All Pride Homes are constructed using the insulating concrete form (ICF) building technology. Our permanent buildings, reinforced concrete walls and foundations offer structural, energy-saving and cost-saving advantages over traditional stick-frame construction and standard insulation methods. ICF construction provides for more efficient construction, structural stability and a healthier living environment while reducing energy consumption.

Pride Homes ICF construction delivers High Quality:

• Solid monolithic reinforced concrete wall-ceiling-roof structure withstands strong hurricanes and earthquakes High-density EPS elements do not corrode and prevent
aging. Therefore high value of a house is maintained for a long time.
• Insulating qualities of Pride Homes ICF maintain a comfortable internal ambience without air conditioning in tropical climates, and vastly decreases the heating required in cold climates.
• EPS elements are non-flammable and, if melting, they produce non-toxic fumes, Insurance Ratings are decreased.
• Does not harbor a breeding ground for fungi and bacteria.
• EPS is biologically neutral and therefore does not attract termites.
• The Pride Homes ICF wall system dampens sound substantially.
• The Pride Homes ICF system permits complete freedom and flexibility in architectural design.
• The Pride Homes ICF system can be utilized for all types of construction: industrial, commercial, and residential Walls are perfectly straight and leveled.
• The Pride Homes ICF system allows easy and rapid spray application of plaster/stucco in a one step operation, due to a special surface design for all interior and exterior walls.

The Pride Homes ICF System has no limitations whatsoever where finish and quality of work is concerned.

It adapts to any architectural needs and allows for total freedom of design.
All finishing materials commonly used in traditional construction systems can similarly be used with the Pride Homes ICF system.

The Pride Homes ICF elements can be used for a wide range of applications:

• Single-family homes
• Townhouses
• Multi-story apartment buildings (up to five floors)
• Commercial buildings, warehouses, and cold storage
• Hospitals, Schools, and Jails
• Retaining walls and Flood barriers
• Hotels

Environmental Facts

• Reduces energy costs
• Uses recycled materials whenever possible
• Uses no CFCs or HCFCs / Emits no fumes or gasses
• Energy Star Home rating
• Qualifies for Energy-Efficient Mortgages
• Improves indoor air quality (IAQ)
• Reduces mold problems
• Minimizes construction wastes to three percent or less
• Our ICF supplier is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and contributes to its LEED program

Reduction in Energy Costs

Pride Homes ICF buildings consistently reduce monthly utility costs over the life of the structure. In turn, the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system can be sized appropriately to reap even more savings.

Manufacturing & Recycling
From the initial manufacturing of our ICF product to the construction site to finished structure, our ICF system has been designed to be kind to the environment. In addition to manufacturing under environmentally clean conditions, our forms are 50 percent more efficient to ship and handle than other ICFs.

Pride Homes ICFs reduce the pressure on precious natural resources by replacing lumber used in frame construction, with an environmentally clean product. No CFCs, HCFCs or other ozone-depleting substances are used or released during any process. Manufacturing waste is negligible and construction waste is also minimal. By weight, 40% of the ICF’s are made from recycled material.

Energy Star
Our ICF blocks have been rated as Energy Star compliant by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This qualifies some home buyers for the FHA’s Energy-Efficient Mortgage Program.

Energy Star, a government-backed rating program, helps businesses and individuals protect the environment by promoting superior energy efficiency.

Qualified homes are independently verified to be significantly more energy-efficient than homes built using traditional construction practices. Savings are based on heating, cooling and hot water energy use. Additionally, homes that meet Energy Star’s standards improve structural quality and reduce both energy demand and air pollution. The program also encourages the use of energy-efficient lighting and appliances, as well as features designed to improve indoor air quality.

Energy Efficient Mortgage
The FHA has created an Energy-Efficient Mortgage (EEM) program to help achieve national energy-efficiency goals, reduce pollution and provide better housing for people who might not otherwise be able to afford it. First, the home must be evaluated according to the Home Energy Rating System, which requires a home to exceed energy codes by 30 percent. The Home Energy Rating system awards stars on a scale of one to five. Our ICF blocks typically receive five stars, earning the designation of an Energy Star Home. In turn, this qualifies certain buyers for the Energy-Efficient Mortgage.

