The cost of building a home or commercial structure using ICF wall systems is highly dependent on the 1) block usage and 2) the amount of labor required during construction - and both of these things are dictated by the architectural plans. If the architect draws "generic" ICF walls, more than likely the home will not be optimized around any manufacturers block shapes - and this will inevitably result in higher construction costs. In fact construction costs are much more a factor of the architecture than choice of a specific ICF block, because most all ICF block manufacturers offer their products at close to the same price / sf. The message here is to first pick a good code approved ICF and then have the home designed to utilize that block efficiently.

In the ICF world a 2500 SF home can be designed such that the resultant ICF wall bids come in around $10 / SF of wall area. But an architect can also draw a 2500 SF home that results in ICF wall costs of $16 / SF or higher all based on the design. Unlike wood frame contractors which base their bids largely on the conditioned floor space square footage, ICF contractors study plans carefully to determine how many SF of wall area they are being asked to build. They look at what their concrete costs, rebar costs, labor, and finally ICF costs are to build those walls. They also study how efficiently the wall system utilizes the block shapes to determine their block "wastage factor". All of these things come into play as they bid jobs. Virtually no 2 ICF block manufacturers offer the same block shape dimensions. PolySteel alone offers 27 different basic block shapes and 3 different families of block types which include steel tied flat wall systems, steel tied waffle grid wall systems, and plastic tied flat wall systems. The message here is the same: first pick a good code approved ICF and then have the home designed to utilize that block efficiently.

All home styles can be accommodated with ICF wall construction. ICF construction can be used for any type architecture. Just some examples include; Adobe, Cape Cod, Colonial, Contemporary, Country, Early American, European, Farm, French Country, Georgian, Italian, Mediterranean, Plantation, Prairie, Santa Fe, Southwest Contemporary, Spanish, Traditional, Tudor, and Victorian.

Here is a list of things your architect should know to optimize the economics of building with ICF:

• Cutting block increases cost. Try to utilize full block shapes in both height and width.
• Throwing partial cut block pieces away increases cost. Cut off pieces which cannot be utilized somewhere else increases cost. Sometimes it is cheaper to use another whole block than to try and patch together several smaller pieces.
• Every block manufacturer has specific dimensions - pick one and optimize to that block.
• Different blocks have different thicknesses as well. This can impact such things as the roof architecture and size of slab. If you have your home plans drawn for 2x4 stud walls which are only 3.5" thick and then change to an ICF block that is 11" thick, your wall thickness has just increased by 7.5". You can either expand your slab dimensions or take up the room towards the inside loosing floor space. Your architect will typically not make a drawing change from stick to ICF construction for free in most cases.
• PolySteel offers block heights that are 16" tall and 24" tall. The 16" tall forms are perfect for plate heights of (for example) 8', 9' 4", 10' 8", 12, & 13' 4" etc. The 24" tall (2') blocks are perfect for any plate heights in increments of 2'. Walls that terminate at plate heights utilizing even increments of the block height save money. This is because the construction crew does not have to rip the top row of block horizontally. For example if your architect specifies a 24" tall block and a plate height of 10' 6", 5 of these blocks stacked vertically will only go up to 10', leaving 6" to go at the top. So, another course of forms will have to be purchased to take the wall up the additional 6". To get the additional 6" out of a 24" tall block the construction crew will have to rip the block vertically at 6" increments. This will increase labor costs and may increase block wastage.
• Going from 10' 6" to 10' saves money but going from 10' 6" to 12' won't save money. With the 24" tall block it is cheaper to build a 10' wall than either a 10' 6" tall or 12' tall wall. Although the 10' and 12' walls in this example do not require the block to be vertically ripped. The 12' tall wall requires more forms and more concrete. The 10' 6" wall requires more forms than the 10' tall wall and slightly more concrete but significantly more labor to rip the forms.
• Try not to turn 90 degree corners too quickly. Each block manufacturer has a shape for their 90 degree corners. Try to design the home to use whole 90 degree corner pieces.
• 2nd story ICF walls have to be supported unless each end of them rest on ICF walls below and they form a beam sufficient to span the open space. Steel I beams can be used to support a 2nd story ICF wall but this is increasing the cost for the job. An engineer will have to be consulted to specify such a beam and a crane will typically have to be brought on site to hoist it up.
• If either the tops or bottoms of windows can be located on vertical increments of the block height this will save cutting of block, and therefore labor and cost.