CA. It has been just over a month since the show and after following up with our leads we discovered that even though the number of leads was down the quality was much improved.

According to the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), Insulated Concrete Forming (ICF) is the fastest growing building system in the U.S, at approx. 30% annually. Much of this increase can be attributed to the growth of ICF construction for commercial applications. The popularity of ICF construction is clearly rising, and so are the heights of the structures being built. 

Concrete consolidation is the process of compacting freshly poured concrete to eliminate voids and release entrapped air. This ensures that the cement paste (also known as mortar) properly encapsulates reinforcing steel, coarse aggregate and other objects (webs) in the concrete mix. Proper consolidation for Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) is very important because it helps to prevent leaks and creates stronger walls.

According to Wikipedia’s Tornadoes of 2008, as of July 7, 1,686 tornadoes have been reported in the United States, resulting in 118 confirmed fatalities. With increasing occurrences of extreme weather, it is quickly becoming evident that we need to reassess the way we build. Our homes, offices and institutions must be designed to provide us with protection and safety at all times. Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) are an ideal building solution for areas threatened by high winds and storms.