Neopor® and ICF building kits.

Neopor® and ICF kits, what about them?

Any kind of construction material shields from the open field in the same way, whether it is an ICF wall, a brick wall, perforated bricks or sand-lime brick. This is the result of studies conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Atmospheric Environmental Research in Germany, commissioned by the Ministry of Construction.

Radioactivity
All stone material is of volcanic origin and contains low doses of radioactivity.

Occasionally, you might read in “building-biological literature” that concrete is not recommended due to high radioactive radiation exposure. If you study the literature more closely, you will see that this statement relates to a concrete manufactured in Sweden with alum shale as an aggregate. The sand-gravel concrete manufactured in Germany has even lower values than other solid materials. To reduce radiation exposure from the Earth yourself, the base plate should be covered with an airtight film.

FCKW

Polystyrene foam sheets were foamed in part with CFCs as a propellant until 1966, amongst others. This has regularly led to the assertion that even silver-grey foam particles would contain CFCs. The production of particle foam for ICF blocks (Neopor®-Granulat Made by BASF) has always been CFC-free!

Thermal insulation and moisture

The crucial factor is whether the insulation remains dry. Capillary absorbent materials with low moisture absorption already suffer considerable losses in their insulation capacity. The table below shows how the insulation capacity of normal masonry reduces moisture absorption.

For aerated concrete:

ICF blocks of Neopor®-Granulat are not capillary suction and even with one-week underwater storage do not absorb more than 2% by volume of moisture. For this reason, with ICF systems cracks and moisture marks on plaster and wallpaper do not occur.

Significance of thermal insulation for the indoor climate

For a healthy, cosy, and comfortable indoor climate in winter, the degree of thermal insulation and thus the U-value is the decisive factor. If the internal surface temperature of the outer wall gives way by more than 5°C from the room air temperature, there will be an excessively large air movement (and dispersion of dust), which creates the impression that it is drafty. This room climate does not make for a cosy, leisurely atmosphere. In worse cases it may even cause health problems, such as rheumatic illnesses.

In summer, temperatures of up to 70°C may occur on the exterior wall surface. Even this extreme temperature only transfers a small amount of heat with ICF houses. The temperature of the interior wall surface would increase by only 1°C. ICF houses and office buildings of any kind remain pleasantly cool even in summer.

Heat storage

It used to be necessary for a wall to be able to store a high amount of heat. If coal and wood were added the stone walls had to absorb the excess heat. When the fuel was burned, the stone walls would emit the absorbed heat again and thus limit the temperature fluctuations to a tolerable extent.

We still have this phenomenon today. With fireplaces, for example soapstone stoves etc.

Today, the demands on the precise controllability of the room air temperature have fundamentally changed.

1. Saving energy is the order of the day. Even the slightest amount of heat energy should not be consumed unnecessarily.
2. Summers are getting hotter. The faster the air conditioners achieve the desired room temperature, the less power is consumed.

Construction with room-side solid walls without interior insulation can no longer meet these demands.

1. At a desired temperature change, the inertia of the storage mass is delayed.
2. The heating process is also delayed on the morning after the reduced temperature of the night. If because of this the heating or air conditioning is set an hour earlier, for example, it would mean 5% unnecessary energy at 16 hours heating time.
3. Play rooms, apartments, and bedrooms in the summer: The heat that comes in through the windows during the daytime is stored by the wall on the interior side and emitted at night without interruption without the possibility of influences, such as with a non-controllable fireplace (tiled fireplace effect).

But not enough interior side heat storage can also be detrimental. After rooms are aired in winter, not only the heat source should reheat the air, but also the warm wall surface in order to shorten the heating process.

Ca. 15mm thick plaster is ideal for helping to reheat the room temperature in winter, but the aforementioned disadvantages of the excess-heat storage can be avoided by the underlying Neopor® interior insulation.

The low amount of energy that still penetrates the concrete core causes the concrete core to be outside the frost zone, and thus so is the plumbing. It gives off just as much heat in the smallest quantities that in the event of a failure or temporary shutdown of the heating system, the rooms will not completely cool down to freezing temperatures. The “metered, economic heat storage” aspect also justifies the use of ICF blocks for supporting interior walls

Thermal insulation and energy costs

Do you already have an ICF house or does heat escape in winter while the air conditioning runs at full blast over summer?

Energy will not be dispensed with, but rather according to the laws of the market, the price will rise disproportionately with increasing scarcity. An accelerating effect on the pricing may also affect the upcoming political uncertainty such as resistance against nuclear power plants, and not least the constantly discussed environmental taxes with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions.

Processing times and weights calculated by various ICF manufacturers.

That building materials with initially low material prices then ultimately result in a relatively high final price is mainly due to different processing times:

• heavy masonry blocks small in size ca. 5-6 hours/m³
• heavy masonry blocks large in size ca. 4-5 hours/m³
• lightweight masonry blocks large in size, glued ca. 3-4 hours/m³
• ICF blocks at initial processing ca. 2-3 hours/m³
• ICF blocks at multiprocessing ca. 1.5 hours/m³

The high output of ICF blocks is also due to low physical demands, amongst other things: For 100m² of the specified wall constructions, the following weights must be moved:

• Sand-lime bricks 35,000kg
• Porous bricks 30,000kg
• Aerated concrete 22,000kg
• ICF block 40-45 ca. 800kg

Decisive further processing savings that can account for up to 50% of the cost of an exterior wall result in the elimination of additional work: Props, jambs, lintels, ring beams, and ceiling protection shutter and insulate, cut wall blocks for bay corners, etc.

These are all additional costs that can be and are charged extra for.

Additional costs:

Exterior insulation =

• Setting base rails and drilling
• Mixing adhesive mortar
• Cutting panels
• Gluing panels
• Pegging panels

And here, too, all these materials have to be moved. Each glue bag weighs on average 20-25kg.