|
Concrete Homes Newsletter
Concrete Home >
Concrete Homes Newsletter > 2005 > September/October
September/October 2005
Changing the World - One Concrete Home at a Time
Over 275 teenagers, 14 families in need and a community with open arms
combined efforts during July to refurbish and repair homes in Lubbock,
Texas, and build a new insulating concrete form (ICF) home as part of the
World
Changers mission to make a difference. World Changers is an initiative
of the North American Mission Board to provide education and involvement
for
young people from middle school to college age. The focus is on home
rehabilitation, and the strategy is to create partnerships with local governments
and community
organizations to assist those in need of home repairs in communities
across America.
Teenagers from around the country descended on Lubbock as
part of World Changers 2005 campaign to complete 92 week-long projects in
85 cities. The project in Lubbock, however, was a little different from the
usual roofing, painting, ramp building, window replacements and general repairs
that characterize most World Changers projects. That’s because this
enthusiastic horde of young volunteers also got to install, brace and place
concrete for a new ICF home for a family client of the city’s Community
Development (CD) Program, the lead city partner in the project.
During the last four years, the city of Lubbock has demolished more than
90 substandard and deteriorating homes, replacing them with homes built with
ICF exterior walls. The project is part of the city's Affordable Housing
Reconstruction Program, which is partially funded through a combination of
state, federal and private partnerships, including the Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD), which supplies Community Development Block Grants
(CDBGs). Under the terms of the program, residents are provided with temporary
housing until their new concrete home is constructed. The residents pay a
mortgage based on the hard cost of the home, after any grants are taken into
account. The homes have proven to be so energy efficient and disaster-resistant
that the city no longer accepts bids for wood-framed housing. The city, and
three ICF distributors, had trained and certified a total of 13 local contractors
to build with ICFs as of March 2005.
“When World Changers Project Manager, Larry Williams,
came for a preliminary visit in April,” says Brad Reed, Senior
Inspector for the CD Program, “he was intrigued by the ICF home
he visited and our commitment to exclusively build ICF homes for our
clients because of the energy efficiency, durability and affordability
ICFs provide.” Williams then asked if his group could be involved
in the construction of one of these homes during their week-long project
in the summer and the city made it possible.
Williams says that, among all of the homes the volunteers worked on during
the week, the ICF house was the talk of the entire group, and everyone wanted
to make sure that they came by to see how this “cool” technology
was put together. ICF manufacturer American Polysteel, LLC, was a major sponsor
of the World Changers week in Lubbock, which was also supported by PCA through
their Team Concrete initiative.
Thanks to American Polysteel for this article.
US Home Chooses Concrete for Villa Community
US Home, a division of Lennar Homes, has decided to build its first development
exclusively using E-Walls, a patented system that consists of large custom-made
panels installed on site and poured full of concrete.
”This development really lets us show what E-Wall offers to builders,” said
Herman Guevara, general manager of Efficient Wall Systems of Florida.
The US Home development, called Sable Trace, is an 83-unit villa community
of 166 residences in North Port, Florida. Before committing to using poured
concrete walls for their entire development, US Home last year built one
residence in their Heritage Harbour development in Manatee Co. using the
product. Guevara said they were so excited by the results that they decided
to use poured concrete walls in the entire Sable Trace development.
Thanks to E-Wall for this article.
Olymia Habitat Chapter Commits to ICFs
Lafarge North America, the Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association
and the Olympia, Washington, Habitat Affiliate have partnered to build
15 concrete houses in Olympia by the end of 2007. Earlier permitting
and financing
delays have been resolved, and the way is cleared for the construction
of 3 ICF houses this year. With a start date of October 1, it is estimated
the
houses will be ready for dedication on Christmas Eve.
There will be two 2-bedroom houses and one 4-bedroom house built in 2005.
The 4 bedroom will be a "Women Built" house. The organizations
partnered with Logix to train and certify about 60 people in ICF construction.
Many in the surrounding area have expressed an interest in being included
in the project, including Governor Christine O. Gregoire. Adding to
the sustainability of the project, pervious concrete will be used for
all the walkways and parking
areas. The pervious concrete adds to this "low impact development" where
55% of the land will be left natural and there will be no requirement
for ponds to handle the runoff water.
The completed project will have twelve 2- and 3-bedroom cottage-zoned homes
and three single-family (4-bedroom) homes, all two stories in height. The
2-bedroom homes are estimated to be 900 square feet, the 3-bedroom homes
are 1070 square feet and the 4-bedroom homes are 1200 square feet. The first
3 families have been chosen and will be working a minimum of 500 hours to
complete their "sweat equity" partnership.
For more information on this project, please contact Jerry Fugich, the construction
supervisor, at (360) 239-1035 or construction@spshabitat.org.
