A Higher Standard of Living. Built In.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons for just building an Element ICF foundation:

1. A top priority for you is being able to use your basement as highly comfortable living space.
2. You’ve decided upon a modular home or home package.
3. You have conventionally designed building plans. ICF foundations are usually readily accepted as a design alternate by building departments.
4. If this is your first-time ICF build, it is just a little easier to complete an ICF foundation as opposed to a complete ICF home.
5. Your construction budget will not accommodate the cost premium of the high-performance ICF walls, as opposed to regular stick-framed walls.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons for building a full house with Element ICF:

1. A top priority for you is disaster resilience and family safety.
2. Super energy efficiency is also a top priority.
3. You have time to develop a set of building plans oriented around Element ICF.
4. You have a real need for superior sound attenuation. You want to reduce outside noise from being heard inside your home.
5. You have available budget for the cost premium of high-performance ICF walls, as opposed to regular stick-framed walls.

Element ICF is designed to help homes perform more efficiently by reducing air leakage and creating a more consistent thermal barrier around the structure.

The energy savings are significant and real. This laboratory test found that a typical wood-framed wall allowed 149% more power to be used to maintain a target temperature within an interior space, as compared to a typical ICF wall.

Compared to conventional framing, ICF homes are often able to maintain indoor temperatures more effectively, reducing strain on heating and cooling systems throughout the year. The result is a home that feels more stable, comfortable, and efficient across changing seasons.

Performance varies based on climate, HVAC design, windows, and overall building design, but homeowners commonly notice:

• Lower heating and cooling demand
• More even indoor temperatures
• Reduced drafts and thermal fluctuations
• Quieter living spaces
• Improved long-term comfort and efficiency

Element ICF helps create homes built not only for today’s energy expectations, but for the demands of the future.

Download the thermal performance study (CLEB report).

Element ICF helps create homes that feel noticeably more comfortable from the moment you walk inside.

The insulated concrete wall system helps stabilize indoor temperatures, reduce outside noise, and minimize drafts that are common in traditional construction. Instead of rooms constantly heating and cooling throughout the day, the structure works to maintain a steadier indoor environment year-round.

Homeowners benefit from:

• More consistent room-to-room temperatures
• Reduced outside noise intrusion
• Fewer drafts and cold spots
• Better comfort during extreme weather
• A quieter, more solid-feeling home

Comfort is not just about insulation values. It’s about creating spaces where people feel more relaxed, protected, and comfortable every day, and Element ICF is designed to support that experience from the walls outward.

Element ICF helps create a tighter, more controlled building envelope that supports healthier indoor living conditions year-round.

By reducing unwanted air leakage and minimizing gaps common in traditional framing, Element ICF helps limit the intrusion of outdoor pollutants, dust, allergens, and moisture. The insulated concrete wall system also supports more consistent indoor temperatures and humidity levels, helping HVAC systems operate more efficiently and predictably.

For homeowners, that can contribute to:

• Cleaner, more controlled indoor air
• Reduced drafts and outside pollutants
• Better moisture management
• More stable indoor humidity levels
• Improved overall comfort throughout the home

Indoor air quality ultimately depends on the complete building design and ventilation strategy, but Element ICF helps provide a stronger foundation for healthier, more comfortable indoor environments.

In terms of air tightness, based on a study by the RDH Building Science Laboratories, light wood frame structures dating between 2002 and 2012 have an average airflow of 4.8 Air Changes per Hour (ACH), excluding mechanical ventilation.

In contrast, according to the same study, ICF structures see about 1.26 ACH, which is a very high level of airtightness.

Download the air quality and airtightness report.

The cost of building with Element ICF depends on the home design, location, labor market, and overall project scope, but many builders and homeowners see ICF as a long-term investment in efficiency, durability, and comfort.

Below grade, the cost of Element ICF construction should be similar to the cost of a framed-out and well insulated conventional foundation.

Above grade, let’s assume the cost of an unfinished Element ICF wall can cost in the range of $7-$10 more per square foot than an ordinary 2x6 stick-framed wall.

For this example, let’s take a bungalow with 2,000 sq ft of living space that has 1,800 sq ft of above-grade walls.

• $200/sq ft - Turnkey budget price to build this home conventionally with a framed-out and well insulated conventional foundation.
• $400,000 - Budget price for the turnkey conventional build, assuming $200/sq ft x 2,000 sq ft of floor area.
• $16,200 - Additional cost to build the above-grade walls with Element ICF, assuming a $9/sq ft premium x 1,800 sq ft of above-grade wall area.
• 4.1% - Cost premium to build with Element ICF: ($416,200 - $400,000) / $400,000.
• $94.75 - Additional mortgage payment to finance $16,200 at an interest rate of 5%.

In this case, if your total heating, cooling, insurance and maintenance savings exceed $95/mth, then building with Element ICF will actually save you money every month.