This program allows buyers of energy-efficient homes to qualify for up to a five percent stretch in their debt-to-income ratio due to lower monthly utility costs. FHA-approved lending institutions, which include banks, savings and loan institutions and mortgage companies, can make EEM loans.

Optimal Interior Environment
Building with ICF eliminates air infiltration through the wall assembly into a structure, which allows for greater control of a building’s interior air quality. There are no drafts or cold spots, thus greatly reducing the amount of fuel needed for heating and cooling.

Additionally, walls constructed with Insulated Concrete Forms dramatically reduce outside noise pollution. The result is a quiet and peaceful living environment.

Mold and Moisture-Resistant
The Pride Homes Insulated Concrete Walls provide a building envelop that is both airtight and resistant to water infiltration. The inorganic nature of the ICFs means they do not support mold growth ensuring a superior indoor air quality free from unwanted allergens, pollutants and mold.

LEED
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, a program of the U.S. Green Building Council, evaluates the total environmental performance of a building over its life cycle. Our ICFs contribute significantly towards the credits in several LEED certification areas.

* U.S. Green Building Council
* Energy Star Web Site

Insulated Concrete Form Buildings Save Energy*

A study, conducted by Dr. Pieter VanderWerf of the Boston School of Management and sponsored by the Portland Cement Association,revealed that homes built with insulating concrete forms (ICFs) consume, on average, 44% less energy to heat and 32% less energy to cool than conventional wood-frame homes.

The study analyzed statistics from 29 ICF homes and 29 wood-frame homes. All of the homes were less than six years old. “We wanted to approach this study as an ‘apples to apples’ comparison,” said VanderWerf, “so we paired each ICF house with a comparable frame house.”

The paired houses were located near each other and were of similar square footage. VanderWerf adjusted the energy consumption of each house to account for differences in size, design, foundation, number of occupants, thermostat setting and HVAC equipment.“We tentatively concluded that these rates of savings should be fairly constant, regardless of location (or local climate),” said VanderWerf.

Although most of the homeowners participating in the study liked there dwellings, regardless of the type of construction, the reasons they gave for their satisfaction were quite different. The ICF homeowners most often cited functional advantages, such as comfort (including evenness of temperature and low air infiltration), sound reduction, energy efficiency, solidity and strength. Several ICF homeowners said they liked their low utility bills. Owners of the wood-frame homes most often cited advantages unrelated to the home’s quality of construction, such as location, floor plan and inclusion of the owner’s preferred features. VanderWerf added that “not many of the owners of frame homes considered it superior construction.”

Superior construction is one of the main reasons for the continuing upsurge of ICF construction in North America over the past several years. PCA market researchers report that in 1994, only 0.1% of new home construction (1,110 homes) was built using ICF. But, researchers predict that by 2000, nearly 7% of all homes built in the country (about 68,000 homes) will use ICF construction.

*Source: Portland Cement Association

Testing and Approvals

• Approved by all Major Building Code Agencies:
• ICC-ES Report No. 1182
• CCMC (Canada) 12966-R
• CCMC (Canada - French)
• Ontario Minister's Ruling #04-12-116
• Ontario Building Code Commission Ruling #04-51-1006
• Miami-Dade County (Florida) 00-1024.02
• MEA
• FL2253-R2

While obtaining Dade County approval, which involves the most stringent hurricane requirements in the country, our ICF's passed the Dade County impact test in which eight 2x4's were fired at 100 mph at an eight foot wall. There was no penetration or significant damage to the wall.

Construction Technology Laboratories (CTL) conducted a mass performance analysis of a typical insulating concrete foam wall. Using the ENVSTD compliance program for ASHRAE/IES 90. l-1989, CTL predicted that, in most U.S. cities, a wood frame house would need to have an R-value greater than R-50 to provide the equivalent performance of an insulating concrete form wall. Conventional wall systems are typically rated R-9 to R-l3.

Our ICF is engineered to meet or exceed building codes of SBCCI and CMHC.