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Concrete Homes Newsletter
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Concrete Homes Newsletter > 2004 > September/October
September/October 2004
ICF Wall Survives 90 MPH Car Crash
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This is what happens when a car traveling 90 mph runs into an ICF home. |
“I believe the PolySteel wall saved my life,” claims Mr. Ray
Demczyk of Cape Coral, Florida.
Early on the morning of June 26, 2004, as Mr. Demczyk and his wife slept
inside their ICF home, a potential tragedy was unfolding outside. At approximately
2:00 A.M. an intoxicated driver was speeding down the Demczyk’s street,
fell asleep at the wheel, and never noticed when his Pontiac Firebird left
the road, became airborne, and slammed into the exterior wall of the Demczyk’s
residence at a speed of 90 miles per hour.
The ICF wall’s sound class rating of 48 offered the sleeping Demczyks
no clue of disaster. Stirred awake by a light thud, Mrs. Demczyk left her
bedroom to identify some household object that had fallen to the floor. To
her great surprise she found a set of headlights shining brightly through
her living room window.
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The front view of the Demczyk’s two-story
home in Cape Coral, Florida. |
The ICF wall’s strength was evident once the cleanup had been completed
and damage was assessed. A 3 ft x 5 ft section of the wall’s exterior
finish suffered the impact of the crash, while the ICF wall itself
remained unscathed.
When asked if he was surprised by the strength of the wall, Demczyk
responded, “I can believe it.” Strength, wind resistance,
and insulation were the reasons he built with ICFs.
PolySteel Distributor Ed Easter was involved with the construction
of the 5800-square-foot, two-story, stucco home, built in 1997
at a cost of $196,000. “It should cost me less than $800 to complete
repairs to my stucco finish,” Demczyk said. Emergency workers
on the scene said that the speeding vehicle would have penetrated
the residence had the walls not been concrete.
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There was only minor damage to the ICF wall
exterior finish following the crash.
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Though the car was totaled, the driver survived the collision with no reported
injuries. Mr. Demczyk and his wife have only minor repairs to make and can
continue sleeping peacefully, assured of the safety of their concrete home.
*Story and photos courtesy of American
PolySteel.
Subscribe to the New At Home With Concrete
Learn more about building with concrete by subscribing to NAHB’s
new, monthly, free e-newsletter, At Home with Concrete.
Produced by the newly formed NAHB Concrete Home Building Council, At
Home with Concrete is a resource for all cement-based building materials
in residential, multifamily, and light commercial construction, including
the latest trends and most current information on concrete driveways,
foundations, decorative concrete, concrete wall systems and more.
Subscribe by Oct. 31 and You May Win a Dell Handheld
Subscribe to At Home with Concrete by October 31 for a chance to
win a Dell Axim X30 with 624 MHz and integrated wireless PDA. The
drawing
will take place November 1.
To subscribe, e-mail Dawn Faull at dfaull@nahb.com. Include your
name, e-mail address, company, and company mailing address.
2005 Residential Design Symposium
in Orlando
The fourth annual Residential Design Symposium, sponsored by the National
Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) and the Portland Cement Association (PCA)
is scheduled for January 12, a day before the opening of the International
Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando, Florida.
The preliminary agenda includes a tour of some of the IBS Show Homes
in Baldwin Park, a development where concrete masonry homes are built,
and presentations by David Weekley Homes, ranked 23 out of the 100
largest volume
builders in the U.S. David Weekley Homes builds in 14 cities from
Colorado to Florida and is the second largest privately held builder in America.
Attendees will also visit some Weekley Homes from beginning construction
to finished
residence. Hear about the future of the housing industry and
witness for yourself the construction methods of concrete masonry homes
for the 21st century.
What you’ll learn:
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How to incorporate concrete masonry into any project
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Innovative design ideas with concrete masonry
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New techniques for concrete masonry construction that save time and
money
•
How to build “greener” using concrete masonry
Who should attend:
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Builders
•
Contractors
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Architects/Designers
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Municipal Leaders and Planners
For additional information or questions, call Harry Junk at (703) 713-1900
or visit www.ncma.org.
ICFA Leaves Some Forms in San Diego
The Insulating Concrete Form Association (ICFA) left more than brochures
and positive feelings behind after its fall meeting and expo, which concluded
Wednesday, September 15, in San Diego.
ICFA initiated a new partnership with San Diego Habitat for Humanity (SDHFH)
by helping a needy homeowner replace her destroyed residence. Eighty-year
old Rosemarie Michelsen lost her home in the firestorms of October
2003. In response to the wildfire devastation, San Diego Habitat for Humanity
initiated
its “Rebuilding Community” program to reconstruct homes for fire
victims in need who were uninsured or substantially under-insured.
Ms. Michelsen met the qualifications for assistance.