Quiet Time in Pennsylvania
Life at a timeshare property in Hershey, Pennsylvania, is sweet, safe and
silent, thanks to all-concrete masonry construction.
The timeshare property, built in 1997, was four stories tall with a garage
on the lower level. The only facility of its kind in the Hershey, Pennsylvania,
area, it was also unique in that it relied on concrete masonry as its
major building and load-bearing material.
AIn the fall of 2003, Florida-based Bluegreen Corporation bought the 24-unit
building and the 3.2 acres (1.3 hectares) it stands on, and renamed the property
The Suites at Hershey, A Bluegreen Vacation Club Resort. Then Bluegreen went
back to the building’s general contractor, and asked for two more just
like it.
Those two new, all-block buildings opened for occupancy in June 2005. Like
the original, they offer residents suites that are both quiet and fireproof.
Concrete block provides the mass for superior sound attenuation and is a
non-combustible material.
The high quality of the materials appealed to Bluegreen, says Mark Rogers,
the company’s senior vice president for construction and development. “Block
has long-term durability, it’s cost competitive, and we have the trades
available in the area to do the job,” he says.
Rogers says the alternative would have been a stick-built building, which
is more difficult from a quality control standpoint. David Bowser, president
of Bowser Construction, whose company built all three buildings, adds that “when
considering concrete masonry as the building material, above two stories,
[CMU is] probably the most economical way you can go.”
What was planned as a 10-month job when ground was broken in May 2004, was
finished in eight months. Bowser says, “There were over 40 days of
rain, sleet or snow when we couldn’t work. The secret to the job was
to have it under roof, with the work areas heated with gas heaters.”
Another factor contributing to the speed of the project was that it was
design build. “So a lot of the design is going on while the building
is being constructed,” says architect Joseph G. Botchie, president
of Ganflec Architects and Engineers, who began drawing up plans in January
2004.
The two new buildings—known as “Building B” and “Building
C”—have six, 2-bedroom apartment units on each floor. Each apartment
has a full bath for each bedroom and a Jacuzzi in the master bath. There
is a full kitchen and a dining banquette in the living area, as well as a
fireplace. Each unit also includes a washer and dryer.
At 55,000 square feet (5,110 square meters), Building B is the larger of
the two. It is 5 stories tall, with 30 living units and a garage on the ground
level with spaces for 23 cars. Building C is 4 stories tall, with 24 living
units and 21 car spaces—a total of 44,000 square feet (4,088 square
meters). The building heights were determined by township zoning restrictions,
according to Botchie. “We staggered the buildings. The 4-story building
made the height restriction. Building B was down a level.”
Aside from the weather, construction was straightforward. “We built
it like a Lego set,” says Craig Dussinger, Bowser Construction’s
vice president of pre-construction. According to Bowser, “It’s
not a steel structure that we clad. In fact, the only steel used was to span
the corridors between the load-bearing masonry.”
The buildings were constructed on concrete foundations. Concrete masonry
was used for the 30-foot (9.1-meter) dividing walls between each apartment
unit and the outside walls, onto which the crew set precast concrete planks
for the floors/ceilings. This created compartmentation of units, making them
fire safe and keeping the noise within each apartment unit when occupied.
The compartmentation with concrete masonry and precast concrete, along with
smoke detectors and sprinklers, provided a balanced approach to the building
construction.
“We ran the masonry up 8 feet (2.4 m), the height of each floor, then
put the precast on,” Bowser says. “Then you run the next 8 feet
(2.4 m). Working on two buildings at once means you can jump back and forth.” It
took up to 10 days to construct a level, including the stair and elevator
towers and utility rooms. “The masons never left,” Dussinger
says. “They just switched to the other building when they finished
a floor.”
The builders used charcoal-colored split-face block on the garage levels—a
total of 9,000 12-inch (305-mm) units. The rest of the buildings’ exterior
was covered with insulation and then white siding. Peaked red roofs lend
the structures an additional residential touch.
On the parking level, the masonry walls contained both horizontal and vertical
reinforcement. One level up, high strength concrete units were used. “The
shells are a lot thicker and the compressive strength is a lot higher,” Botchie
says of these CMUs.
On the upper levels, lighter block was used—8-inch (203-mm) units
on the exterior walls and the walls dividing the apartments, 12-inch (305-mm)
units lining the stairwells, and 10-inch (254-mm) units elsewhere—63,000
CMUs in all. The total cost of the concrete block was $532,000, according
to Bowser Construction.
The job called for a variety of reinforcing steel, in addition to grouting
the units. The foundation walls used No. 7 (m#22) reinforcement. On the first
floor, No. 6 (m#19) rebar was used in the end zones and No. 4 (m#13) rebar
every 48 inches (1.2 meters) in between. The remaining floors were strengthened
with No. 5 (m#16) rebar. “Typically we had end-zone reinforcing—4
bars in each core,” Botchie says. “What you end up with at the
end of the day is a very strong building,” says Rogers.
