Get Inspired By The Best In Element ICF Construction!
Every year, Element ICF asks installers, dealers, and homeowners to share their most impressive ICF projects. Each year, Logix Brands has the privilege of judging from these top-of-the-line ICF projects received from across North America.
These winning projects are innovative and most offer unique technical solutions. Their design, construction, sustainability, and resilience all contribute to these projects being award-worthy structures.
For behind-the-scenes information and progress photos of these award-winning projects, we invite you to watch the 2021 Logix Awards webcast. Project Profiles are also available through the Project Gallery and include a convenient and detailed look at these incredible builds.
Most Outstanding Small Residential
THE CRAFTSMAN HOME
TYPE OF BUILD: Residential
LOCATION: Winnipeg, MB
SIZE: 2,332 Sq.ft
YEAR BUILT: 2019
CONGRATULATIONS: Hollyhock Construction Ltd. & AMC Foam
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This integrated build had two focuses. First was to meet the architectural requirement of being a Craftsman style home with elegant vertical lines, low pitch roof, and with an emphasis on the millwork of beams and lintels. Second, were the ambitious energy-efficiency requirements of the homeowners.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS: The main floor walls were constructed with 4” Logix Platinum ICF. Helix micro rebar was integrated into the reinforcement plan which reduced labor and contributed to a stronger wall.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: This home fully utilized ICF construction to the roof making for a very tight (1.06 ACH/HR) and energy-efficient home. When modeled, this home tested at 38.1% more energy efficient than the referenced model home. The concrete cores in the walls make for a very quiet and comfortable home while contributing to the overall thermal stability throughout the home.
“This project was so successful because it was a fully integrated build with all the stakeholders involved in all the important decisions right from the beginning, and this does not always happen with residential projects.”
The Expandable Small Home
TYPE OF BUILD: Residential
LOCATION: Kalispell, MT
SIZE: 1,200 Sq.ft.
YEAR BUILT: 2019
CONGRATULATIONS: Sundance Builders & Dan Reefke
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This 1200 sq ft home was designed to allow for family expansion. The 1200 sq ft garage can be easily converted into living space when needed, essentially doubling the living space of the home.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS: Element ICF with a 4” core was chosen in order to maximize interior living space. The double taper top form made for a quick and efficient concrete pour into this narrower cavity.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: This home is heated with hydronic radiant heating throughout. The monthly heating and cooling bill is about $25! This residence is in a heavily treed area so the fire rating is a key benefit as well as the sound deadening of the high winds outside.
“This is a home that cannot be perceived at once. It has almost no street presence other than what can be seen down a narrow lane and it only begins to give itself away when one is moving through the wings of the home.”
Most Outstanding Large Residential
THE EAST CITY RESIDENCE
TYPE OF BUILD: Residential
LOCATION: Peterborough, ON
SIZE: 3,900 Sq.ft
YEAR BUILT: 2019
CONGRATULATIONS: Kingdon Timber Mart, Tradewind Construction & John Walsh
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This home was designed to meet two goals. First, to create an inward-looking courtyard home despite being an infill home in an urban location. Second, to construct for climate resiliency while maintaining an open, sheltering, and light-filled design.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS: This home was constructed in a very rainy spring season that complicated the site conditions, yet the ICF construction avoided the potential for mold had wood frame construction been used. The long span ICF floors and roof are supported on 24” deep concrete beams that span in opposite directions.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: The R64 walls are built with 12” Element ICF with 2 layers of 2” EPS inserts. The main floor and roof are constructed with 16” ICF decks. The fiberglass windows feature energy-efficient Solarban70 glazing and high-performance storm-resistant hardware.
“This home was built for $2700 less than the cost for a conventionally constructed home of this size at the time. The concrete savings using the 4” Element ICF block helped to drive the construction cost down. ”
THE TAYLOR FARM HOUSE
TYPE OF BUILD: Residential
LOCATION: Headingley, Manitoba
SIZE: 6,400 Sq.ft (including garage & shop)
YEAR BUILT: 2020
CONGRATULATIONS: Pattyn Ventures Ltd. & AMC Foam Technologies
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This stunning home features many exciting and challenging design features including a unique three-story radius wall, 20 ft freestanding great room walls, and a full walkout basement, this house stands 34 ft tall from the rear grade against the prairie landscape.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS: The construction team used new methods and technologies in this build including 4” ICF walls above grade, Helix micro-rebar reinforced concrete and a customized concrete mix to ensure proper structural integrity. This home was constructed on the harsh prairies of Manitoba.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: Three inch thick Heat-Sheet under the slab, 2 inch Halo Interra in the ceiling and Logix Pro Buck framing the openings completed this high performance building envelope.