Presented with ICFA’s proposal to use ICFs as a new, energy efficient
construction technology, and to leverage our industry’s participation
to help build the home, San Diego Habitat for Humanity identified the Michelsen
site as the appropriate place to start.
Construction of the ICF walls began on Tuesday, September 6, with a pumping
demonstration held on Friday. The event resulted in television segments on
four local news stations and an article in the San Diego Union Tribune. A
number of area architects, engineers, and contractors also attended the demonstration
for a firsthand look at ICF wall construction. ICFA members donated all of
the wall forms and related materials and provided training for the Habitat
for Humanity volunteer laborers. The Portland Cement Association, Southern
California Ready Mixed Concrete Association, and Cemex provided additional
support to the project.
ICFA intends to embark on similar Habitat for Humanity building projects
for subsequent meetings, with the next home planned to coincide with the
spring 2005 meeting in Denver, Colorado.
Air Force to Test Concrete Walls for Blast Effects
PCA led a team of allied trade associations in briefing the U.S. Air Force
Civil Engineering Support Activity and Research Lab on the potential benefits
of concrete sandwich panel, insulating concrete forms, autoclaved aerated
concrete, and reinforced masonry walls to aid in attenuating the blast effects
of terrorist bombs.
The industry proposed a cooperative testing protocol that would determine
the effects of bomb blasts on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) concrete wall
systems. The proposed testing would have the allied industries provide the
wall sections to be tested, and the USAF would provide the explosive testing
range, explosives, monitoring equipment, and test report. The joint briefing
was favorably received by all parties. The next step is to develop a Cooperative
Research and Development Agreement that outlines the testing protocols and
responsibilities of both the USAF and the allied industries. Once the agreement
is approved, the testing would begin during the first half of 2005.
Joining PCA were the Insulating Concrete Form Association, Precast/Prestressed
Concrete Institute, Tilt-up Concrete Association, Concrete Foundation Association/Concrete
Homes Council, Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Products Association, and National
Concrete Masonry Association.
To learn more about this program and how to become involved, contact John
Sullivan, PCA’s Director of Federal Infrastructure Markets, at jsullivan@cement.org.
Performance With Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements
A small residential subdivision near the southeastern coast of Connecticut
imparts a big message about the potential pollution reduction from permeable
interlocking concrete pavements (PICPs). Glen Brook Green subdivision in
Waterford, Connecticut, includes over 15,000 square feet of PICP driveways
and roads.
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Runoff is being monitored from over 15,000 square feet of permeable
interlocking concrete pavement in the road and driveways of the Glen
Brook Green Subdivision in Waterford, Connecticut. |
A September 2003 report released by the University of Connecticut entitled “Annual
Report – Jordan Cove Urban Watershed Section 319 National Monitoring
Program Project” provides data that starkly contrasts differences in
runoff quantities and pollutants released from residential driveways paved
with asphalt, crushed stone, and PICPs. The report includes results of runoff
and pollutants from Glen Brook Green Subdivision and its driveways.
Infiltration tests in 2002 and 2003 showed that the PICP built on a dense-graded,
crushed stone base provided somewhat higher infiltration rates than the crushed
stone driveways in the same subdivision. “The data looks impressive,” says
Bruce Morton with AquaSolutions, a private ecosystem management company that
provides guidance on the runoff monitoring project. “The permeable
pavement has a direct benefit in this project by reducing runoff and water
pollutants.” He further noted that runoff from the driveways was sampled
from drains at their ends.
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Grass swales rather than curb and gutters enable water to infiltrate
and reduce the erosive effects from rapid discharges into streams. |
The University of Connecticut, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and AquaSolutions, a private consulting firm specializing in stormwater
monitoring and management, have been monitoring runoff from construction
and use since 2002. Water quality monitoring is overseen by Dr. John C. Clausen
with the University of Connecticut.
The water quality objectives of the monitoring project are to:
o Implement best management practices (BMPs) on 100% of the lots in
the BMP portion of the subdivision
o Retain sediment on site during construction
o Reduce nitrogen, bacteria, and phosphorous export by 65%, 85%,
and 40% respectively
o Maintain post-development runoff peak flow rates and volume at
pre-development levels
o Maintain the total suspended solids load at predevelopment levels
Most of these goals have been met thanks in great part to low-impact site
design and application of BMPs. These included PICPs, which contributed to
decreased runoff and water pollution while providing driveways and street
surfaces that are durable and beautiful.
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A rain garden in the center of the cul-de-sac soaks up runoff in space
that would otherwise be paved with an impervious surface. |
*This story is from Research Demonstrates Performance of Permeable Interlocking
Concrete Pavements – High-Impact Results from Low-Impact Development appearing
in Interlocking
Concrete Pavement Magazine, August 2004.
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