With 8 inches (203 mm) of concrete block separating each residential
unit, it is practically impossible for sound to bleed into a neighbor’s
apartment. “Concrete masonry provides that mass,” Botchie says. “It
absorbs sound rather than passes it on to the next unit. It’s a good
selling point.”
The building has a Sound Transmission Class, or STC, rating of 56. With
that rating, loud speech is not audible between walls. By contrast, a gypsum
board wall has an STC rating of 30, in which loud speech can be fairly well
understood through the walls. Block provides better quality control.
The buildings also conform to the International Building Code for fire safety,
widely accepted around the country and mandatory in Pennsylvania. They satisfy
the requirements for non-combustible construction. All units have sprinklers
in case of fire. And the 8-inch (203-mm) blocks, plus the 1/2 inch (13 mm)
of drywall, gives each unit a fire rating of “well over two hours,” Botchie
says.
What vacationers receive with their timeshare is peace of mind. Cocooned
in their quiet apartment, oblivious to the conversations and television next
door, visitors can be confident that their building will be safe in case
of fire. And with block’s durability, they can look forward to visiting
the resort for many years to come.
Project: The Suites at Hershey, A Bluegreen Vacation Club Resort, Hershey,
Pennsylvania
Owner: Bluegreen Corporation, Boca Raton, Florida
Architect: Ganflec Architects and Engineers, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Contractor: Bowser Construction Company, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Mason: Stewart Masonry, Lebanon Pennsylvania
Thanks to NCMA for this article.
Basement Wall Design Program Now Online
An engineering program on the Concrete Foundation Association's (CFA) website
allows users to design a basement wall using CABO 95, IRC 2000, UBC, BOCA
97 or ACI-318-99 codes. This service is free for the association’s
members and costs non-members $25 per visit.
The system allows users to manipulate the wall design for the desired height,
thickness or required reinforcement, beginning with a particular design based
on a few simple parameters. When the design satisfies the model code that
has been selected, it can be printed out and used as a worksheet or blueprint
or for submission.
If engineering approval is required, the user can access economical engineering
by faxing the design to the company that designed the software. It will be
reviewed within 24 hours and returned with an approved design and engineering
stamp on it. CFA members can receive this service for $125, non-members for
$250.
“What we are very close to unveiling at the present time, through
final revisions to the format, is a similar application for retaining walls,” says
Jim Baty, technical director of CFA, which is headquartered in Mount Vernon,
Iowa. “Retaining walls would be designed exclusively to ACI-318, the
general design code for the concrete construction industry.”
Since all retaining walls contain reinforcement, the program just tells
the user the degree to which reinforcement is required. It provides parameters
indicating what the configuration of the retaining wall and its footing design
must look like. Color indicators show the user which requirements have not
been met.
“The primary strength of these two programs is their ease of application,” says
Baty. “Users are impressed with how easy it is to manipulate, design
or investigate a multiplicity of designs.”
To employ the system successfully, users have to provide accurate information
about soil conditions, which can be obtained through soil testing or soil
classification. “If a user makes an incorrect assumption as to their
soil conditions, then it can grossly affect the performance of the wall,” says
Baty.
CFA provides its members with access to a network of companies with a common
interest in continually improving the quality of foundations, their businesses
and industry technology.
For more information, please visit www.cfawalls.org.
Multiple Concrete Courses Available Through NAHB's Univ. of Housing
The NAHB’s University of Housing is making it more convenient to receive
residential concrete training. Upcoming courses are listed below:
September 16, 2005 - Coraopolis, PA - "Cast-in-Place Concrete Foundations"
September 22, 2005 - Indianapolis, IN – “Building with Insulating
Concrete Forms”
November 1, 2005 – Rochester, NY – “Building with Insulating
Concrete Forms”
November 9, 2005 – Louisville, KY – “Cast-in-Place Concrete
Foundations”
November 10, 2005 – Louisville, KY – “Building with Insulating
Concrete Forms”
December 6, 2005 - Rochester, NY - "Cast-in-Place Concrete Foundations"
January 11, 2006 – Orlando, FL – “Building with Insulating
Concrete Forms”
For more information, or to register, please click
here.
ICFA Fall Meeting Cruises into Indianapolis
The Insulating Concrete Form Association invites you to attend the ICF industry's
most exciting event, the ICFA Fall Meeting and Expo, taking place at the
Hyatt Regency - Indianapolis, Indiana, September 19–21, 2005. It is
packed with fantastic sessions and networking events. The Expo is also a
great opportunity to see the latest tools and products.
With over 40 different product manufacturers attending, see the latest tools
and products at the ICF Expo that help make ICFs the best building system
on the market!
For more information, or to register, please click
here.
> Return to top
|