“Our business sees and promotes the benefits of building with Element ICF and looks to grow our relationship with the manufacturer to create beautiful, long-lasting and energy efficient homes for our clients.”
Most Outstanding Commercial
KINGDON TIMBER MART
TYPE OF BUILD: Commercial
LOCATION: Lakefield, ON
SIZE: 46,000 Sq.ft
YEAR BUILT: 2019
CONGRATULATIONS: Kingdon Timber Mart, Tradewind Construction & John Walsh
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This 46,000 square foot retail building features 20’ ICF tall walls throughout with 44’ ICF tall gable ends. This building was originally designed to be wood-frame construction and would have likely been 2×8 framing, every 4” o/c.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS: These ICF tall walls were constructed by an ICF experienced 5 man crew in a very high wind location. A pre-engineered I-beam structure spanned across the middle to support the roof system.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: This building is located in a high traffic area and many, many people were amazed at how fast the ICF walls went up and at what ICF can do. Had these tall walls been built with wood frame
during this very rainy building season, weeks of construction time would have been lost, and the insulation of these tall walls with zoom booms would have been long and expensive.
“The building owner and architect have been recommending ICF construction since this project was completed, despite the fact that ICF was not the original design. They were very satisfied with the outcome of this project. ”
NEW LIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH
TYPE OF BUILD: Commercial
LOCATION: Pine River, MN
SIZE: 12,740 Sq.ft
YEAR BUILT: 2019
CONGRATULATIONS: Ellendale Concrete Products, Peterson Drafting & Design, Carl Peterson Construction, & AMC Foam
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This building featured 11’ 4” walls in the main areas, but with taller 19’ walls in the activity room as well as the gable end which were much more challenging for the volunteer crew. The floors are hydronically heated throughout.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS: The Element ICF walls were constructed over a 5 week period with a .06 man-hour/sq ft rate which is very impressive for largely volunteer labor.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: The average utilities cost for this building are only $144 for natural gas and $165 for electricity. This church is designated as a safe room and location for two neighboring schools and the nearby county fairgrounds.
“This was a very successful church community project - with the volunteer labor and the discounted and donated materials this place of worship was constructed at a cost of approximately $0.51 on the dollar, which is great!”
Most Outstanding Multi-Family
30UC
TYPE OF BUILD: Multi-Family
LOCATION: Winnipeg, MB
SIZE: 98,287 Sq.ft
YEAR BUILT: 2020
CONGRATULATIONS: Paragon Design Build, Schell River ICF, Bockstael Construction, BLDG Architecture Office inc. & AMC Foam
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This building featured 7 stories of ICF construction perched upon a cast-in-place parkade. 6” Element ICF was used to form the exterior walls and 8” Element ICF was used in the load-bearing demising walls throughout. There were 24 wall jogs per level and Logix columns support the front glass wall.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS:This building was constructed during a very cold Winnipeg winter. The conventionally cast-in-place parkade by itself incurred approximately $156,000 in heating and hoarding costs during construction. In contrast, heating and hoarding the entire 7 storey ICF residential tower cost a mere $2,000, plus the expense of running two thermostat-controlled Hermal Nelson heaters.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: This building is “complete ICF construction” with $200,000 returned to the building owner for performance rebates. This project energy-modeled 25% better than the referenced building. The most searched feature on the owner’s website is “soundproof construction”.
“This building is a complete success, coming in on time and $500,000 under budget. It was also 96% occupied within 3 months of opening.”
RIVER ST. BOISE TOWNHOMES
TYPE OF BUILD: Multi-Family
LOCATION: Boise, ID
SIZE: 20,000 Sq.ft
YEAR BUILT: 2020
CONGRATULATIONS: Benchmark Developments & Dan Reefke
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS: This is a 10 unit townhome project situated on .35 of an acre of land with a 22’ laneway down the middle for private garage access. Element ICF was used for the exterior walls of the units and sound-rated and fire-rated demising walls as well.
CONSTRUCTION FACTS:The biggest challenge of this project was to manage the very small amount of space throughout construction. Two of the biggest challenges were tight staging areas and a tricky concrete pour with pumper trucks starting in the middle and moving out to the ends.
RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY & COMFORT NOTES: The units are incredibly quiet. Average energy costs per 3-floor unit are only $30/mth for heating and cooling and $20/mth for water. Every unit has a mechanical HRV that maintains fresh healthy air quality tested at 2.5 air changes per hour.
“The success of this project highlighted to the City of Boise that multi-family construction can be done on very little inner city land. ”
Wrapping up
Logix Brands would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our customers and builders who support our brand and continue to build better more sustainable projects each year! Our president, Andy Lennox, would also like to add, “It’s a pleasure every year to recognize the achievements of the clients and customers we value so much for their support of Logix Brands and our products.”
